Star Image Analysis

What is a Star?

In its simplest form a star in the music industry is someone that is liked, idolized and very well known. Not only for their music but also for other things such as a fashion line, a shoe line, as an actor/actress and through having their own perfume line. A perfect example of a star is Beyoncé who is very well known and idolized not only for her music but also for her acting ability, fashion sense and through her knew perfume lines Heat.

What is a Star Image and how is it constructed?
A star image is the image that the star has or brand, how they sell themselves not only to their audience but to people in general. For instance using Beyoncé as an example again her star image is one of a sexual, feminine and dominating woman.

‘A star is an image constructed from a range of materials’ (Richard Dyer, 1979)

As Richard Dyer states a star image is constructed through a range of materials for instance music videos, posters, television appearances are just a few ways in which an image is constructed. However it must be pointed out that the most prominent way in which a star’s image is constructed and portrayed is through the star’s music videos. Beyonce for instance image is a sexualized one and this portrayed in her music videos through the fact that she shows her legs a lot and wear very few items of clothing which are usually very figure hugging to emphasise her body.

Why did I decide to carry out a star image analysis?

Richard Dyer’s idea is a factor in why I decided to do a star image analysis, to help me be able to see how a star’s image is constructed through a number of ways. I also wanted to find out about how a star’s image is carried through, changed and developed through a star’s music videos. As I wanted for my star in my music video to have a particular image for my artist that the audience could see how that image could and would be developed and changed. To make sure that the audience is interactive not only with my music video but also with my artist on more than one level.

Why did I choose Usher to base my star image analysis?

I decided to base my star image analysis on Usher as I have chosen to use an Usher song for my music video. I felt that I needed to know what Usher’s image is and how it has change; as Usher is a R&B artist so I wanted to see what makes an Usher video a R&B video. In the hope that I would be able to carry the codes and conventions that I found in the music videos that I looked at through too my own video. Furthermore I wanted to explore how the R&B genre has changed over time; in the hopes that this would influence in whether I fit the codes and conventions of the R&B genre in 2000 or the codes and conventions of the R&B genre in the present day or even have the codes and conventions of somewhere in the middle.

Usher Videos that I looked at: Think of You, You make me wanna, U dont have to call, Confessions II, Love in This Club, OMG and There Goes My Baby

A bit of brief background information about Usher

Usher is an American R&B singer/dancer/entrepeneur who is renowned throughout the world as a singer and dancer appealing mainly to the female audience. Usher is considered the new R Kelly of R&B as his been singing since 1994 with the release of his first album Usher. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (United States) on October 14 1978 Usher is currently 33 and rose to fame in 2001 with his third album 8701 which gave him two number one hits ‘U Got It Bad’ and ‘U Remind Me’. However his second album that was released in 1997 and is called My Way did give him a number one hit called ‘Nice and Slow’. His fourth album which broke the record for R&B first week sells by selling a massive 20million copies not only gave him four number ones ‘My Boo’ ‘Confessions Part II’ ‘Yeah’ and ‘Burn’ but also certified him as the new R&B king.  Usher’s fifth album Here I Stand gave him the number ‘Love In This Club’ followed by his sixth album Raymond vs Raymond gave him the number one hit ‘OMG’. Lastly Usher’s seventh album Versus gave him the number one hot ‘DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love’. Usher is further more an actor and has stared in movies such as ‘Light It Up’, ‘In the Mix’ and the ‘The Faculty’. Usher is crowned as one of the best R&B artist’s of all time and it is much debated if he is the best R&B artist of all time. The genres that Usher fits into are obviously R&B but he also fits into genres such as pop. At the start of Usher’s career he was undoubtedly an R&B star but with the progression of time Usher has evolved into a mixture of an R&B, Pop and Soul artist.

Usher’s earliest image

The image of Usher when he first started in the music business was that of a naïve, innocent, young Romeo. Usher’s first few videos e.g. Think of You (1994) and You Make Me Wanna (2007) build up this image of Usher through things like the mise-en-scene consisting of baggy leather jackets and Usher having a mini afro which makes Usher seem very young. The leather jacket is commonly connoted with young people as the leather jacket is a fashion statement of cool. Right at the beginning of  Usher’s career props were hardly used however by the time it got to about 1997 props were introduced into Usher’s videos. In You Make Me Wanna props such as guitars, gold fish balls and chairs were introduced, this builds in with the idea that there is more to Usher than meets the eye. The guitar is a typical romantic instrument as it represents serenading and romance, the fact that Usher implies that he is playing the guitar shows the slight shift in his image. From one of a more passive romantic (i.e. just singing the song) to a more active one where he plays the guitar to her and tries to prove his feelings for her. Moreover Usher’s earlier videos are a mixture of narrative and performance, as Usher doesn’t ‘typically’ perform like he does in his later video’s e.g. Burn but Usher does mostly stand in front of the camera and sing. This could be taken as Usher performing to the girl that he is singing to, this connotes to the audience an edge of seriousness to the song. This adds another layer to Usher’s earlier image; whilst Usher’s image was one of innocence this seriousness gives him a sense of determination. The lyrics play a huge role in this image being established as they portray this sense of innocence as Usher can only see love as straightforward with no grey areas and no difficulties. Moreover the lack of dance routine that dominated Usher’s earlier video’s built on this image of innocence, connoting to the audience that Usher is too young and too new to the music industry too partake in dance routines. This heightened by the fact that behind Usher was female dancers with the mid shot showing Usher just looking into the camera singing.  Once again building on the idea of Usher being an innocent young Romeo. A range of shots were used in his earliest video’s from long shots to mid shots and this implies that there were a wide range of aspects to Usher’s image and personality. Additionally the fact that there are a range of shots suggests that Usher is indecisive as the shots change, such as in Usher’s video You Make Me Wanna the shots change constantly from close-up’s to mid shots to high angles to long shots. This adds another dimension to Usher’s earlier image as it points towards the idea that there are many different layers of Usher’s image which have to be thought about and dissected. The editing of the video’s also built on the image of Usher as no fancy editing for example eye-line-match or cutaways was used in Usher’s earliest videos. For example in Usher’s video Think of You the editing was one of Continuity Editing which creates the

The development of Usher’s image

The image of Usher is developed in his later videos to a more personal one with a close relationship with his audience and challenges his previous image by changing the aspect of his innocence to heartbreaker. The mise-en-scene is the first indication of this change in image, in his earlier videos the clothes that Usher wore were innocent and young yet in Usher’s later videos Usher is wearing tight fitted shirts, fitted jeans and shirtless in most of his videos. For instance in Usher’s You Don’t Have To Call video Usher begins the video by being naked from the waist up (only wearing his boxers) which fits into Usher’s image of openness and intimacy as it shows that he is comfortable enough to be semi naked in his videos. The props in his later videos also show this development in his image as they get more flashy and expensive looking, for instance in Usher’s Confession II video Usher has a piano as a prop. Pianos are typically associated with wealth as they are expensive, the fact that Usher has this as a prop shows that Usher’s image has changed in the sense that he is fitting into the convention of R&B where expensive props are used. What’s more though the use of the piano links back into earlier videos e.g. You Make Me Wanna whereby Usher is linking and tying himself to his earlier music videos which indicates that in a way Usher is still as innocent as he was in his first music videos. The shots that are used in his later videos portrays his development and change in his image, instead of having a wide range of shots like in his earlier videos the shot shifted to close-up’s, extreme close-up’s and mid shots. These shots tie in nicely with the more personal image that Usher had established with his audience as the close up shots helped to illustrate the emotion which Usher was showing in his more personal songs and videos.  Usher’s video Confessions II illustrates this perfectly for instance the close up shot at the beginning of the video highlights the pain that Usher felt at being told that he girl he slept with behind his girlfriend’s back is pregnant and keeping the baby.The editing of the Usher’s later videos has also developed along with his image, as more advanced editing is used for instance flashbacks were used in Usher’s U Got It Bad video and match on action in Usher’s 2008 video Love In This Club. This type of editing gives off a sense of maturity to Usher that wasn’t in his earlier videos which tells the audience that he has matured which is already established through his lyrics which aren’t as innocent as perhaps they were previously. The lyrics in Usher’s videos no longer talk about the innocence and beauty of love but of the complications and heartbreaks of love.

When Usher first started out there was a certain naivety to him which is illustrated by the youth if somewhat baggy costumes in the mise-en-scene the simple props and the innocence in the lyrics. Through the development of Usher’s music videos Usher’s image has changed to a more mature, open eyed and sexualized star. This has all been create by the loss of the innocence in the mise-en-scene i.e. having his shirt off all the time, the lyrics being sexualized and show the battles that he has been through in love.