Binary Opposites and 5 Narratives Codes

What We Do In The Shadows is an American mockumentary, comedy-horror television series created by Jemaine Clement that premiered March 27, 2019, on the FX channel. The series follows four vampire roommates in Staten Island, and stars Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Proksch.

The first episode introduces us to the main cast of characters, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), who is a human who serves as Nandor the Vampire's (Kavyan Noyak) familiar, which is the shows interpretation/representation for what is essentially a slave who serves a Vampire. We are also introduced to 3 of Nandor's vampire companions/housemates, Lazslo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin (Mark Proksch). The pilot episode follows them around the house, introduces us to who the characters are and how they got to where they are, and shows their day-to-day routine around Staten island.

After watching the pilot episode, we can identify the key binary opposites and narrative codes that the producers have used to convey meaning. First of all, the binary opposites include: 

Binary Opposites

Supernatural vs Natural

This is primarily shown by Nandor and Guillera. Nandor can be described as a supernatural being due to him being a vampire. Vampires are often are immortal, and have superhero-like powers. Compare this to a human like Guillero who is just a natural being/person caught up in the life of vampires, we can clearly see how he appears weak and powerless compared to someone like Nandor, Nadja, Lazslo or even Colin. This comparison also applies to all the other humans that appear in the episode, especially the ones that were eaten and killed by Nadja and Lazslo. The humans' helplessness and inability to stand their ground against a vampire truly portrays and conveys how weak we humans really are.

Modernism vs Traditionalism

This pair of opposites is heavily featured throughout the episode as we witness the stark contrast between the traditional Victorian-era vampires who are stuck up on their old-fashioned ways, and the world around them that has progressed and evolved far more than they have, without them realizing. For example, the usage of credit cards for payment, automobiles for transportation, etc, and how the vampires seem clueless/unwilling to accept how the world has changed.

Man vs Nature

Good vs Evil

Hunger vs Greed

5 Narratives Codes

Hermeneutic code

The hermeneutic code featured throughout the episode involve the suspense and mystery created by wanting to know "What's in the letter?", "Who's being kept in the basement?", and "Who is the Baron?"

Proairetic code

Action codes that are used throughout the episode include the vampires bickering and arguing with each other, Nadja and Lazslo killing humans and sucking their blood, Nadja stalking Jeff and many more. All these codes are used to propel the plot forward in some way by leading to unforeseen consequences and thus even more proairetic codes.

Semantic code

Semantic code that is incorporated in the episode include the vampires talking with heavy accents. This conveys how they are not in their natural environment and how they are outsiders here in Staten Island.

Symbolic code

Symbolic code is shown throughout the episode quite frequently and include the clothes that the vampires wear, vampires sucking blood, fangs, and vampires not being able to withstand sunlight. All these codes have been built over the course of decades upon decades that they have become the norm and have essentially led the audience to become desensitized to what these characteristics and behaviours of vampires.

Cultural code

The cultural codes included in this TV show are concepts and ideas of vampires. This "vampire culture" has existed for over a century ever since the first vampire stories were created. Thus, to understand the plotline, and the characters themselves, one must have a preconception of what vampires are like from media such as the Twilight series, the Hotel Transylvania series, Dracula, Vampire diaries, etc. The ideas of what vampires look like, the fact that they drink blood, can turn into bats, etc, would not make sense unless you are familiarized with the cultural codes of vampires created by the media throughout the last century.