Star Image Research Project

"A star is an image constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) from a range of materials - e.g. advertising and magazines, as well as films and music." - Richard Dyer

          
          PINK

Alecia Beth Moore, otherwise known as P!nk is an American Singer, who began in the group 'Choice' before breaking away to venture on a solo career in 2000. Pink is famously known for her mischievous behavior and outrageous attitude, which is partly why she has become so huge in the industry. Pink started her music career in 1995 - in the band 'Choice' but chose to go solo in 2000 with her first hit 'There You Go' and has continued to be very successful in the music industry already with six albums after, allowing her to go on touring the world due to her huge fan base. Moreover gaining huge recognition with the big stars she has worked with. I do believe Pink gained huge promotion when she, alongside 'Lil Kim', 'Christina Aguilera' and 'Mya' covered 'Lady Marmalade' for the 'Mouline Rouge' sound track in 2001, creating an image for herself as she kicked off her career, winning her first grammy award.

Winning her first grammy award

Pink appeals to such a wide audience of people, categorizing into several genres including: Pop Rock, R&B and Pop. Furthermore becoming the of the most successful artists of her generation having sold an average of 110 million records worldwide as of 2013. As mentioned previously, Pink has released 6 studio albums, including: Cant take me home, Missundaztood, Try This, Im not Dead, Fun house and The Truth About Love. Alog with 4 compilation albums including Missundaztood/ Cant Take Me Home, Pink Box, Greatest Hits... So Far and The Album Collection. Throughout the years, we have seen huge change in Pink, still continuing to favour the 'Punk' look. The first  studio album Pink released was mainly R&B creating a worldwide gross of $4'000'000, available digitally and on CD. However, Pink's second album 'Misundaztood' was her most successful album creating an overall gross of $13'000'000.

Here is Pinks debut album in comparison to her most current album. It is evident she is still conveying the punk look, with limited clothing although her full body is shown in the latest as she has grown as an artist, becoming more significant in comparison to her first where she is wearing sun glasses as she is 'cool' and to 'R&B' to not.

From the start Pink has had this 'Rock Star' image about her allowing her to act crazy at times and portray a wild life style. The video above is of her first single where we see her with bright pink hair, maybe to play as a pun to her name. She is quite outrageous at times creating a huge fan base due to her originality to music and quirkiness essence about her. Her video to the single 'So what' shows her upholding the image of a 'rock star' not caring about anything and breaking rules. Her fans love to see this and still enjoy her upbeat music. Another key feature to pink is her hair, she has explored several styles from peroxide blonde to bright pink encouraging others to take a brave step in their imagine, granted she has rocked every look, mainly keeping it short. 

Over the years we have began to see a maturity in P!nk. She began to sing more serious songs such as 'Just Give Me a Reason', this may be due to her becoming a mother so she has grown up. Although we still see the mischievous side to Pink, which will probably never disappear. She begins to please her fan base, releasing albums and continuous touring, which in her most resent came out on a zip wire, impressing fans and getting them to want to come too see more. Pink has stated in a previous article how she is 'electric tomboy but kind of hippi kind of gangsta, i don't know if that is a good thing but it is my thing' giving out the message that you don't have to be like everyone else. Moreover is known for her constant charity support, stopping animal cruelty furthermore stating how she is a vegan, reflecting her positively so the audience appeal more so to her. Pink has also been in the media a lot due to her up and down relationship with Joe Hart. They are a true representation of married life, although they have their struggles they work it out in the end and as announced on 'The Ellen Show' have a beautiful daughter, Willow. more over we have seen Pinks life become very family orientated with her family staring in many of her music videos like 'So what', 'jusst give me a reason' and 'True Love'. Overall there is a noticeable change in Pink as we have seen her become maturer although still conveying a 'rock star' lifestyle. Her record label have stayed loyal to her, helping promote her by allowing her to tour and get her music heard. With the colour 'pink' symbolic to her, we've seen several styles all original to her. P!nk is a true star image.

Background Research

Currently, the song we have decided to create a music video for is Gossip - Heavy Cross. After researching the song we discovered it was in the genre of: Dance:Punk and Dance:Rock. This allows us to be flexible with the music video, furthermore become creative with the video too so we can have fun with it but also look professional. Whilst researching into the song, we discovered other songs similar to 'Heavy Cross' to gather inspiration to gather information, these included; Chase and Status- Time ft Delilah and Kate Nash -Foundations. These are not all of the same genre but have similar beat which we could work with:

 

          GOSSIP:

Gossip is an American indie-rock band. Further research was carried out to find information on the band. I looked at their record label to which they were signed, finding out there were in fact five, including:

• Back Yard Recordings - Back Yard recordings is a UK independent record label based in  London, which was set up by Gil Goldberg. Back Yard recordings was initially a promotion company to allow bands to get started but then slowly evolved into a record label in 2006 after there was an increasing number of chart hits including gossips third album 'Standing in the way of control' all over Europe and Japan.
• Kill Rock Stars - Kill rock stars is another independent record label based in Olympia Washington, where the band Gossip was formed, which has been seen to show a commitment to underground punk bands, much like Gossip. This record label was founded by Slim Moon who states he started the label 'to put out his friends music because no other would'. After researching into it, it became clear the label has no specific genre to release nor underground music movement.
• K Records - K records is another independent record label founded in Olympia, Washington. This record was founded by Calvin Johnson who again states he wants to get his friends records seen to the world but in time developed greatly. K records motto is: 'exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1982'.
• Dim Mak Records - Dim Mak records is an American label founded by Steve Aoki. It is a very minor record label, which is why Gossip chose to go under a new label, with very minor recognition.
• Columbia Records - Columbia Records is a to recording company owned by Sony Music entertainment, located in New York with various genres on the label. Columbia records began in 1888 and still remains a premier subsidiary label of sony music entertainment, with Rob Stringer as the head chairman. Currently, this is Gossips main record label, helping promote them, with Columbia Records being known around the world, therefore a good source for Gossips music to be heard, especially with the sister label being Sony. Columbia Records is a major company

Through the different distributers, Gossip have released 5 albums, the first being That;s Not What I heard released in 2000 - Movement 2003 - Standing in The Way of Control 2006 - Music for Men 2009 and their current album being A Joyful Noise 2012.

This is Gossips first album compared to their current album. It is a lot more colourful which could be due to more budget as the have become bigger in the industry

Gossip appeal to more underground fans, with a small fan group. This however allows then to perform in small venues around Europe, with major fans watching their performances. Some of their singles have been played on the radio, like heavy cross although not as many as other artists. The song heavy cross also appears in an advert as it was a very popular song, mainly why we have chosen to create a music video for it.

Story Boarding

After getting together, we have started to story board a few ideas for our music video. Once listening to the song, our initial idea was a story between a boy and girl with the boy so mesmorised over the girl that he begins to follow her, wanting to find her, with her knowing giving him looks. We planned to use Hannah as the girl actor and Billy (my brother) for the boy. However, i feel it is a bit similar to last years project with the following of the person o we may still get together and storyboard another idea. Although we are expanding this idea and beginning to like it.

Changing

After a group chat, we have been struggling to find a suitable song to create a video to. Our initial idea was to create a video to Kate Nash - Foundations however we do not feel it suits us. We have been exploring several other options like: Together in electric Dreams with an idea of creating a parody video to it allowing us to have fun in filming although we may have some issues creating it as it may seem like we have not put much effort into it, although it could look brilliant at the same time. Moreover we have explored several other options to create a more serious video and become inventive with several ideas, without making it to cliché. Currently we have a song idea but are still considering others.

Possible Songs

During the long summers break I have been gathering several thoughts for possible music video ideas. The group and I have several contenders for songs to crete a video too. We each put our thoughts together and came up with some songs including: Gwen Stefani - Sweet Escape, Pink - Fun House, Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend and Kate Nash - Foundations. There is a theme in the songs we chose which is female artists allowing us to star in the video making lip syncing easier. The most popular song in the group at the moment is 'Kate Nash - Foundations' - we all have different visuals to what could be a possible music video therefore if we put our ideas together could make a great video.