The Analysis of a Star - Ms Georgiou

How can a music video help to show an artist’s image?

A music video with all artists is used as a tool for consumers to get to know their idol. It is used as a way of drawing consumers into what artists are perceived as and what makes them so likable. Music videos are also used as a marketing tool which will help boost record sales. Different artists use different methods in the way they are perceived in their music videos and how they want to be shown to consumers, as well as what the artists record label wants them to be represented to. These different methods include;

-Clothing

-Props

-Lyrics

-Genre

-Hair and Make-Up

-Choreography

-Lighting

-Body language/Facial expressions

Britney Spears stared in her first music video was when she was just 16 years old, ‘From the Bottom of My Broken Heart’. The reason I chose to research Britney Spears was because she has always been in the public eye from a young age and was seen as a quiet, innocent young girl. However this perception and once reality has now changed and Britney’s image has been tarnished increasingly as her career has progressed. In the music video ‘From the Bottom of My Broken Heart’ Britney is portrayed to the audience as a young, innocent, sweet girl. From the setting of the video and the way she is dressed showing hardly any skin you are able to see that at that time she was the opposite of a sex symbol to which she now has now become. In the opening of the video she is dressed all in white which is a representation of purity and virginity. This perception has now changed of Britney when record sales of ‘From the Bottom of My Broken Heart’ were not as high as planned. This was then when her music label decided to play with her image to make sales rise. In the music video ‘Baby One More Time’ Britney is still portrayed as a young teenager in her school uniform, however a lot more skin is on show edging her towards a ‘good girl gone bad image’. This decision went in favour for Britney and her record label because it was the song that got Britney recognised making her a pop icon. This is proof that Dyer’s Star Theory is true as record sales increased significantly based on what the artist was wearing in each of her music videos. As a result of this she was able to target a much wider audience from the clothes she was wearing. One of the main points Dyer has addressed is that ‘A star is an image, not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials, for example; advertising, magazines as well as films and music etc. In this case Britney is portrayed as an object and being liked for her appearance and not her music which is a reflection that a star is an image and not a real person as in this case her looks where more important to consumers and her music label then her actual music was. 

After analysing ‘From the Bottom of My Broken Heart’ and ‘Baby One More Time’ I then went on and decided to analyse ‘Slave for You’. This music video was released in 2000 so it shows her career further down the line and how far she has become from an innocent young girl to a sex symbol. The lyrics of ‘Slave for You’ as well as costumes and setting have changed and are the opposite of the other two videos I have looked at. The clothes have changed vastly, she was wearing all white in the opening of the music video ‘From the Bottom of My Broken Heart’ and in ‘Slave for You’ she is wearing underwear over her jeans. This again represents her public image and what type of target audience she will attract from a music video like that. This again creates a link between Dyer’s Star Theory as again the artist is being portrayed as an object and not a real person. Her music videos are based on her outfits/appearance which indicates that without appealing to a wide market through looks the music being marketed to an audience would not be as successful. 

Goodwin’s Theory: (Goodwin has 7 points in his theory about music videos)

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference.
7. Whether the music video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and how elements of each is used within.  

All of Britney Spears’s music videos demonstrate genre characteristics because she is always doing a dance routine throughout her videos which relate back to her being the girl solo artist she is known for. Especially in pop music all artists are expected to dance as well as this pop music is also associated with upbeat music that consumers will be able to dance to. Moreover some of Britney Spears’s music videos demonstrate a relationship between lyrics and visuals. For example in ‘Piece Of Me’ Britney is talking about paparazzi and how they are always after her for a photo or picking on her through tabloid headlines. In the music video there is reference to paparazzi taking photos of her and headings in tabloid papers which the audience can see. However in ‘Baby One More Time’ there is no link between the lyrics and visuals in the music video. The lyrics have nothing to do with a school where the music video is set. This is also the case for music and visuals that I have picked up on from looking at a number of different music videos Britney Spears has done. 

There is a demand that the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. In ‘Womanizer’ there is a close up of a Nokia phone. This shows that record labels promote branded products while promoting their artist to consumers at the same time. There is also frequent notion of looking at parts of the female body. Britney Spears is seen as a sex symbol anyway so her record label uses that to their advantage by making sure a close up or panning shot is taken of her body to attract specific market segments. 

Genre and Generic Conventions:

The genre Britney Spears follows is Pop, she started off on a TV program in the US where she was recognised with others such as Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake


Artists Image:

Britney Spears’s image has changed vastly through the time she has been in the public eye. From her first music video she was portrayed as a sweet innocent young girl fully clothed showing no flesh at all, this image has now changed making her name be associated with a sexual image which has made her become popular within the music industry. All music labels experiment with their artists in order to get the correct image that will sell the most to consumers and for Britney from the very first stage she appealed to a different target audience than others. Following the style that Britney uses other artist such as Christina Aguilera who came from the same TV series as her is now also seen as a sex symbol as well. This leads me to conclude that women need to be portrayed as sexual references in order for sales to be boosted and gain higher revenue for the music industry that represents Britney Spears. Without having looks that consumers find attractive or want to aspire to have the music industry portrays that individuals will not be successful in following the mainstream representation if an artist is not good looking enough. Richard Dyer states that stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media. This means depending on magazines and being promoted through the radio or TV etc which makes an artist’s image appealing if consumer see that big magazine organisations are promoting certain artists. 

Target Audience:

Throughout the career of Britney Spears a number of different target audiences have been targeted through the use of promotional material and aspects that influence a specific group of people to enjoy something an artist produces. As Britney first started out she appealed to teenage girls and boys. All the young girls aspired to be like her whereas all the young boys wanted her to be their girlfriends. This shows how popular she was when she first entered her career as a music artist. When 'Baby One More Time' was released Britney was then recognised for being a creditable artist. Following this as her career progressed her target audience started to change as she became more of a sex symbol then a teenage idol. When 'Baby One More Time' was released Britney's image started to change and it went in her favour, ever since that video all the others that has followed has made her popular within all market segments. Even though Britney's managers decided to portray her as a sex image young teenagers never stopped aspiring to be like her, which is why she has such a strong fan base that has stuck with her throughout her personal life as well as her music life. Again this links in with the same point from Dyer’s Star Theory as again artists do rely on the media in order to be promoted to the public which suggests that consumers by into an artist from each type of media that interests them. 

In my opinion Britney and her managers chose to reinvent her image to make her more appealing to a wider target audience. By doing this they were able to keep the interest of the teenage segment while appealing to a male segment from being a sex symbol. In conclusion to this through the music she was producing she was able to keep the interest of her existing fans and was then able to create new fans by using the production of her music videos as a form of promoting her new images. 

All of the research I have conducted has made me decide on the artist I would like to use for the making of my own music video. I have decided to use a mainstream artist who's name is 'Shani', she sings the song hold me. It is important to get an artists image correct so that he/she is not portrayed as something they are not. If this does happen then consumers may feel cheated in the artist they have supported which is why it is vital to get an artists image correct. 

Dyer's Star Theory

All of Britney's videos represent her in a way that allow her to build a relationship between the audience watching her video and herself as an artist. Britney has always been in the public eye and has portrayed different representations that others can relate to more so than others. In the music video 'Slave' Britney is portrayed as a sexual object. The audience are able to tell this from the costumes of the artist and the backing dancers. It is also clear from the scene and tone of editing throughout the video which leads consumers to create a link between the artist and what she is portraying. In her earlier music videos 'Baby One More Time' and 'From the Bottom of my Broken Heart' she is portrayed as a young teenager who is just being established whereas in 'Slave' the audience can see she is no longer you young innocent teenager anymore. This leads me to conclude that the artist now can be seen as a product rather than an artist that is recognized for her music. As well as this Britney has become such an ordinary however extraordinary person as fans always have a view into her life. She can be seen as an ordinary mother and an extraordinary artist who has been very successful.

From the points I have picked out above I have also talked about Dyer’s Star Theory and how different elements of his theory are used more than others in order to create a perfect image/perception of artists in today’s society who follow the mainstream representation.

All of Britney's videos have meaning and some videos have tarnished her image whereas others has made her a success. An example of a video which has had an impact on her career was 'Oops I did it Again'. This music video has been used as a thing of the past that has made Britney's career face negative reviews and has been used as a tool of referencing a bad video. Having said that videos such as Slave and Toxic have been a massive success within the music industry and has made her career fall back on track.

Dyer's Star Theory:

Dyer has written extensively about the roles of stars in film, TV and music. Irrespective of the medium, stars have some key features in common:

• A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed out of a range of materials (e.g advertising, magazines etc as well as films and music.

• Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings

• Stars depend on a range of subsidiary media for example; magazines, TV, radio and the internet in order to construct an image for themselves which can be marketed to their target audiences.

• The star image is made up of a range of meanings which are attractive to the target audiences.  

Fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and ‘open’.  Dyer says that this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes.

Paradox 1:  

The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer.

Paradox 2:  

The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.

The Star Image:  

• The incoherence of the star image ensures that audiences continually strive to ‘complete’ or to ‘make sense of’ of the image.  

• This is achieved by continued consumption of the star through his or her products. 

• In the music industry, performance seems to promise the completion of the image, but it is always ultimately unsatisfying.  

• This means that fans will go away determined to continue consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete their image

• Finally, the star image can be used to position the consumer in relation to dominant social values (that is hegemony).

Depending upon the artist, this may mean that the audience are positioned against the mainstream (though only to a limited degree, since they are still consumers within a capitalist system) or within the mainstream, or somewhere in between.

  

“In these terms it can be argued that stars are representations of persons which reinforce, legitimate or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what it is to be a human being in this society.  There is a good deal at stake in such conceptions.  On the one hand, our society stresses what makes them like others in the social group/class/gender to which they belong.  This individualizing stress involves a separation of the person's "self" from his/her social "roles", and hence poses the individual against society.  On the other hand society suggests that certain norms of behaviour are appropriate to given groups of people, which many people in such groups would now wish to contest (e.g the struggles over representation of blacks, women and gays in recent years).  Stars are one of the ways in which conceptions of such persons are promulgated.”  

Richard Dyer (Stars, BFI, 1981)

Source: Wikipedia & Google