Geoff Dyer's Theory of Stardom

I decided to do some extra research on how artists get famous and create buzz, etc. I came across the theory of stardom which is essentially a journey some artists go through in which they change their image. This can be to create buzz to make more money or to change their target audience. Most of the time, management help co-ordinate this by changing how they look (with the help of stylists) or possibly changing their music content or style.

Theory of Stardom and Star Image

1. The star is a real person - The audience can relate to the artist and sees them as equal. For example, an artist may have grown up in a single parent family and some people would relate to this.
2. The star is a performer of public roles - The first encounter we have with the artist is through the roles they play. E.g. if they act in a television show.
3. The star is a persona - This involves the roles they play merging with who they really are. For example, they might write songs that are linked to television show they are in and tour with those songs.
4. The star is an image - The star as an image is normally the ball park that artists fall in as their image is always changing. However, audiences only see the mediated version of the star which is the star we see in videos and in the press rather than the real person. The star image is constructed.

Demi Lovato

1. Demi Lovato has been regarded as very relatable in her younger years as she was bullied and a lot of young audiences could relate to that. Also, her Skyscraper video was relatable as it was about the pain of heartbreak and a lot of people felt the same way. This is backed up by her crying in the video as it shows she feels real emotions and is a real person. It also makes the audience sympathise with her.

2. Demi starred in the Disney programme Sonny With A Chance from 2009-2011 which included 47 episodes and a soundtrack. The show followed Demi's character Sonny Munroe who manages to land a main role on a comedy sketch show. The female teenage and preteen audience felt like they could relate to her character more than any other group, especially with the songs from Sunny's point of view. She is originally shown as a normal teenager before getting her big break in actor. 

3. The same persona was reflected in her role in the Camp Rock films of a normal girl hoping to achieve certain dreams. Her dream in Camp Rock was to be a singer. Her look in Sonny With A Chance was very similar to the one in Camp Rock and she stayed with that look for a while. She then had a part in Glee where she seemed to have matured a bit and took a different angle with her acting from playing a normal school girl to a part where the focus was more on serious relationships in a show that wasn't all comedy based. This widened Demi's target audience especially with her performance of Here Comes The Sun with her being blonde rather than a brunette like before. She did keep her iconic guitar playing though.

4. After SWAC, Demi took a break from acting and was revealed to be suffering from bipolar disorder and abusing drugs and alcohol. In 2011, she had an article in Seventeen magazine where she wrote about her mental struggles. She was recovering and living in a sober-living facility in 2012. This is where her career and image changed because she was previously targeting young audiences and seemed to be coping fine mentally and not have any underlying issues. She was taken a lot more seriously when her struggles became public and attracted an older audience.

Her image then changed again with her Confident album which showed her in a more sexualised way, especially in her Cool For The Summer video. So, as you can see, her image has changed a lot over the years.

Music Video Analysis - Bad Blood

Conventions of Music Videos

Camera
Camera shots normally are to create emphasis on the artist and mostly consist of long shots, mid shots and close ups. Close ups normally show the main singer e.g. them lipsycning. Movement can consist of tracking to follow the artist.

Editing
Jump cuts are quite common in music videos. Simple fade transitions are used too to stop the changes of scene being overly complex.

Sound
Normally the sound just consists of the music as it would be on an album. However, sometimes there is additional dialogue e.g. at the start of My Chemical Romance's I'm Not Okay video.

Mise En Scene
Normally there is a lot of meaning behind the MES. For example, dark lighting puts across a sad tone. Artificial lighting is also used a lot to make the artist stand out. There is also a lot of symbolism i.e. like in Taylor Swift's Bad Blood video, the cutting of the teddy symbolises them cutting their innocent ties. Some effects or filters are used to portray certain things, e.g. black and white showing a flashback. In music videos, there is normally not many props at all but the props that are there have significant meaning or there are loads of props to just add to the setting. Costume reflects the genre and normally the style of the artist. Normally for female artists, it'll have some sexual aspect to it e.g. a low cut top. Like lighting, colour can be used to set a mood.

Music Videos

This is my Canva presentation to explain things like the purpose of music videos, the types, structure etc.

Representation in Music Videos

Gender

• Woman normally get objectified and are displayed as sex objects. This can be seen in many male artists' videos (such as 50 Cent's video Candy Shop where the artist is shown as being in a brothel and he is fully clothed but the women in the video are in sexual clothing e.g. lingerie) but recently female artists have begun to use it to sell their videos as they have realised they can use the male gaze to their advantage. An example of this is Nicki Minaj's Anaconda video where the artist and the supporting dancers are commonly in little clothing and are making constant sexual references such as when Nicki gives Drake a lap dance.
• However, sometimes men are displayed in a sexual way to serve the purpose of the female gaze. For example, in Panic! At the Disco's Girls/Girls/Boys video, the video purely consists of the lead singer standing and singing whilst naked.
• Sometimes both these stereotypes are challenged. So, girls can be shown dressed stereotypically like boys or vice versa. An example of this is Ingrid Michaelson's Girls Chase Boys video.

Age and class

• Teenagers are often portrayed as fun loving and carefree. They are normally shown as being very attractive and having enviable lives. This can be seen in One Direction's Live While We're Young video.
• Other times we are shown the more gritty side of youth. For example we are shown the daily grind of their lives. This is shown in The Streets' Has it Come to This? video.

Ethnicity

• African American rappers are normally shown as pimps or drug dealers e.g in 50 Cent's P.I.M.P video.
• With the rise of urban and R&B music institutional racism is rejected and some artists emphasise success or call out this racism. For example Jay Z's 99 Problems video shows this as the lyrics say the boy got pulled over by the police officer because he is black.
• More black and white artists are collaborating especially from different genres to widen their audience. For example, Dr. Dre's I Need a Doctor video has two rappers of different ethnicities then a white female mainly pop singer.

Region/Place

• LA is shown as the place where the American Dream is realised. This is shown in Lady Gaga's Paparazzi video.
• London is normally shown as being quite grimy and maybe a little run down. For example, Britney Spears' Criminal video shows the nice and the dodgier parts of London. Also, Skepta's So Alive video shows the grimy parts. Plus, Lethal Bizzle's POW 2011 video shows London looking more like the US.
• New York is shown as an exciting place to explore that is full of opportunities and diversity. Jay Z's Empire State of Mind video shows this.
• Ibiza is shown as a den of iniquity and as a place for people (particularly young adults) to party and have fun without responsibilities. Mike Posner's I Took a Pill in Ibiza video shows this well.

Music Video Analysis - Thriller

Michael Jackson -Thriller (1984)

The music video's beginning has text in a creepy, red font introducing the video which really set the atmosphere of the video and stands out against the black background. 

One of the reasons I think people like this video is because it has a story to it. Before the music starts there is dialogue with a woman and the artist. They are wearing quite colourful clothing which contrasts with the black surroundings as shown in the two shots. This makes the audience feel like those characters don't really fit in the setting. It is then revealed that this is a film two characters (the same two) are watching in a cinema. This is when the music begins.

The music video heavily features the colour red (the writing, Michael's outfit, etc). This could allude to blood or danger. The video also features a lot of lip syncing. The video uses smoke in a clever way in the graveyard to make the atmosphere more mysterious and creepy before the zombies appear. The video also includes the iconic dance routine.

I think this music video is good because it has many things to draw an audience in such as a thriller narrative or the dance routine. This makes the video very interesting as it has different aspects to it. I also like how it has references to other media products and pop culture etc. For example, the disclaimer at the end is the same as the one in the film An American Werewolf in London. It can be viewed as iconic as it was the most expensive music video made at the time (it cost roughly a million dollars). Reviews on IMDb show that the majority of people really like the video. They comment on how good the special effects are considering when the music video was made and they also like how the song and music fits with the visuals.

Music Industry