"A star is a construct of the industry it pertains to, not a real person." - Richard Dyer
This is the idea first proposed by Richard Dyer, the English Specialist who proposed ideas about cinema, though his concepts apply incredibly well to the ideas of Music videos. The majority of successful music videos feature a subject performing the song the video is for. A further internal majority of these use a famous or well-known subject to complete this function or at least act in the video.
Essentially, people are complex. They are the perfect choice for the producer who wants to form an emotional connection between character and audience, but they are very difficult for the producer who is designing for the mass market. By selecting a well known actor to not act, but appear in the video, they achieve that cross-media convergence through synergy that mutually benefits both industries.
This is extremely general, however, as this isn't always the case. The producer of 'I Want Love' by Elton John, for instance, created the perfect balance as his choice of actor is impeccable, bettering the overall effect. The examples above are the more successful uses of stars, but often they are simply included to raise the reputation of the video. To work this way, I deeply considered involving the original artist of my music video, but the logistics were incredibly difficult. The opening scene - now another actor smoking and walking away form the function hall - was originally planned to be acted by the artist where I would contact him and ask for him to film it. Directing from so far away, however, would have been difficult and the result would not have been my own.
The theory further, predominantly applies to the exploitation of people to create images for the audience to enjoy or aspire to and ultimately dehumanises the subject. The main identifier for the occurrence of this is when artists become less-linked to their original medium. For example, Cheryl Cole started as a singer in a pop group and this was her identity. Quickly, however, she branched into other areas where she became a reality TV judge, product advertiser - needless to mention tabloid scandal. Her audience became more focused on her personal life and other exploits that music almost takes a side-line. This is, however, not at all to the detriment of her music career, but benefits her. Stars begin to profit from their status and audiences support their music not fir its quality, but their loyalty to them. This is so much more of a benefit to the industry as they have many stars to their disposal and can exploit them how they wish.
This is extremely general, however, as this isn't always the case. The producer of 'I Want Love' by Elton John, for instance, created the perfect balance as his choice of actor is impeccable, bettering the overall effect. The examples above are the more successful uses of stars, but often they are simply included to raise the reputation of the video. To work this way, I deeply considered involving the original artist of my music video, but the logistics were incredibly difficult. The opening scene - now another actor smoking and walking away form the function hall - was originally planned to be acted by the artist where I would contact him and ask for him to film it. Directing from so far away, however, would have been difficult and the result would not have been my own.
The theory further, predominantly applies to the exploitation of people to create images for the audience to enjoy or aspire to and ultimately dehumanises the subject. The main identifier for the occurrence of this is when artists become less-linked to their original medium. For example, Cheryl Cole started as a singer in a pop group and this was her identity. Quickly, however, she branched into other areas where she became a reality TV judge, product advertiser - needless to mention tabloid scandal. Her audience became more focused on her personal life and other exploits that music almost takes a side-line. This is, however, not at all to the detriment of her music career, but benefits her. Stars begin to profit from their status and audiences support their music not fir its quality, but their loyalty to them. This is so much more of a benefit to the industry as they have many stars to their disposal and can exploit them how they wish.
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