Kiss of the Vampire - a conventional horror film??
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| The Disney Junior show Vampirina takes the generic conventions of the vampire narrative, and differentiates it to such a level that instead of murdering people, vampires in this world seem to hang around and make friends and upload dance videos to YouTube. Therefore the vampire genre can be sanitised to such a level it appeals to 6 year old girls, while also being instantly recognisable as vampire narrative. That's repetition and difference! |
Conventional - the aspects we typically expect to see. Average, normal, plays by the rules
- The character archetypes are typical of the vampire film
- Characters have little expectations of vampires and the supernatural
- The MES of the creepy, gothic house
- 19th century period setting
- Isolated setting,
- Initially romantic narrative
- Screams
- Swarms of bats
- Dark gloomy setting
- Dry ice
- Vampires
- Disturbing music
- However, the film categorically lacks
- Blood
- Explicit depictions of death
- Jump scares
- Elaborate transformations
- MES of bats on screen
- Vampires themselves!
- Gesture codes, holding up a robe
- MES of fangs
- Facial expressions - not very expressive
- Big, gothic mansion/castle
- 19th century setting
- Period setting
- Themnes of conspiracy
- Low key lighting
- Intense, orchestral soundtrack
- A highly conventional 60’s British horror film
- British accents
- An extremely conservative film, with very little violence, sex or nudity
What would modern horror films do differently?
- A wider variety of shot types
- Higher quality/high production values
- Faster paced editing
- Gore, blood violence
Steve Neale - genre repetition and difference
When making a media product, producers will typically repeat certain genre conventions. This allows audiences to recognise the genre, and therefore actually consume the product. However, producers will typically provide the audience with some difference. Producers will typically repeat and reuse certain genre conventions to communicate to the target audience the precise genre, who will be familiar with these generic elements. However, little things will be added to even generic products to provide differentiation.