Richard Dyer is an English academic specialising in cinema, and since 2006 has been Proffesor of Film Studies at King's College London.
In 1979, he wrote his first full-length book, 'Stars', which focuses on the idea that the viewers perception of a film is hugely influenced by the viewers perception of the stars in the film.
With this thesis, he analysed critics' writing, magazines, and the actual advertising for the films in order to explore the significance of stardom and 'The Star Image'.
Star Theory
The term 'pop star' has become interchangeable. The study of stars as media texts or simply just components of media texts requires that a distinction be made between those who are known for performing music and those who are the stars in the music industry. These stars also have an identity or persona that has been given to them, and this is how their fans see them in and out of performance.
The achievement of pop star status is solely down to the artist's management, and the way that they are promoted. For example, a famous boyfriend/girlfriend, appearances at events and so on..
Stars are artificial images that are entirely constructed by their management, even though they are represented to be the image they give off to be the "real them". What gives certain stars the edge is something that can become a trend to be copied by hundreds and hundreds of fans. A good example of an image being replicated is Bono's 'Fly' sunglasses or Biebers haircut.
A quote from Dyer's book, Stars reads: “A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music]).”
A good example that helps to understand the star image 'process' is looking at shows like The X-Factor, or The Voice as it allows the audience to meet a performer with their own pre-existing image, and then watch this image evolve into a synthetic or even organic image. However, this happens in such a heightened and fast paced way due to the limited time that they have.
Eyeline angled downwards to the left, suggesting his shyness. However, it suggests a slight legitimacy to his character. His clothing is basic yet clearly styled in such a way that makes him look plain but deliberate. This shows that despite his organic image, there is still some type of control over his image.
His image is also fairly shady, this adds an air of mystery and a look that suggests he is an unruly teen.
This is typical of an indie folk artist, as they are using what they already have at their disposal to promote their product.
The colours are very neutral, and the background out of focus. This highlights his facial features that show him to be a young, classicaly handsome man.
His music is typically indie and slightly old fashioned with a guitar dominating instrumentally. This old fashioned aspect is reinforced by the sepia toned editing.
His name is in large bold writing and underlined, which introduces you to the artist and draws your initial attention when looking at the cover.
The lack of an album name on the cover shows its irrelevance when compared to the album's content.
In terms of Star image, he is presented to be very simplistic, shy and humble, which again shows that he is an organic artist as a synthetic artists album cover would focus on them entirely.
Madonna's, 'Like a Prayer' music video clearly follows the main theme of religion, and the focus is mainly on that of religion in black culture, and of Roman catholicism. There are also themes of racism in America.
The narative follows the protagonist Madonna, who appears to be talking to an image of a black jesus. This image is seen by the audience through their oppositional reading as this figure was intended to be seen as the patron saint of mixed raced people. However, the image of a black Jesus was far more dominant than the intended reading. This suggests that maybe Madonna was being deliberately controversial in making this video. The image induces her to enter a dream like state. This is shown through the lyrics and supported by the cinematography. For example, the lyrics are 'It's like a dream, no end and no beginning/ You're here with me, it's like a dream' and as she lies on the ground, the lyrics are, 'I close my eyes', which is when the camera cuts to show her floating through the sky.
As Madonna ask's the lord for help, the black figure of Jesus comes to life, as if answering her prayer, which further enhances the religious theme in the video. Also, the fact that this wax figure has come to life suggests a kind of miracle happening. Furthermore, this is enhanced as she picks up a dagger and grasps it, which leaves stigmata upon her hands, as if she has been nailed to a cross.
We see why she needed help as the camera shows a gang of men acting as the villains attacking a woman, who is the victim, and stabbing her in the side.
This is another religious idea as Jesus was stabbed in the side by the Romans. The narrative progresses to show the black man that came to life previously, coming to help the girl being attacked. As the attackers run, a police car arrives and the headlights shine on the man who is holding the girls head, checking to see if she is okay. The camera cuts to show the man pinned against the wall being handcuffed.
This is following the idea that there is racism in America, assuming that this man was the one who attacked the woman. It is also something that is still a problem in todays society with police brutality against people of opposite ethnicity holding extreme relevance. The fact that the audience know that the man is innocent and is simply trying to help the girl subverts the stereotype that some people have, saying that black people commit more crime than white people.
The lyrics further develop the story as she next sings, 'Life is a mystery', which is Madonna asking the question of why do black people get discriminated by white people? During this part of the song and video, we see her singing and dancing infront of burning crosses, which suggest further racist elements to the music video as KKK (Klu Klux Klan) members often set great wooden crosses alight at their meetings.
Due to the problems of the time that this song was released (1989), this video would have been highly controversial. This was because there were still many white supremacist groups in the American south, and images such as a black Jesus, and a black man being made to look better than a group of white men would have sparked outrage among these groups. Therefore, Madonna's target audience will have been to her pre-existing fans, obviously, and to people with open minds and a modern way of thinking, ready to listen to the message that she is trying to get across.
The video shows her to be organic as she has been styled in a way that is very much keeping up with the current fashion of the time. For example, the low cut around her breasts, and the bra and dress strap hanging loosely on her arm. This has led her to become a sort of fashion icon, with copies of the dress selling on fancy dress websites.
Madonna's star image is one that is very sexualised, with provocative clothing and sexual connotations in her lyrics, such as, 'In the midnight hour I can feel your power', and 'I'm down on my knees'. In the video specifically, there is much focus on her breasts, for example;
The rest of the narrative follows a gospel choir singing the song with her, and there is a theatrical sense added to the video with the use of stage curtains and text reading 'The End'. This shows the audience that this is just a performance, and that she is just a star and artist singing her song.
Lets begin by looking at Coldplay, a British indie/alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist, Chris Martin and lead guitarist Johnny Buckland, with bassit Guy Berryman and drummer, back-up vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Will Champion joining later. To begin with the band was called 'Pectoralz', later changed to 'Starfish' at the time of the addition of Berryman, however it wasn't until 1998 that the final name, 'Coldplay' was decided.
The band achieved world wide success and fame in 2000, with the hit single 'Yellow', followed by the release of their debut single 'Parachutes' that same year. This booted the band into further stardom, as it not only won the mercury prize, but remained in the chart's top ten for 32 weeks.
Album cover for Parachutes
The album artwork here is of a simple design using minimalistic font, however this works well with the bright, glowing light of the globe as it highlights the simple text. This in turn, makes it absolutely clear to the audience who this band is, and what their new album is. The simplistic style of the cover connects to the genre of the band, who are simple, using their vocal and instrumental skills to sell their products for them, instead of relying on complex art work. Overall, Coldplay seemed to have followed the saying 'Less is More' with this album cover.
Coldplay's music videos tend to fall into two main catagories, one that see's the band performing live, which is a typical convention of indie rock as it focuses on the passion of the artists' rather than the content of the video. Alternatively, some of their videos see Chris Martin on some sort of journey, usually at the the forefront of the shot. In a general sense, the band's music videos have little or no story line, as this way it focuses on the talent and on the lyrics, which is more difficult to achieve in a high tech and complex video.
The music video from the single 'Clocks', falls into the former catagory.
The video for the video 'The Scientist' falls in the latter catagory.
'Clocks' was from the 2002 album, 'A Rush of Blood to the Head', which had its own Digipak.
Album cover for A Rush of Blood to the Head'
Digipak
A Rush of Blood to the Head was the second studio album that Coldplay released. It came out on 26th August 2002 through the record label, Parlophone. In 2003, the album won the grammy for the Best Alternative Album, and the single, 'Clocks' won the 2004 grammy for Record of the Year.
It shows recent promotional activity by the band. For example, they recently did a sketch for Red Nose Day, 'Game of Thrones- The Musical', which shows off their charitable aspects and in media terms, their synergistic forms.
There is also a side bar on the right titled, 'Jump to Era', which allows fans to follow Coldplay's timeline of work, as they have been big and popular artists for so many years. On the left there is another interactive button that you can click, and this causes a side screen to appear where you can filter the different catagories such as,
All of this allows the band to look good for their fans, and on the whole works to promote their
Now lets look at the heavily contrasting artist Rakim Mayers or as he is better known, A$AP Rocky. He is an American rapper from Harlem, in New York City and is also a member of the A$AP Mob, where he subsequently gained his moniker. Rocky released his debut mixtape 'Long.Live.A$AP' in 2011 to critical acclaim and due to the success of this mixtape he was given record deals with Polo Grounds Music, RCA Records, and Sony Music Entertainment. Following this he released his debut album, also titled 'Long.Live.A$AP', which was debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
He has also directed music videos for himself and other A$AP Mob members. He is also a noted record producer, working under the pseudonym, Lord Flacko.
Just five days ago on 26th May 2015, Mayers released his second studio album, 'At.Long.Last.A$AP'
The album artwork here focuses on the artist in the main. The text is small and simplistic but clearly advertises Mayers' nickname, A$AP Rocky, and along the side reads the name of the album, with a small American flag alongside it, which appeals to the patriotism of the average American citizen. The picture is eye catching, showing big clunky jewlery on his hand, which is a 'look' often associate with hip-hop artists. This works well to quickly establish Mayers' image. We also see a tattoo of a cross just below the right eye, which further establishes his image as rappers often have many tattoo's. The majority of the picture is in black and white, however there is a splash of colour below the left eye featuring pinks, reds, purples and blues. This draws the attention to his eye which is in focus and looking straight at the camera, which contrasts to the other eye which is out of focus and shut. This suggests an intimitading presense but one that is interacting with its fans.
Mayers music videos follow conventions typical of the hip-hop music scene and the video for 'F**kin' Problems' Ft. Drake, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar is a good example of his type of music video.
This video features girls, sexual themes, and lots of gold jewelry. Along with the lyrics, the video symbolise wealth and a gangster lifestyle.
The music video from L$D (Love x $ex x Dreams), a single from his most recent album introduces even more conventions of the hip-hop music scene; drugs, bright, flourescent lights and more girls. The video has a slight psychedelic tone to it, which is prodominently shown through the lighting. The idea of this tone is supported by the title of the song, 'L$D', which is the same name as a psychedelic drug.
The albums digipak
Here is a screengrab of A$AP Rocky's website, which is strongly advertising his knew album from the moment the you open the site. It also tells you what platforms that you can download the album from, which is made easier with each logo of these platforms acting as a link the place you can buy it.
Once you enter the main sight, you are presented with a list of news regarding A$AP Rocky, which is predominently interviews. One of which shows him discusing his opinions on fellow artists in the music industry and even his 'prefered drugs'.
On the right hand side of the page there are scroll down side screens showing his own, and others latest tweets, and his tour dates:
At the top of the page there are links taking you to different areas of the website:
If you follow the link to the online webstore there are a number of items of clothing available for purchase, as well as A$AP Rocky's new album. However, the merchandise doesn't appear to specifically appear to promote Mayers' as an artist, but more the A$AP Mob as a collective.
As you can see, the website has adjusted it's currency as it can see that I am browsing from the United Kingdom, rather than the United States or else where in the world.
Stars are artificial images that are entirely constructed by their management, even though they are represented to be the image they give off to be the "real them". What gives certain stars the edge is something that can become a trend to be copied by hundreds and hundreds of fans. A good example of an image being replicated is Bono's 'Fly' sunglasses or Biebers haircut.
