Print Adverts of the Vampire Programmes

Before I watch the programmes, a few main points can be comprehended from analysing the below images.

True Blood

 Already, we see an incredibly sexual portrayal of women in True Blood, as in the first poster, we can see a female vampire licking her lips, which connotates desire and lust. The blood dripping down her mouth emphasises the idea of lust and desire. The light background emphasises the woman's lips more, which evidently shows that sex is a rather major theme in True Blood. Also, in the second poster, the female is wearing a low cut top, with a slightly flirtatious look on her face, which again shows a sexual portrayal of women in the series of True Blood. The blood dripping down the female's neck however could insinuate that as well as being a sexual character, she is also a victim, which represents women in a rather negative light here. The colour of red itself is clearly a connotation of sex, as well as danger.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The below posters featuring the main charater Buffy, offer a different perspective than the portrayal of women on the True Blood posters, as in these posters, the female is not wearing anything which could be seen as sexual, and rather than being seen as a victim, Buffy appears to be confident, which can be seen from her facial expression. On the first poster, the fact that the name 'Buffy' is presented in large font, and is situated by the centre of the frame implies that Buffy is powerful, rather than powerless. The eery background poses no sexual ideas about the character. Also, the weapon Buffy is holding implies she is some kind of heroine, eliminating the possibility of her being a victim. On the second poster, again Buffy is dressed in non provocative clothing, although she appears to have been majorly air brushed.

The Vampire Diaries

 In these posters it is clear that the female character has been portrayed in a rather sexual light, as in the first poster, she is wearing a low cut dress, and is positioned with her hand on her hip, and the other hand towards her neck. Also, the female has a suggestive look on her face. Both of the above points portray the female as being rather sexual, and the fact that she ius lying on the ground could suggest that she is a victim, which relates to the True Blood posters. In the second poster, the female is also situated to the centre of the frame, showing two male hands which are stroking her hair, and gripping her neck. This portrays the character as being incredibly appealing towards men, and also portrays her as a victim, although the female does not particularly look frightened.

Genre-Film Noir

Background Information

Film Noir is a genre containing a dark subjecting matter, producing a negative portrayal of America. The main period of this kind of genre was from 1944 - 1958. The main differences between noir and pre-war films are that a large amount of films before the 40's showed America in an extremely positive light. These kind of positive films had high budgets, with rich musicals and elaborate sets.

'Detour' (1945)

Synopsis:

An innocent, ordinary piano player named Al, (Tom Neal) is informed by his girlfriend Sue, (Anne Savage) that she will be travelling to Hollywood in an attempt to be a star. Distraught, Al decides to visit her, and later on in the journey hitches a ride from a man travelling to Los Angeles himself. Although he seems a suspicous man, he dies in his sleep while Al has taken over the wheel, after stopping off at a cafe. Al then hides the body, and takes his wallet containing his money and identity info, on the way to visiting his lover.

'The Big Combo' (1955)

'The Big Combo' is a film noir film, directed by Joseph H. Lewis, with cinematography from John Alton.
I am going to be discussing several sequences from the film, and commenting on their visual effects.

Sequence 1:

In this scene, Mr. Brown is questioning Susan on who Alicia is. He grabs her face agressively, and kisses her roughly. The light is centered on her face, clearly showing her sexual satisfaction from Brown. It may also indicate that Susan feels confined, trapped in her relationship with him, as there is not a great amount of light on his face, which could insinuate that Susan feels alone. The fact that Brown's face is in dark lighting portrays him as the dark villain, representing Susan as incredibly vulnerable.

Sequence 2:

In this scene, Susan is in hospital after attempted suicide. As you can see, she is in a single spotlight right in the centre, which again could insinuate that she feels alone. The light gradually fades out, creating a sense of claustrophobia. Her neck and the sides of her cheeks are in dark lighting, drawing more attention to her facial expression. It alerts us to the fact that she is clearly worried.

MS4: Text, Industry, Audience

BBC3 - Superbrands


BBC'S Misson Statement:


Since 2003 BBC Three has dedicated itself to one brilliantly simple idea - creating the most thought provoking and entertaining programmes possible. We find the best of new British talent, give them room to play, invent and experiment, and then mix in the most important element - You.
We're shamelessly and directly influenced by you. There, we've said it. Your habits shape us, your sense of humour tickles us and we want you involved in what we do. Because of you we've grown beyond regular TV into a channel that can be where you want it, all the time. A channel that's constantly trying new things, taking risks and exploring new places, because just like you we're Never Afraid To Try New Stuff.

Representation Media Theories

Laura Mulvey: 'The Male Gaze'

Laura Mulvey was a feminist theorist, and her theory focuses on the objectification of women. She believes that in the film industry, the camera acts as a man's eye, meaning that the men have the power to choose what women should look like. Men are in control of the media in general, dominating women's appearances in order to increase satisfaction for their audiences. In other words, women are portrayed as sexual objects to increase the amount of viewers who are watching the films. For example, in James Bond there are several long, close up shots of women wearing bikinis, with the camera zooming in on their cleavage and curves. In terms of horror, the phrase 'torture porn' is often used, which means that when women are being victimised, they will be wearing revealing clothing in order to increase their sexual factor, portraying them as helpless, sexual objects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html

Independant Research - Reviews & Comments

True Blood


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844441/usercomments?filter=love

'Another Great HBO Series!':

I thought nothing could top "OZ"--HBO's excellent drama series about life in prison. Well--I was wrong! "True Blood" IS better. I'm very into horror movies--maybe that's why I love this so much. This shows a world where vampires exist--and are learning to coexist with humans. There's a drink called "True Blood" which is like real blood and the vampires drink it so they don't have to attack humans. They just want the same rights human beings have (the parallels between gay rights and vampire rights are obvious but amusing). This takes place in Louisiana. There we meet young, attractive and psychic Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). She falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) much to the disgust of her employer Sam (Sam Tramell) and sex addicted brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten). Then we meet friends and family of Sookie and the series just takes off from there. I'm only up to episode 8 of the first season and I LOVE it. It has great scripts, is never dull and has some good actors in it (Paquin and Moyer especially). There's some explicit violence, STRONG language and female AND male nudity--but it is always necessary for the script. Strong and vivid but fascinating. Recommended.

- Wayne Mallin, IMDB, 24 May, 2009





http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844441/usercomments?filter=hate

'I Am Disappointed.':

The actors deliver really unconvincing performances, if you want my opinion. They seem to take the show very lightly, as if it were some kind of a regular, low budget family TV show (well maybe thats what it is, if you take away the family part). The only actor that seemed somewhat good to me was Stephen Moyer in the role of Bill, considering the poorly written, extremely short replies he had to say "What are you..." "Can I give you a call sometime...", I think he did good in bringing out the somewhat mysteriously scary part of a vampire that anyone with a vampire role must have, actually.

- Maxwazn, IMDB, 26 May, 2009






Buffy The Vampire Slayer


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118276/usercomments

'Brilliance Of Buffy':

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, its misguided title put aside, is what I consider, and millions of other devoted fans believe to be a genuine and purely astonishing work of achievement in television history. With creative and daring story lines and terrific character development, the show that began its run on the WB as a mid-season replacement, became a dazzling cult hit resulting in a secure fan base and merchandising for as far as the eye can see.





http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118276/usercomments?filter=hate

'Buffy's Downfall: Sarah Michelle Gellar Can't Act':

I wanted to like this show. I really did. I thought the movie was entertaining enough, if rather silly. So I tried to watch Buffy a number of times. Unfortunately, Sarah Michelle Gellar was apparently chosen to play a Vampire slayer because she is a Dialogue Slayer! She's also a Scene Slayer. She does kill them dead with her complete lack of acting ability. Think about it... even after five years of training, Sarah Michelle Gellar still could not throw a semi-believable movie punch... I mean how difficult is that when you have instructors, directors and stunt choreographers trying to make you look good. How incompetent can you be? Very incompetent apparently.

- Lester Murdoch, IMDB, 16 October, 2008


The Vampire Diaries



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1405406/reviews

 

'Not Twilight but not True Blood'
In this day and age it's the time of the Vampires. You have Twilight and True blood and Vampire Diaries but don't let them keep you from watching. While many tend to compare it with the two, it's actually very different. Vampire Diaries, based off a series written 15 years before Twilight,is about a girl Elena who just lost her parents when a new guy, Stefan Salvatore, comes to town but with Stefan also comes trouble, his brother Damon Salvatore. This show is definitely the middle of Twi and True Blood. It has a romance like Twilight and the intensity of True Blood. What this show has is a lot of twists and turns that you don't expect.

- chattygirl247, IMDB, 14 November, 2009



'Definitely worth a watch!':


Okay, so there's been an overload of vampires. 1st, Twilight, then Jennifer's Body and blah blah blah.. but Vampire Diaries is different, and definitely here to stay.

For starters, it follows the basic rules that apply to vampires, unlike Twilight where Edward Cullen just goes into Bella's house without any invitation, etc.

What's also gripping is the fact that it has other characters from the magical world, like Witches and all. It also sticks to its plot, so what we are seeing is actually a story which has vampires as a part of it, not the other way around.

Definitely worth a try, and one of the best shows of Fall '09.

- Anwesh Mishra, IMDB, 10 November 2009

Independant Research - Newspaper Articles

True Blood




http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/may/21/your-next-boxset-true-blood


'Your Next Boxset':

Based on Charlaine Harris's novels, and developed by Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, True Blood is a breathtaking ride. From the opening credits – a brilliant, atmospheric montage dripping with swampy hellfire and Southern brimstone – to the witty choice of outro music (Beck's Timebomb as a Christian terrorist walks into a vampire lair), it's never less than totally entertaining. Initially, it's all about Bill and Sookie's steamy human-vampire romance; but pretty soon you'll be just as consumed by the adventures of her dim hunk of a brother Jason; her best friend Tara's encounters with backwoods voodoo; or bar cook Lafayette and his put-downs ("Who ordered the hamburger with Aids?"). It's got to be one of the only shows where a serial killer is one of the least exciting storylines. The episodes fly by, with each hour screeching to a halt – and then picking up exactly where we left it in the next. It's the perfect, "just-one-more" box set if you've got a weekend or two spare.


- The Guardian, Friday, 21 May, 2010





Buffy The Vampire Slayer




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/13/AR2011031303058.html


'The Best Of High School TV Series':


Are we watching too much TV? Maybe so. Rarely have I received as many e-mails as when I sought help picking the five best high school television series of all time.

Some of the suggestions were what I expected. Other choices surprised me. Katya2, a commenter on my blog, was among many who urged the selection of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The choice made sense, Katya2 said, because the monsters infesting the show were "often just an exaggerated or disguised version of ordinary high school problems - dating, social competition, parental pressure, etc."
"Buffy" was a clever horror show metaphor for high school life.


- The Washington Post, Monday, March 14, 2011

 
The Vampire Diaries

 

The Vampire Diaries is a mishmash of ideas we've seen before (a ring allowing a vampire to withstand daylight? Hello Buffy), brooding bad boys and clunking bad-emo-band dialogue about souls. Though its teen target audience might not necessarily cross over with True Blood, it still suffers by comparison.

-The Guardian, Tuesday, 2 February, 2010

Trailers

Below are the following three trailers for the horror tv programmes I have decided to study.


True Blood (2008) Trailer

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997) Trailer

The Vampire Diaries (2009) Trailer