The star theory is the idea that a performer has more than just a good voice to be a star. Such as:
- having a loving personality
- big fan base
- be multi talented
- experienced
- easily exposed to he public eye
- fashionable
Being a star in the music industry is different to being a star in the film industry as a music star has to focus on building star image more than a film star has to.
Richard dyer said that there is a difference between a pop star and a performer. A performer may not be famous they just perform music; for example, foxes.
A pop star's image is constructed to an audience; for example, usher, beyonce, Justin bieber.
He says that stars use synergy to promote their image and identified 4 elements to recognised a star:
1. Stars and construction
Stars are artificially constructed to help their image contain unique selling point.
Shows like X factor display how they construct ordinary people into stars by grooming, styling and coaching them.
2. Industry and audience
Pop stars are manufactured to make money. Pop stars are like products and are made to be sold.
3. Ideology and culture
Audience interest in the stars values enhance their star quality and create their Star persona.
4. Character and personality
Although the star us constructed as a product they must have a foundation of realism. This makes them relatable to the audience.
Pop stars don't have much control over their star image and would normally look for management to decide what their image should be like and to make business decisions for there career.
From looking at the theory I will consider representing my artist as someone relatable to my target audience.
Star image is the way an artist is represented to the audience. The most effective way to do this is through music video. Star image through music video allows artist to shape them self as an artist depending on their target audience and what the represent and want to portray themselves as.
music videos can help build an artists career as this is how they can build a direct relationship with the audience. This is where a lot of the audiences' opinions on them will be built from. The audience are able to see the artists personality through the music video they produce and how they showcase themselves.
Case study: Omg Girlz
2009 - Pretty Girl Bag
Here their target audience are young girls. The video is about them showcasing their bags which is a very girly topic and appeals to young girls. Most of their dancing is more free and they have a little bit of choreographed dancing. Their whole image is very young and the concept of the video is them showcasing a life that a lot of young girls would like to have.
"This right here is my bag, OMG they only swag, all the haterz pay attention, cause this right here is my, pretty girl bag"
The lyrics are very basic and innocent and not speaking about any thing meaning for in life.
2012 - Where the boys at
Here their image has changed dramatically. They dropped one member and have replaced the youngest group member (Lolo) with a new older member (Babydoll). Their costumes have become a lot more colourful and they have introduced the purple, pink and blue theme to their identities. Their dancing has become very choreographed compared to the basic moved they used to do. They have now lost the tutu's and are wearing shorts which are abit more revealing. Their target audience has clearly changed towards teenaged girls as they are growing up and becoming more professional.
lyrics" Where the boys at? where the boys at? if I holla boy holla right back, where the boys at? where the boys at?"
They are now talking about older themes that appeal to a teenage audience. They are now about having fun and being a typical teenage girl wanting to go out and meet boys.
2013 - Baddie
Here they are clearly targeting an older audience of older teens from about 16 and up. They look a lot more sophisticated wearing black and white, bodycon outfits revealing their more mature figures. Although they still have their trade mark of purple, pink and blue; there is a lot less colour in the video setting and in their clothing. For example, Star has blue on the end of her hair or at the roots instead of the whole hair and Babydoll has a darker shade of purple. Their dancing is now professional choreography and their back up dancers showcase Sean Bankhead's (choreographer) logo on their T-shirt; this shows that they are now becoming a lot more professional with their dancing as well as their music and are now very committed in being big superstars.
Lyrics "Hit the scene and we turn up, yeah them boys choosing cause they love us, you know we be putting on a show (lego lego), when I break it down".
They are showing that they have the same values with most teens their age wanting to party, have a good time and get dressed up and showcase their sex appeal.
Other stars and their image:
- Justin beiber
Went from being a cute young that attracted young girls, now he is known for being the typical bad boy; getting arrested, rapping and doing drugs. He now has tattoos and is quite muscular. He attracts only girls and young women.
- Rihanna
Went from being the cute girl next door and is now known for being a bad girl with huge sex appeal. She is now known for her controversial music videos which are often criticised and censored.
- Miley Cyrus
Has gone from being a young and innocent Disney star and is now known for her lack of clothing and 'twerking'. She is now seen hanging out with rappers and hip hop stars.
-Taylor Swift
Although she has grown up her she is still seen as America's sweet heart. Even though she is known to have dated different artists in the music industry she still remains innocent and appeals to a younger age group of girls.
Different things star image can be used for:
- Sexual reasons
Star image can be used to express sexuality and sexual beliefs. George Michael and Lady GaGa are known for doing this.
- Political reasons
Star image can be used to promote political opinions. George Michael is someone who is known for using star image for political reasons. An example is the music video "Shoot the dog" where he makes fun out of President Bush and Tony Blaire. This was released shortly after 9/11.
- Moral reasons
Using star image for moral reasons means raising awareness for a cause. Michael Jackson is known for doing this. For example, his music video for "Earth song".
- Social reasons
Star image is important because the star image used will determine the way the audience view the star. I would like my star image to only be used for social reasons as using other reasons may be risky as some people may not agree with the message.
Within Goodwin's theory of characteristics intertexual references was one of the eight that he suggested. This notion refers to the idea that a music video will touch upon or feature another person from the industry or an event from our history.
3 examples + analysis on where the reference is
1. Destiny's Child - Bootylicious
Here the group make an intertexual reference to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The trio dress up like him with his signature costumes such as, white glitter socks, one sparkly glove and signature hat. Not only do they dress up like him but they also do some of his signature dance moves.
2. Kanye West - Slow Jamz
Here the intertextual reference is again on Michael Jackson. This time it is referring to Michael Jackson's change in skin colour. Kanye says " She's got a light skinned friend, looks like Michael Jackson" we then see a light skinned girl dressed up like Michael Jackson. He then says, "She's got a dark skinned friend, looks like Michael Jackson" and we then see a dark skinned girl dressed up like Michael Jackson.
3. Keri Hilson - Pretty Girl Rock
The whole idea of this music video is based off intertexual references. Keri makes references so different African American women in this music industry. This includes
Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge. She is then shown portraying lead singer Patty from the singing group The Andrews Sisters.[Then Diana Ross as lead singer of The Supremes, then switches to Donna Summer, then Janet Jackson from the military-inspired "Rhythm Nation" music video.Lastly, she makes an intertextual reference to T-Boz of the R&B girl group TLC, along with 2 girls dressed as Left-Eye and Chillie' wearing the costume from the video "Creep".
Advantages of making intertexual references:
- Paying homage to an artist can attract the fans of that artist.
- Can get people talking
- Raising awareness for a topic in the media can build a better reputation.
Disadvantages:
- Can be risky
- May ruin reputation
- Can get into legal problems
conclusion
I think that using intertexual references in a positive way is a good idea to use in my own music video in order to interest the audience and make my video more memorable.
The 'male gaze' refers to the idea that the camera has the visual of a heterosexual man. This means that in music videos the camera views woman in a sexist way; representing them as sexual objects as it lingers around the women's assets.
Mulvey was a feminist who put forward the idea that women on camera are represented as sexual objects due to the theory that the camera is like a heterosexual man and lingers around the women's assets. She looks at how men look at women, how the women in the videos look at themselves and how other women look at those women. She also stated that this theory leave men in an active position; having the power over women and women are left passive.
Examples of where women are looked at with the 'male gaze':
1. Nelly - Tip drill
This video definitely supports Mulvey's idea as it shows women in such a degrading way. It displays a mansion full of both half naked and naked women dancing erotically and displaying sexual acts on each other; meanwhile a handful on men throw money and champagne on these women and touch them inappropriately. Most of these women's faces are not even shown as the camera has several close ups of these women's body parts with the men's faces in the shot. It is clear that the men are very active and the women are passive.
2. 50 Cent - Candy Shop
This video also supports mulvey's theory as it showcases women dressed in little clothing with only one man in the video who is seen as active. The camera again lingers around the women's body parts as they danced and move seductively. There are also close ups of the women when they pull seductive facial expressions.
3. Rihanna - pour it up
Although this video is by a female artisst it also displays ideas of the male gaze theory. From the beginning we see shadows of a female in sexual positions l. We then see low angles of Rihanna on a chair not wearing much, giving an inappropriate view of her body parts. Throughout the video the camera lingers around her body parts as she dances erotically, shaking her bum close up in the camera. Most of the long shots that we see are simply of girls pole dancing .
Criticisms of the male gaze theory:
- does not look at the view of other sexualities such as homosexual men and women
- doesn't account for women such as female artist who use the male gaze oin their own videos (e.g Rihanna , Nicki minaj)
Conclusion:
After looking at the theory it has allowed me to move away from doing this in my own video to avoid criticism on my own music video as it is seen as disrespectful to a lot of women and other people .
Modern day music videos are different to traditional music videos due to a difference in technology, equipment, what the audience expects, how artist like to portray themselves, ect.
Timeline of the history of music video's:
1929 - Bessie Smith appeared in a two-reel short film called 'Saint Louis Blues' displaying songs with moving images.
1940 - Disney, Fantasia: an animated film based around famous pieces of classical music.
1920 - 1940 - Many films were accompanied by sound, especially animations. These were not considered music videos, just basic editing of images to film/ musicals which was a big genre of film during this period.
1950 - 1960 - Tony Bennett is filmed walking through hype park, London for his song 'Stranger in Paradise', claims he made the first music video.
1964 - Beatles, Arguably set out the basic visual vocabulary of todays music videos, influencing a vast number of contemporary musicians at the time to create similar moving images to accompany their music.
1966 - 1986 - 'The monkeys' was a TV show specially made film segment that was created to accompany their songs that was used in their TV series.
1966 - The birth of 'Top Of The Pops' used to promote singles so artists had to create competitive videos to complete for airtime.
1967 - Videos used techniques borrowed from film ideas. The starts of ' The Beatles - Pennylane'.
1975 - Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody' created to replace a live TV performance.
1970 - 1980 - The key development of the modern music videos were video recording with editing processes. High quality video tape recorders and portable cameras enabled pop artists such as ' The Jacksons'.
1971 - MTV is launched. First music video aired was 'buggles - video killed the radio star'.
1984 - Michael Jackson - Thriller took music video format to another level.
Music videos have changed over time as there is now better technology so different effects and editing can be used and more ideas can be brought to life. For example Queens' Bohemian Rhapsody' had very basic editing and wasn't shot form a lot of angles, also the idea behind it. Today music videos such as Rihanna's 'we found love' displays a lot better editing, better cinematography and overall a more creative idea.
Also, society on a whole has changed which means the audience expectations have changed. When the idea of music video was new the audience didn't have much expectations, however, now an audience expects more excitement and entertainment from a music video and expect different things from different artists.
conclusion: why is it important to know about the history of music videos and what ideas have you gathered?
It is important to know about the history of music videos so that we can be aware of how music videos and what they showcase and represent have changed as society has changed. This allows us to make comparisons between music videos and the effects that they have on society; for example, how the ideas music videos put forward (e.g alcohol), effects the behaviour of teenagers in society.
Looking at the history of music videos have also helped me to create my own idea of what I would like my music video to be like and I would like it to stand out and for my ideas to be very modern.
A diverse music video appeals to a niche audience and often comes across as surreal and unusual. It is usually concept based and shows barely any performance from the artist. Genres such as dance, electro, alternated and pop are examples of genres that would use distinctive and diverse music videos.
Chris Cunningham
Cunningham is an award winning director who has also been nominated for many other awards. The include; the Gold Pencil award, 'Best video' at the Brit awards and was nominated for a Grammy for 'Best short film'. He is known and credited for his extremely distinctive and unique music videos, inspired by the old fashions, he isn't afraid to take risks. Working with artist such as, Madonna, Bjork and the Aphex Twins, his work is recognised internationally.
1. Bjork - All is love
This video is very unusual as the only 2 characters are 2 robots, one who is Bjork herself showing some star image which still allows the audience to develop some relationship. Its narrative is the 2 robots displaying and signifying scenes of sexual intercourse. This may leave the audience feeling quite disturbed or some may feel aroused.
2. Aphex Twins - Come to daddy
This video features an old woman, a dog and children with the faces of the artist. We also see the star on a TV screen which he eventually comes through. The narrative is the star that has taken over these children's souls and is trying to take the old woman's. This may leave the audience feeling disturbed and may feel the video is creepy and abnormal.
3. Aphes Twins - Flex
Michel Gondry
Gondry is also know for his unique music videos; capturing the eye of several music artist including, Kylie Minogue, Daft Punk, The Vines, The Chemical Brothers, Gary Jules and The Rolling Stones. Developing a professional relationship with Bjork; he directed several of her music videos, starting with 'Human Behaviour'.
1. Chemical Brothers - Let it be forever
This is a concept based video which features a young woman dancing with quite repetitive moves. There isn't really any real narrative and the only type of star image we see is the drummer; we do not see the rest of the group. This doesn't allow the audience to develop a relationship with the audience.
2. Daft Punk - Around the world
This is also a concept based music video which shows different characters dancing showcasing repetitive moves. Here we can see that Gondry has a style of using repetition in his music videos. We do not see any star image as the artist do not feature in the video. Once again the audience are not able to develop a relationship with the artist.
3. Gary Jules - Mad George
This is yet another concept based on dancers who this time are making different shapes as a group. Gondrys style obviously focuses on dancing and repetition. We see a little bit of star image as we see Gary singing on top of a building but not for very long. Again the audience cannot develop a relationship with artist.
Advantages of diversity in music videos:
+ Allows artist to reinvent themselves.
+ Controversy and uniqueness creates a buzz in media which means more publicity.
+ The video/Artist is more memorable.
+Can lead to success.
Disadvantages of diversity in music videos:
-Can get banned of censored.
-More money spent if you have to make a cleaner version for TV.
-Can't guarantee the audience will enjoy the video/ Risky.
-More bad reviews than the usual video.
-Can ruin artist reputation/director reputation.
-Limits target audience.
-Less likely to build a relationship with he audience.
From looking at some diverse music videos I think I will use some diversity in my music video in order to stand out; however I would not like to make it too diverse as it is a bit risky.
