Task Two

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Through looking at Richard dyer’s theory of star image we have conveyed how elements of the star image are sold through our creative choices in our pop video, digi pack cover and poster. In addition, our group also looked closely at how the three products have worked together to sell the artist and where there may be some contradictions in the images created. A star image is constructed from a range of materials as Richard dyer points out “a star is an image, not a real person”. Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, TV and music, he furthers the ideas of stars being created to sell an therefore go against realism when he says “stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings”. The star we have used in our music video shares many common values of music stardom. Our male singer is young, rebellious and may be seen as a sexual magnet in the eyes of many women. The song is rather aggressive and is original, creative and our singer shows much talent. The fact that our star is alone conforms to the country and western stereotypes of solitude however there is a major element of realism and authenticity in our pop promo as it’s not the typical glossy and positive atmosphere that is constructed in many other pop videos, this is our unique selling point. We have gone against the stereotypical ways of constructing a music video and have used a “naturalistic” approach to our artist and therefore the artist is given time to evolve and progress throughout their career however at the same time we made sure our star is attractive to our audience , as our star emotionally sensitive and is portrayed to be experienced for his age, because of his life crisis and heartache this is extremely attractive to teenage girls as I am sure many can relate to his painful experience. Richard dyer believes that “fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and open”. He states that this is based on two key paradoxes. Firstly the star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary from the consumer and secondly must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumers. We have followed dyers ideology and have effectively made sure that the fans of our star will go away determined to continue consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete their image.

Image 1 is an image of the artist looking directly at the camera and reveals the direct address used in our music video. Although we incorporated little direct address in our product, the audience can still feel a connection between themselves and the artist (star) as it is as if he was singing directly to the audience or fans, trying to include them in his misery and isolation. Moreover our stars sexual magnetism and youth shines through, thus attracting the female target audience. This next image is of the opening shot of our music video. By showing the location we immediately break away from the country and western genre as the image reveals the urban, modern and industrialized setting as opposed to the traditional location usually including hay bales, horses and a barn. The opening shot instantly sets the mode of address and signifies key aspects of the star image. The majority of our music video’s rawness and originality came from the use of the location, Battersea power station. Our chosen location created a lot of emotion, thus an emotional metaphor was created through the dark and sinister landscape that sat in the heart of British culture in central London. Many people can relate to our pop video as most people are aware of battersea power station and know it is a building that represents neglect and abandonment.

Image 3 is used as juxtaposition from the darkness and urban decay to remind the audience that there are some positive aspects of star image. Moreover the glow and brightness of light reflected on our stars face and use of close up further emphasizes our stars quality and furthers the idea that our star is an anecdote towards the troubled young people of today’s society. Moreover the bright colours used here conform to western stereotypes. Image 4 is an example of inter cutting. We used light to create juxtaposition between the dark and sinister atmosphere and the hope and despair of the artist. This particular shot is so powerful and dramatic; it really depicts the singer’s stardom and uniqueness. Moreover the jump cuts used symbolize the unstable and troubled mind of our star. These images and jump cuts paradox the positive and bright atmosphere to reinforce the disheartened and pensive star to emphasise the fact that he is an enigma, the urban decay symbolises the modern day decrepit nature of an economically oppressive society and further breaks the stereotypes of the country and western genre.Another technique we used to construct our star image was blurs, in after effects we blurred some of our shots to reinforce and dramatise the fact that our star is unbalanced and has emotional issues. Our artist is shown constantly holding his guitar with him and this emphasizes how he is clearly organic and competent musically yet he uses the guitar as a social weapon , he doesn’t play it at all in the video, this is to break away once again from the typicality’s of western genres.

Images 5 and 6 show the decaying location, which also symbolizes the abandonment felt by the artist as he feels neglected and uncared for. The image of the artist looking down is our album cover. One can see how the image does conform to the country and western stereotypes as our artist is alone. The use of the font creates a western theme however the distressed look on our artists face reveals how he is in deep thought and further emphasizes the ideas of a new modern day emotional man, thus appealing to the female young target audience as they may be able to relate to the problems he is so clearly struggling with. Furthermore the album cover reveals our artists youth and sexual magnetism which creates his star image.

The image including the artists tour dates is a poster. We used this to promote our star image. Although one can see we have tried to break away from the country and western genre we still used the typical prop of country music, the guitar. We convey a western style font and de saturation of color to ensure that we follow the country and western stereotypes. However the background of urban decay and the general atmosphere of modern day city life once again challenge the audience’s expectations, thus making our star more diverse and interesting, this gives him an edge and differentiates him from other artists.

The image of the guitar is our albums back cover. The use of sepia lighting appears to dramatise and symbolize the unstable and emotional star that we are trying to construct. Thus the guitar shows the stars genuine passion for music and we see his organic image and realism is revealed. This image shows the star to be a true musician and artist. therefore the target audience may connect to our star as they are convinced by his true authenticity of love of music, which further supports his emotional and mysterious image.