The Factory

Fluorescent Adolescent

How effective is the combination of your main

product and ancillary texts?

Star Image and Richard Dyer’s Theories

Dyer’s theory proposes that “a star image is not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials, such as advertising, magazines and film”

A star creates an image for themselves using media such as the Internet, radio, magazines… they advertise themselves to a certain audience creating the perfect image for their chosen audience to idealize.

According to Dyer’s theory, the success of a manufactured star depends on the presence of two paradoxes which are:

The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer

Dyer believes that the success of a manufactured star is reliant on a healthy balance between these two paradoxes.

The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the

consumer

The first paradox is to make the target audience feel as if they have things in common from with the audience making them have normal factors to there lives allowing the audience to relate to the star in some way. The star also has to be extraordinary to make fans idolise them and want their success for example their extraordinary wealth or beauty

The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the

consumer

The second paradox is to keep the audience wanting more e.g. going to see a pop star in concert, they are present but still untouchable so fans will walk away wanting more resulting in them buying more of the artists products and re buying tickets to see them on tour.

Common Views on Music Stardom

RebellionRebellionSexual magnetismSexual magnetismAn anti-authoritarian attitudeAn anti-authoritarian attitudeOriginality Originality Creativity/talent Creativity/talent Aggression/anger Aggression/anger A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex and polite behaviourand polite behaviourYouthfulnessYouthfulnessConspicuous consumption, of sex, drugs and Conspicuous consumption, of sex, drugs and material goods material goods Success against the oddsSuccess against the odds

Rebellion and an Anti-Authoritarian Attitude

Rebellion and Anti-Authoritarian Attitude is shown by our band in our video through the build up of mess of clothes and shoes, beer bottles and cans, lads-mags etc. in their bed-sit. We used the stereotype of messy teenagers/young adults in our video to make them seem relatable to their fans/target audience. This mess is also shown on the front cover of our digipak in order to be consistent with the bands promotion.

Sexual MagnetismWe choose attractive band members, attractive being good looking, and admirable to both the female and male audience. Females may fancy them and males may look up to them for being good musicians. They are not being sold as ‘sex symbols’ but they are attractive to our target audience which helps to sell our band. The girls in the video give the band members attention and although the band don’t really take notice of them and don’t seem interested, this makes the band seem more ‘hard to get’ and may interest a female audience more. We have also used a picture of the band on the inside left panel of the digipak.

OriginalityThe band is original through the way they dress, which is an indie/alternative style which also fits with the genre of music. The way they dress and look would appeal to their target audience as they probably have a similar style.

The band is more about the music and we have presented them as original and care free by having the lead singer lying on the floor which is both original in a video and relatable for the audience.

Creativity/Talent Creativity/Talent Our band has put themselves together rather than being manufactured. There is a high quality, talented, performance element which runs throughout the video which shows the audience that the band love their music as creative young individuals. This makes them seem ordinary as well as extraordinary. Talent is also shown in the inside left panel of our digipak because we have a picture of them performing in the process of getting big and successful.

YouthfulnessYouthfulnessOur band are young and we have showed them through our video as growing older and becoming more successful. They are shown as youthful through the teenage mess. For example, the beer bottles and cans, the clothes and shoes and the magazines and DVDs. Their youthfulness is also shown through the way we have dressed them i.e. in scruffy but fashionable clothes and through the mess and pile up – this is shown on the front cover of the album as well as in the video.

Success Against the OddsSuccess Against the Odds The band in our video have success against the odd because they are fighting to become successful musicians which they have become even though they started with pretty much nothing. For example, at the start of the video, the drummer doesn’t have a full drum kit, they have very few pieces of furniture and they drink cheap cider as apposed to champagne, wine as they progress . This appeals to our target audience as they may find our band an inspiration to them. This success against the odds is illustrated in the back cover of the digipak as they are working class boys which are very poor (cheap beer), yet they still succeed.