Representations

Question 1

What does the female on the lefts body language represent her as?

Answer 1

Her floppy body language and closed eyes makes her seem weak, vulnerable and victimised.

Question 2

(Female on left) What helps represent her in a sexualised way?

Answer 2

Her skin tight silky dress, bare neck and exposed chest area represents her in a sexualised way.

Question 3

What happened in th=e 1960s?

Answer 3

New divorce laws, the contraceptive pill, abortion laws meaning women were less restricted to simply being wives & mothers. However were increasingly sexualised as a result in the media.

Question 4

Traditionally what were women represented as?

Answer 4

Represented as damsels in distress and needing rescuing by a hero type character.

Question 5

What were feminists in the 60s demanding?

Answer 5

Demanding change to the way that they were being treated in society and the way they were seen in the media.

Question 6

What type of way does KOTV represent women?

Answer 6

KOTV represents women in a fairly old fashioned, objectified and victimised manner looking at the women on the left

Question 7

Why are women sexualised on the poster?

Answer 7

Perhaps to appeal to a male target audience

Question 8

What is the man on the left shown as?

Answer 8

Shown as powerful due to him carrying the women. His teeth make him seem dangerous and aggressive as do the black and red colours.

Question 9

What do the male vampires representation reflect?

Answer 9

Reflects patriarchal views that men were dominant and powerful

Question 10

What do his wide eyes and defensive body language connote?

Answer 10

Connotes he may also be a victim & makes him seem scared and vulnerable in some ways too.

Question 11

Who produced KOTV?

Answer 11

KOTV was produced by a mainstream horror production company and therefore might have been more likely to represent women in a more mainstream way. (Feminism was still new and seen as alternative)

Question 12

What makes the men on the right seem submissive and vulnerable?

Answer 12

His floppy body language and positioning being held by a female character makes him seem submissive and vulnerable.

Question 13

What helps reflect the shift in gender roles?

Answer 13

Representations of men seeming weaker and victimised might reflect the shift in gender roles and expectations what was just happening in the 60s.

Question 14

What is the female on the right represented as?

Answer 14

Represented as aggressive ad powerful due to her body positioning above the man kneeling and her bared teeth and raised arm.

Question 15

What is unconventional about the female on the right?

Answer 15

Representing her as an aggressor and potential killer soul have been unconventional prior to the 60s. This could be seen as reflecting the shift in society in terms or feminism.

Question 16

What does the balance of characters suggest?

Answer 16

Balance of characters and their roles suggest a new trend in equality.

Question 17

How is gender presented on the poster?

Answer 17

Gender is not simply presented in an old fashioned way on the poster

Question 18

What does the credit block suggest?

Answer 18

Due to there only being one female name that women were seen as less important behind the scenes.

Question 19

Who produced the poster?

Answer 19

Hammer Film Productions

Question 20

What did the 1960s see?

Answer 20

Early stages of the ‘beatlemania’ and the ‘swinging sixties’, first woman in space.

Question 21

How does the serif font create a link to the vampire film genre?

Answer 21

The serif font of the title creates connotations of a ‘wooden’ styling - references to a vampires coffin or the stake used to kill them - Along with the blood dripping from the letter Vs fang

Question 22

What is conventional about the poster?

Answer 22

Its painted which is highly conventional of film posters of the period. But the fact its in colour connotes its a modern telling of a older story.

Question 23

Describe the color palette?

Answer 23

Gloomy, grey, black and brown color palette

Question 24

What does the color palette reinforce?

Answer 24

Reinforces the films dark, scary conventions while the red highlights color draws attention to the attacking bats, vampire and blood (Visual signifiers for the genre)

Question 25

How is suspense created on the poster?

Answer 25

Through the enigmas surrounding the connoted relationship between the male and female vampires (emphasis by the “kiss” of the title) and the fate of the two victims (Hermeneutic codes)

Question 26

How are Bathes symbolic codes shown on the poster?

Answer 26

Symbolic codes of horror, darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and the male victims ‘submissive sacrifice’ gesture codes.

Question 27

Social contexts regarding women in the 60s

Answer 27

1960s is seen as the start of women’s sexual liberation, aided by events such as the contraceptive pill, women entering the paid workforce, feminists campaigning for equal pay

Question 28

What stereotypes are portrayed in the poster?

Answer 28

‘Older’ stereotypes of women as passive victims of men and more modern ‘male fears’ of women challenging male dominance

Question 29

What do codes of dress reinforce?

Answer 29

-Both women wear pale dresses made of light materials which reinforce their feminity by highlighting the curves of their bodies and revealing flesh of their upper chests and arms.

Question 30

Gesture codes of women on the left

Answer 30

The gesture codes of the woman on the left is a stereotypical passive victim of the ‘monster’ his power highlighted by the fact he’s holding her by just one arm

Question 31

What makes the male vampire seem uncharacteristically fearful?

Answer 31

His gesture codes with his arm thrown across his body in a defensive gesture, perhaps protecting himself from the female vampire make him seem uncharacteristically fearful.

Question 32

What is the audience meant to decode?

Answer 32

The generic iconography of horror film posters that all offer similarities.

Question 33

What might the female vampire be acting as (Gauntlets identity theory)

Answer 33

A role model for women struggling against male oppression or desperate to be seen as equals of men.

Question 34

What contributes to social change in the poster (Van Zoonene)

Answer 34

The ‘co-antagonist’ role, the female vampire is perhaps contributing to social change by representing women in non-traditional roles. Though the passive female victim does reinforce her theory.