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Monday 8th June
Michael Jackson
A case study of Richard Dyer's star theory is Michael Jackson, as a star his image has changed with time from before the 1970s when he was in a band with his brothers in Jackson 5.
Michael Jackson was a child hwen his music career began when he joined Jackson 5 at seven years old. He took center stage as the lead vocals and was quickly recognised for his talent. This makes him extraordinary because he was such a young boy when he began his musical career but also keeps him ordinary because he's still just a child.
At this time he was presented as youthful and innocent performing for fun with his brothers.His image was young and happy, it was family based and he would've gained popularity based on this image. This presents Dyer's first paradox as he's both ordinary and extraordinary.
His original image was constraucted using the common values of youthfulness (since he was a child) and creativity/talent since when he was that age artists would've been unable to use auto tune or have developed technology to alter their voices and singing.
In 1972 Michael Jackson took his career solo, still keeping his youth but heavily relying on his talent as a child star to keep his career going. A task he was successful in until his death in 2009.
ABC
This song was created by the Jackson 5 in the 70's. you can see the performance and narrative, as the family perform the song, as they tell the story of being in a classroom being taught music. the song starts at 6:31, over half way through the video, showing how important the narrative is. This makes them seem ordinary, as school is seen as an ordinary thing to do, however, they are extraordinary in their ability to get up and perform thier song in the middle of a classroom. This normality makes them seem present in a fans life, they are 'normal' and do normal things, however, they are absent as only they can get up and perform in a classroom without it being disruptive, which gives them a USP ( unique selling point) which makes them even more extraordinary, and even more of a star.
Thriller
This song was released in 1982 from the album, also named 'Thriller'. it is one of his highest grossing songs. The video is a narrative, which can be seen in the opening title' Michal Jackson's Thriller' and the credits at the end. This makes the video seem more like a short film, rather than a music video. This is true, as the video is over 13 minutes long, with the music only starting at 4 minutes 17 seconds. In addition, the narrative begins at the start of the video, with Michael playing a character in a film, talking to his girlfriend. After he has turned into a were-wolf ( the plot of the film he is watching) the shot cuts to an establishing shot of a cinema audience. This shows Richard Dyers theory that a star must be ordinary and extraordinary, as he is both the star of the movie, giving him celebrity film star status, and yet he is ordinary enough to watch it in the cinema with the general public. As they talk outside the cinema, the iconic riff begins, and fades to a lower volume as they talk, showing it more like backing music in a film rather than the main, recognisable riff of the song. As they walk home, the lighting is low key, showing that not everything is how it seems, through the connotation of dark being bad. As the shot Tracks them past a graveyard, the short close-ups on a grave, so you can see the zombies start to move. After the nondiegetic monologue, there is a musical attack, which accentuates the narrative of being surrounded by zombies. As Michael becomes a zombie, he dances the iconic 'Thriller' dance with them. This also shows Dyers theories, as only Michael can dance with these zombies that everyone else is seemingly scared of. This shows him as braver than everyone else, giving him a special talent.
This is it
This song was the namesake of his 'This is it' Tour, scheduled for 2009, before his death. As a result, the music video is a montage of backstage clips and rehearsals. This shows Dyers theories, as he is ordinary, as it shows he has to rehearse to perform amazing shows, it is not all spontaneous talent, and he is having a laugh with other, ordinary people, however, he is extraordinary because he is the sole star out of all of the other performers shown in the video. Furthermore, he is present, as he is walking around on his own backstage, this is normal behaviour for someone preparing for a show. This normality in a place we recognise and expect him to be makes him present. the camera work is simplistic, the the majority being tracking shots showing him relaxing, laughing or dancing. This video is a narrative, as it is showing his story of being backstage.