Richard Dyer - Star Theory

The terms "pop performer" and "pop star" have become interchangeable. In media terms they are not the same thing. The study of stars as media texts and components of media texts, demands that the distinction made between those who are simply known for performing pop music and those who are known for being pop stars, have an identity or character which is not restricted solely to their musicianship.

One of the reasons so many pop performers are described as pop stars is that they are quickly promoted to this status by their management. However, a true pop star does have a lasting significance, and has "brand awareness" amongst a wider market over a period of time. Many of the so-called pop stars populating the top forty currently have not made a sufficient sociological or cultural impact to be classified as true stars if we return to Richard Dyers’ definition. They will be forgotten by all but their most avid fans within a few years.

Stars are constructed, artificial images, even if they are represented as being "real people", experiencing real emotions. It helps if their image can be copied and/or misrepresented because of it. Pop stars have the advantage over film stars in that their constructed image may be much more consistent over a period of time, and is not dependent on the creative input of others such as screenwriters writing their lines.  

Dyer proposes that, “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, for example; advertising, magazines and films.”

Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose; to make money out of audience, who respond to various elements of a star’s personality by buying records and becoming fans. Record companies shape their stars in a similar way to how TV talent shows have shown us such as X Factor. They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want. However, there are whole markets out there who are not convinced by the hype and don't want to spend their money on blandness. The record industry also has a duty to provide bands and artists who are perceived as 'real' for these audiences. Pop stars are the product of their record company because they show individual costume style towards their fans to make them stand out and sell themselves for fans to buy their albums.

Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, and promote a certain ideology. Audience interest in these values enhances their 'star quality', and it is through conveying beliefs, ideas and opinions outside music that performers help create their star character to their fans. A star may start a fashion trend, with masses of fans copying their hairstyle and clothing. Stars benefit from cultural discourse for example, via their Twitter feed. Now more than ever before, social networks give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music. Lady Gaga tweets frequently about issues, and expects her “Little Monsters” (The name of which Lady Gaga calls her fans)  to engage with that discourse just as much as she expects them to listen to her music.

On the other hand, pop stars establish their character and personality through songs and performance and will strive for immediate star identity with a first album. They appear to have more control over their character in that many of them write their own songs, and that their body of work develops, chronologically over time, along with society.

Andrew Goodwin's Six Points

I have applied Goodwin's six points to my chosen band and their song for my music video:

1. Music videos demonstrate the genre characteristics -  For Edelweiss, because they are a Gypsy Punk band there will be shots of them on the stage performing in front of an audience, green Lazar lights and unusual props dotted around the band to show their quirky attitude. 
2. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals - My chosen lyrics tell a story of a girl one of the band members  met in a bar and so I will incorporate some shots of the girl and a bar with the lead singer.
3. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals -  The main instruments used in the song are Guitar, bass guitar and a drum set, to show that the band have used these, I will include a few long shots of the band playing together and a few extreme shots of the guitar and the drums being played. 
4. The demand of the record label will include the need for a lot of close ups of the artist/band which may develop motifs to make their work recognisable - As the genre of the song is indie, I want to go with the conventions of this style but include a twist. For my music video, I want the band members to wear checked shirts and rolled up sleeves either designer; the preferred label would be Fred Perry, Dc Martins style shoes, pierced ear with thick black stud. With this in mind, I do not want the band to look Gothic. There will also be a lot of close up shots of the band so that their band identity id recognisable which would influence people to want to look like them.
5. Is there a frequent reference to the notion of looking and the particularity voyeuristic treatment of the female body - In my music video there will not be a constant image of the female body, however, the girl in the music video would be good-looking but the camera angle to not portray her in any sexual way.
6. There is often inter textual reference - The music video style would be similar to the Arctic Monkeys because the genre is similar.

Animatic to an existing music video

Below is the animatic to an excisting music video.

Above is the completed animatic of my chosen song by an existing band. For this we had to work in pairs or groups. I worked with Charlotte who is also a media student. We took each activity of this assignment on drawing and colouring. I mainly drew the characters and Charlotte coloured. Due to the amount of drawings I coloured in some of the drawings as well. Because of this, we noticed that there was a difference in colouring styles; I tended to shade in the characters, while Charlotte outlined them as well as colouring the drawings. To get this animatic style we first took photographs of the drawings, then cropped and edited them if needed. After we loaded all of them onto imovie and with help from our storyboard and the actual music video we have tried to match it. By looking at the music video for this song while editing the music video we were able to get the camera movements and timing of the scene correctly.

The animatic will help me when I am preparing for my own music video because it will help me understand how many different types of shots are typically used in the genre of my chosen song and how many different scenes are used in the music video. It will also open my ideas for the storyline of which the song is portraying and how I will show it to my audience. The purpose of the animatic is to help my ideas flow into the music video and to see what works with the song and what does not. By doing an animatic, it makes it easier to get a rough idea on what your final music video may look like when your ideas come together in a music video format.

To practice making a storyboard for my own music video I have made a storyboard to an existing music video. I have chosen the song "moving to New York" by The Wombats because the genre of this song will be similar to the song that I will choose from an unsigned band. The storyboard will lead me in preparation for my actual chosen song by giving me an idea of how long it will be with time and length of the song. It will also give me an idea of the range of camera shots that are mainly used for a particular genre of music and also what will feature in the genre of music that I have chosen, such as different locations of the band. After creating the storyboard to this music video I will create an animatic of the drawings of the different shots that were used to follow the song. 

With the song that I have chosen from The Wombats, their style or genre of music tends to be indie, pop rock. With this in mind their music videos tend to show the band playing at gigs, behind stage or just mainly the lead singer and tell a story behind the song that they are singing. This music video has repeated shots of the band playing on the TV. The lead singer is shown to have a deranged mind in which he imagines strange things such as the hamster on the railway track and a stripper in the middle of a meeting room. Other members of the band are shown acting different characters as well. 

Conventions of a rock music genre

Rock come in many different forms. when we think of a rock music genre, we think of the typical music elements such as electric guitars, amplifiers and drums, but this is just a few of the many elements that build up the rock music genre. There are seven sub-genres of rock define the genre as we see each phase of history, bringing in new sound elements which add to the diverse genre. 

From 1963 - 1970 the first age of rock was the birth of rock music, this is regarded as more of a phase in history rather than the actual genre. Well known musicians of this time were bands and artists such as The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. During the 60's, (the birth of rock) the music from this era of rock reflected the events that happened. The topics of events that where included in their song were events such as the Vietnam War and the death of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, these topics were heard in Jimi Hendrix's music.

 

The second stage of rock was a whole new level from 1966 - 1980, it was called art rock. It was moving away from the typical conventions of guitarists and drums, and so the second phase bought a revolution to rock music, Art rock was more theatrical and dramatic, it was no longer a group of people on stage playing instruments, instead it was a theatrical piece. Bands such as Pink Floyd and Genesis took over rock in 1967 to a different level. Making rock branch out trying different styles of music; being more expressionistic with an artistic and theatrical twist.  

From 1973 – 1980, New York and London was the birth of punk, it marked the biggest fundamental shift in popular music since Elvis. During this era, a band called Blank Generation stated the relationship between the bankrupt society of New York and the class and race-riven London in their songs. Famous bands and artists of this era included people like The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Buzzcocks and The Clash.

The fourth generation is the largest surviving and the loudest genre of rock, it is called the generation of Heavy Metal. It has been the most controversial and the most misunderstood of all of the rock genres. Emerging from the end of the hippy dream into the industrial England, Heavy Metal would go on to secure the most loyal fan base. From this era, the genre includes  famous band and artists such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Metallica and Iron Maiden. 

Stadium rock marked the fifth generation of rock from 1965 - 1993. It follows the development of some of the biggest  names such as queen, The Police, and Bruce Springsteen. Through events such as Live Aid and the rise of MTV, rock achieved a global influence on culture and politics. 

The rise of Alternative rock started from the 1980's - 1994 in the USA. Alternative rock is referring to a generation of musicians by their musical style as independent and a D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock. Typical artists and bands of this era of rock music are people such as The Pixies, 3 Doors Down and Gorillaz.

Beginning with The Smiths, by returning to its roots of performing in bars and clubs, bands such as Franz Ferdinand, The Liberties and The Arctic Monkeys became acceptable again. This is how the rock genre is seen today and how most popular bands in this genre are represented to the public. 

Typical Conventions of Rock Music Videos.

• Usually dark and deep colours used throughout the video.
• The music video will contain shots of the band or artist playing, performing on stage.
• There is usually no narrative, artists and bands in this genre try to keep it eerie and quirky. 
• Uneasy hand held camera movements. 
• Usually no use of special effectss

Conventions of a Pop music genre

The pop genre is very mainstream which is listened to worldwide, making it successful. The genre itself is aimed to all kinds of people but it is more specifically targeted for the younger generation. As oppose to other genres, pop aims to appeal to a general audience rather than an ideology or culture with the aim of getting the most singles sales and top the music singles and album charts. The music would often have the theme of love and relationships and so this would be reflected in the music video. The music video itself would sometimes have a dance routine which is choreographed to look neat and in line with the song. 

The artist would wear fashionable clothing that is in the trend or they often start the clothing trends that are on the height street. Pop magazines are mainly colourful which show current in the charts pop artists and bands on the front cover and in the content of the magazine. The pop magazines are usually more about the success in the music industry and not about celebrities.


Typical pop artists and bands in this genre are people such as:

• The Saturdays 
• JLS
• Katy Perry
• Britney Spears
• Justin Beiber
• One Direction
• The Wanted
• Jessy J

Pop artists are represented in a sexual way, referring to the Laura Mulvey theory of the male gaze. In recent years, women have been making their own decision on what they wear. 

Technology has updated dramatically. The use of animation in music videos makes it more interesting for the viewer to watch.

Make-up and hair play a major role in pop music videos, the use of brightly coloured lipstick, exaggerated eye make-up and noticeable hair styles are done to make them stand out from other pop artists, to create an individual look and a brand identity for themselves. For example Lady Gaga is made unique from other pop artists by her bleach blonde hair, revealing bodysuit clothing and exaggerative high heels.  

Bright lighting and vibrant colours are used in pop music videos to make it more attractive for the audience to watch and it makes it look more expensive. 

Conventions of Hip-Hop music videos

Hip-hop music has originated from places in Africa and the Caribbean where music such as jazz, soul and blues has influenced the creation of hip-hop music. Hip-hop music explores themes of love, relationships, everyday struggles, prejudice, unfairness and gang culture. Through this they also follow the conventions of the ways life and people are presented.  For example, hip-hop music tends to represent women as sex objects and they represent men as powerful and confident. They also present their lives to be a hard struggle and they are constantly wanting to earn money. 

The music video usually shows the artists or the band in a club or a party environment.

There are normally female dancers involved in the music video which are wearing revealing clothing. The dance routine would also be well chroeographed to match the rythem of the song and the dancers would also wear similar or the same clothing as each other.

 

The music video normally features jewellery, alcohol, sport cars and branded clothing. This is because hip-hop music is normally about showing the singer's wealth and power.

In hip-hop music videos they also tend to feature other famous artists in their music video to show their fan that they have famous connections which emphasises their wealth and power.

Typical arists of this genre include:

• 50 cent
• B.I.G
• T-pain
• Biggy
• Missy Elliott

Conventions of R&B Music Videos

Fashion

Men

· Jeans - If the male artist is pictured topless then they are usually wearing jeans which will be slightly low so that you can just see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt to emphasise their wealth.

· Tattoos - Most male R&B artists have tattoos, usually on their chest or on their arms. They will also have multiple tattoos and not just one.

· Jewellery - Unlike male hip-hop artists, R&B singers wear subtle jewellery like a watch, chain and earrings, whereas in hip-hop music videos, they would wear thick gold and diamond encrusted jewellery that is exaggerated.

Women

• Minimal clothing - Usually wear very little clothing so that their stomachs are on show, this is because to the male fans, they are meant to be seen as objects to desire.
• Hair and Make-up - Their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye catching way. Their make-up is also very bold and defined but not too exaggerated. A gold or shimmery eye-shadow is usually used to make their eyes look very flattering. To show power, some female R&B artists wear red lipstick in their music videos.
• Heels - R&B females wear very high heels to elongate their legs because they are wearing minimal clothing. However, some females wear designer trainers for choreographed scenes.
• Jewellery - Big earrings and necklaces are worn but in some cases, big necklaces are worn on women to break the gender stereotype because it is usually men who wear big necklaces and not women in R&B music videos.

Below is a music video by Ciera called Like a boy. This is a good example of showing how some music videos in R&B question the gender devision.

What is target auience?

A target audience is a specific or a group of people who are mainly targeted towards the media text, with it being, music videos, films, television programs etc. An example of a target audience is The Wombats; they mainly target people who are around the age of early teenagers (14 years old) and older. There is not a specific age in which they want to target. The reason for this is because they have pop elements in their songs, even though, they are an indie band, and this makes their songs catchy and memorable to their audience. Moreover, their gender divide between their fans is even, but mainly females would choose to listen to their songs rather than males because their songs feature topics of relationships and break ups.  


To get an in depth idea on the benefits of having a target audience. I have create a questionnaire in which my peer members have filled out, stating what kind of music they like and what in their opinion makes a good music video. Below are graphs and pie charts which I have made in correlation with the questionnaire that other people have filled out for me. I asked answers from 15 people, all of which have a different preferred choice of genre in  music. 

This questionnaire has helped me to understand what different people prefer from a music video and what type of genre they prefer. It will help me to understand how to accustom my  target audience with my music video. 

Codes and conventions of music videos

What is it?

Codes and conventions is a way of constructing meaning through media text and it can be divided into two separate categories; technical and symbolic:

Technical:

• How equipment and technology is used to construct meaning 
• Camera angles and different types of shots 
• Editing - pace of the footage, style and effects 
• Sound - diegetic and non-diegetic, genre of the music

Symbolic:

• Meaning of the media text that is created beyond what is obvious. For  example, specific  facial expressions 
• Mise en scene - costumes, locations, props 

Reason for conventions

Codes and conventions are a firm set of rules that are set to what media texts should contain. It allows the audience to become familiar with certain genres as the audience will become accustomed to seeing particular things, such as the use of drums and guitars in rock and indie genre music videos. This also ensures that certain media text works well into its music genre.

Codes and conventions specific to the different styles of music videos

Music videos can be categorised depending on the style of the music video such as the showing the performance of the band/artist playing on stage at a gig or in their practising basement within their music video. Music videos often have a narrative to go along with the song, this will be done to show the audience different connotations which are beyond the meaning of the lyrics of the song. This also puts pressure on music directors to ensure that their narrative is interesting for the audience to watch and it is in line with the beat of the song, also to make sure that it flows and corresponds with the song. Some music genres have a mixture of both performance and narrative based work in the music video. Below is a list of a few things that are important for music videos:

• Camera movement - A variety of shots depending of the genre of the music video. For example in rock music videos there would mainly be extreme close up shots of the instruments played by members of the band which are used in the song.
  
  - Mixture of camera shot to show lip synchronization of the artist/band singing their song along with close up shots of instruments being played, camera shots of the band performing on stage.
  
  - Crane shots sometimes used to hover over the band/artist performing on stage, or in a dance or pop music video to hover over the people who are dancing in the music video.
  
  - Low angle and high angle shots to show the band/artist
  
  - Pan and camera tilts are mainly used when there are dance performers to switching to different dancers
  
  - Tracking shot to follow the movement of the artist, band or dancers that are in the music video
  
  -There may also be medium or close up shots of the band/artists showing their facial expression.
• Editing and sound - Usually in music videos, they feature jump cutting, which is a transition between two shots and it appears as a "jump" due to the way the camera shots are framed in relation to each other.
  
  - The footage is normally edited to match the beat/rhythm of the music
  
  - Split screen and CGI is sometimes used to make the music video more interesting for the viewer to watch.
  
  - Some producers may choose to use diegetic sound in the music video in some scenes.
  
  - Form the start of the music video there is usually a change in the level of sound; the music would fade in at the start and then fade out towards the end of the music video.
• Mise en scene
  - This can vary depending on the genre of the music and the type of music video
  
  - Props are sometimes used if there is a narrative behind the song
  
  - Performance equipment such as guitar, microphone stand, drums kit, are used in the music video to give realism to the viewer that they are a band.
  
  - Band merchandise can also be shown in the music video to promote their band identity but to also make their fans want to buy their merchandise
  
  - Costume - for different types of genre of music there are certain dress codes to give realism to their audience that they are of a certain genre. For example, indie bands would wear something that is quirky and start a new trend; they would wear chinos and proberly an Aztec design rolled up sleeved shirt.
  
  - Locations for music videos are usually based around the lyrics of the song and the genre of music. Typical locations for most music videos that feature a band are usually shown at venues where they perform in front of a crowd or they could be shown walking through streets.