Analysis of a star and Dyers theory - Miss Miller

Richard Dyers star theory.

Some artists feel the need to reinvent themselves, to create new look or change the genre of their work. They do this to keep the audience interested in them, changing their image and characteristic's therefore the audience are intrigued into seeing what they made different. This gives the artist a increase in fans and popularity because they have reinvented who they used to be into some one that the target audience do not expect but will like equally as much. Christina Aguilera is a good example of someone who has changed their appearance and genre to keep her audience interested, she wen from doing a lot of teen pop music to doing RnB. Her image changed along with the genre she became a lot more edgy and 'funky'.
Another reason an artist may reinvent themselves is because of a gain in power, most artist start off being shy and being controlled by a manger or the team they work with, they normally get told what to do and how to look, they do not decided for themselves how they to be, they are made to do what the audience will enjoy the most. But once they are successful and have a healthy fan base and are known as a 'star' they gain the power, they have the control to do what they want they will no longer need to listen to their manager or team, they can decided how they want their audience to see them and also who they want they target audience to be. An example of this reinvention is Miley Cyrus, she went from being a disney programme character who wore fashionable teenage appropriate clothing with pop song including lyrics about her life, to an extremely provocative, edgy and daring looking, she feature with a lot of nudity and rude lyrics about drugs and sex. This shows how once she became famous and once she had fans she felt that she had enough power to be herself and they she didn't have to listen to her team.
Some artists simply to do it keep in style, they change their image and genre so that the most demanding audience is keep happy, if they are in style their audience will look up to them. This keeps the publicity at a steading pace and keeps artists in the popularity of audiences. An example of a artist who reinvented them sleeves to keep in style was Justin Bieber, they used to be a cute boy or attracted the attention of young girls by his 'cheeky chap' persona, but he is now stylish and up to date with people his age, he has focused on his image a lot in order to keep fashionable and not fall behind in the latest looks. Some other reasons for 'stars' reinventing themselves if because of rebellion, to change the publics opinion, maturity and a clean slate.

Main

The artist I have analysed about self reinvention is Rihanna she has changed her image and genre many times. Rihanna seen many phases of public interests move throughout the music industry and a lot of the time she changes her image to keep the audiences interested in her work.  

Pon De Replay 2005

The first video I analysed was one of her earliest music video called Pon De Replay, it follows the dance pop genre and was released in 2005.



Rihanna's video for Pon De Replay shows elements of different theory's, it uses some points from Goodwins theory. For example the style of the video, there is only one main style for this video which is performance, although there is and element of narrative more focused on at the beginning. The full video is about Rihanna performing for the audience, she is constantly dances and signing to the camera. A specific section of the music video which shows this performance style is when Rihanna is seen dancing on a platform in the middle of the club. She is moving her body around focusing on her hips and she puts her hands up to her head a lot and touches her hair. The purpose of this is so that the audience feel as if she is performing to them not other people, they feel closer to the artist because she isn't focusing on anything other than singing sad dancing to the camera.

The genre of this music video and the artist is dance-pop/dance-hall and there are many conventions of this throughout the video. One convention of the dance-pop genre in this music video is costume. Rihanna is wearing an outfit which was seen as stylish in the 2005 era, she is wearing like blue, faded baggy jeans and a gold sequin short sleeved bralette tied at the front. This outfit is conventional to the dance-pop genre as it shows of Rihanna's stomach and chest, she is represented as provocative, this image is common in the genre. Often women in this genre wear more revealing clothing to show of their figure as they are dancing, this is done to appeal to the target audience. For Pon De Replay the target audience is around 15-25, these young adults are attracted to Rihanna's costume for different reasons, girls and women will idolise her because they will want to look like her and mean and boys will find her appealing because she is attractive.

Another genre convention of Rihanna's genre is the setting of the video. The location is in a club, with lots of younger adults and dancers. This a convention of the dance-pop genre because it is a typical setting for dancing, it is a relatable location for the audience which they may go to themselves. There are always people dancing to pop/club music in this environment. So it doesn't just match the generic conventions but it also makes the video another step closer to relating to the audience.

Dyers theory

In Pon De Replay Rihanna is represented as a stereotypical dance-pop artist through her costume hair make, facial expression, body language and her dancing. The main asset which represents her as a stereotypical provocative and attractive dance-pop artist is her costume as explained above. But not only does her outfit show her as provocative and stylish, the stereotypical revealing out fit also shows off her figure. Rihanna has a perfect figure, she is not to thin or to big, it seems as though she looks after her self, she has a perfect even tan and flawless skin. This all shown of by her costume, which portrays her as respectable because she clearly respects and looks after her own body well. Her image represents her at a dance-pop artist as women of this genre are often seen in revealing costumes so show off their figure and to attract different kinds of attention, either from men or women.

Rihanna can be viewed as a product in her Pon De Replay video, this is because of the way she is acting and portraying herself. In the video Rihanna's personality is constructed into something different to what she is actually like in real life. For the video she is shown as confident, bold and courageous as she stands up on the platform in front of the whole club and dancing tell the DJ to turn up the music. Her body language is very strong as she throws up hands up in the air and moves her hips to the music. It is very likely Rihanna would not do these things if she was to go to real club. This shows her a product because she constructed out of a range of materials, she is made to appeal to her audience by making her personality a lot bolder than is truly is. This is all done so that she can become more successful the more she appeals to her target audience the more they enjoy and therefore what more and listen to more of her music.


In this music video Rihanna is both ordinary and extraordinary. Rihanna is given two different side to her personality in her music video for Pon De Replay, she is shown as ordinary because of the setting she is in, the videos location is in a club this setting is full of people of her age group and the song itself also match the music that would be played in this setting. This seen as ordinary the audience because the target audience of 16 to 30 would also go clubbing and party they are used to being in this environment. This continues to make the music video and the artist reliable for the audience because they enjoy similar thing to what is going on within the. There is also extraordinary elements within Pon De Replay which goes back to the personality of the artist, for the video Rihanna is given a bold personality with a lot of confidence, which isn't seen a lot by the audience. The artist having this strong confidence is different to the audience because they wouldn't think to get up in front of and audience and dance provocatively. It isn't something that they would do themselves so it therefore contrasts the ordinary setting of the song.

This music video places fans for hegemony of women's power and freedom. The music video for Pon De Replay shows Rihanna taking control in the club setting and demanding the music to be turned up,  making everyone get up to dance around her. This show her being powerful to the men in the club and her expressing her voice and freedom. She shows the audience that that shouldn't be afraid to ask for what they want and they they don't have to act a certain way inferno of men.

The target audience for this video is men and women aged 16 to 30 years this is because Rihanna herself attracts the attention of this age group though her looks and personality. Boys and men are attracted to her and women look up her image and personality.

Pon De Replay was of the time period of 2005, the music video was released in may 24th. The message of the video is to have fun, don't let anything 'kill the vibes' this is shown through Rihanna making the Dj turn the music up and making everyone dance. I think message make the audience want to have fun and enjoy listening to the music, it makes them want to get up and dance along with Rihanna and the other clubbers. Rihanna is portraying this same and message and also to be confident, she shows the audience that you need to be bold in order to bee seen heard and to have fun. She does this through her personality in the minor narrative of the story she is confident and isn't scared to get up in front of the people in the club and dance. These messages match with the era because in 2005 clubbing was always very fun and bubbly, people could be themselves and dance how they like.

Russian Roulette 2009

The next music video of Rihanna which shows her image change was Russian Roulette, which was released in 2009, this video follows the RnB conventions.

Russian Roulette also shows different elements of Goodwin's theory. An example of his theory used in the music video is the relationship between lyrics and visual. This is used a few time in Rihanna video, the strongest example is as she sings "close your eyes sometimes it helps", as she says this she leans back into the chair she is sitting in and closes her eyes. This shows how she has used the lyrics to add to the music video by emphasising the message trying to be given. She uses her own facial expressions and bod language to make to song and the video more effective to the audience. This appeals to the audience s they can understand more of Rihanna feeling towards the lyrics and can see what effect she wants it to have.

This music video shows many conventions of its R&B genre. For example one of the styles according to Goodwin's theory is narrative, which in this case is about a love story between Rihanna's character and her partner, they are both unhappy and looking for ways to end their lives. But neither want to kill each other or lose each other so they play 'Russian Roulette' in order for a fair verdict. This is conventional to R&B genre as they often consist of narrative styles of which are mostly based on some sort of love story. Narrative is used because the lyrics of R&B songs are normally about love or breakups, so therefore being able to express them in this style makes the music and its video more relatable and the messages and values becomes clearer for the audience.

A micro element which also shows a genre convention is the facial expression of the characters. All the characters in the music video have constant serious faces, there is no other expression used. This sad, serious look is conventional for the R&B genre because the main meaning of their songs are about broken relationships or love stories so it is expected to see unhappy facial expression. This is also a good asset to the music video because it a strong way of allowing the audience to relate to the artist, the song meaning and the other characters in the video. They can tell that lyrics have deep meaning and can relate all this to emotions they may be feeling of have been through in the past.

Dyer's Theory 

Russian Roulette's music video represents Rihanna as a heart broken young girl who doesn't want to suffer anymore, she seems as though she has given up. This is portrayed through the lyrics, facial expressions, body language cinematography etc. For example some camera angles used are high angles, these shots take place mostly in the scene where Rihanna is locked in the empty gas chamber with one way mirror being watched by police figures. For these shots Rihanna is lying on the floor a lot, she is curled up in the corner of the room or up next to the wall, the camera is angled so that is it looking down on her in this vulnerable position. The high angle portrays her as weak, unstable and oppressed by the other characters, she is clearly unhappy and doesn't have any power in the situation she is in. The fact that she is shown as a vulnerable woman, links in with lyrics and shows the audience she is heart broken and has given up.

In this particular music video I don't think Rihanna is used as a product as such because she isn't being fake or not using her real personality, she is simply using her music to express her feelings and exaggerate her emotions. One way that she could be seen as a product is through her using her emotions to create a bigger meaning for her song, the video consists of a broken hearted girl, which isn't lying on Rihanna behalf, she has been through many bad relationships and is telling her audience what she has experienced and how it made/makes her feel. But she does use the narrative style to over exaggerate what she wants her audience to know, she does this so that they can grasp a better understanding of how she felt at that time. They can then link that back to themselves, their emotions or their relationships. She uses her character to express herself in a more extreme manor.

In Dyers theory he believes in the paradox that the artist needs to be ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. Rihanna fulfils this ordinary and extraordinary image in her Russian Roulette video by using the narrative to express herself through a character. Rihanna shows a normal (ordinary) wide in this video by keeping her characters down to earth and keeping the situations realistic. She portrays her self as an ordinary woman in a difficult relationship, she is viewed by the audience as an everyday person who is having common relationship issues. This make the audience able to relate to her because she is represented as a normal person, with no 'star' qualities, they can understand her in more depth and understand the song message better. The extraordinary representation in this music video is the costume Rihanna is wearing, in the scene of which she is locked in the empty room with a one way mirror. She is wearing a playsuit outfit, which is an all in on item of clothing made up of shorts and in this case a hood there is no front to the chest part of her outfit but she is wearing a nude bralette style top underneath. This costume is not something the audience see on a everyday occurrence, it is a daring, provocative outfit and isn't seen often. It is extraordinary because of its uniqueness and sue to the audience being unable to relate to it, they do not expect to see the outfit on anyone other than a celebrity.

This video places the audience for the hegemony of taking risks. In the video Rihanna is seen playing 'Russian roulette' with her love interest, this is a metaphor because she doesn't know if pulling the trigger is going to kill her or if it is going to kill him, it shows that she is taking a risk by being in a relationship with this man because it could either be a good or bad outcome. The game they are playing is a metaphor for the relationship they are in, she knows it may not be good for her but she is trying any way. This makes the audience for taking risks when is comes to relationships because she is trying to show them they don't know if they don't try and it may kill them but it may also be a good thing.

The target audience for Rihanna's R&B song Russian roulette is man and women aged 15-35. This target audience has changed slightly from her previous dance-pop video I analysed, for Pon De Replay with a target audience of 16-30, although the change isn't much different. This expansion in age target is because of the deepness in the meaning for the song, for Pon De Replay the message wasn't to serious it was about having fun and not to be unconfident. For Russian roulette the song has a deeper meaning and stronger messages, this makes it more understandable for an older audience who have been through more relationship issues throughout their life. Although the difference in audience is small it is because the message for Russian roulette makes the song more relatable for a wider audience then Pon De Replay.

There are a few different meanings in Russian roulette for example don't let love control you and also to not be held back because of fear. The fear message is shown through the metaphor of the game being played which was explained before. Rihanna and her love interest are playing Russian roulette and risking their lives for one another. This shows the message that even though some things may cause pain, you should take the risk to find out what the outcome could be. Rihanna is trying to tell her audience not let fear control you and that they should be able to to do what they want to and it is best that they try rather than to regret. This music video was released in 2009, in this time period a lot of music was about love and the pain it causes. The era in which this video was released supports Rihanna message to not let fear control you because this is time when many artist where strongly for freedom. This demand for freedom still continues to present day but it arose and became widely demanded in the music of 2009. Rihanna is not shown to value much within this video except for her love for the male character she is represented and weak and seems as though she has given  up. She again does send out many message in the video either because she is more min a characters for of mind.
The messages and values for Rihanna are completely different in this video compared to Pon De Replay because of the contrasting genres. The dance-pop message and values are more based on confidence and the R&B messages focus on love stories and more serious values, this is because the different music types are meant for different meanings the both aim to make the audience feel different emotions,  Pon De Replay if for happiness and confidence building whilst Russian Roulette is focused on making the audience feel sorry and sympathy for the artist or characters.

Pour it up 2013

Finally showing yet another change in Rihanna's genre and appearance is her music video for 2013's pour it up, which it a club song.

Like Rihanna's other music videos I have analysed she follows some points from Goodwins theory. For example there is some voyeuristic treatment of the female body, this means that women are exposed for their physical attraction and not for any main purpose. In this video extras/dancers are viewed in this voyeuristic way by the audience as they are 'twerking' and dancing around poles. Throughout these sections the girls faces are not shown clearly which makes the audience see them in a objectifying manor, the girls are not seen as people they are just seen was dancers and are in the video  because of their attractiveness and because they will appeal to the audience members. This exposure of women's glamour and alluring looks appeals to the audience especially males because they find them enticing, and also the women become jealous as they want to look like them.

A strong example of a genre convention in Pour it up is the lighting used. Although most of the lighting is low key and stays like this for most of the video, it is more about the colours which meet the conventions. During the video the lighting colour change a lot starting with green then moving onto blue, yellow, gold, purple etc. These colours imitate the change in lighting when in a club setting,  often in clubs there are strobe lights or disco lights which create the 'buzz and 'hype' atmosphere. This is conventional because the genre is club music meaning the lighting fits in with where the music is most likely to be played. It appeals to the target audience of 18-28 because they can relate to the vibe the artist is trying to create with the vibe they would get if they were to be in a club.
Another genre convention used is mise en scene particularly setting. The music video is set in dark rooms, which are smoky and have dancing poles. The dancers in video are seen dancing on these poles, doing tricks and provocative moves. This is conventional to the club genre as the music is most likely to be played in a club environment and the dancing poles, darkness etc are all elements usually seen here. It allows the audience to relate because they probably go to this places on a regular basis and can understand the vibes that the artist is aiming to create.
In this video the artist, Rihanna is represented as unique and overly creative. She is seen to difficult, extremely provocative dance moves and is wearing a daring, distinctive outfit. She is shown to be slightly over the top when is come to being different and attracting the audience, she creates a voyeuristic image of herself . The artist is represented as bold and fear when is come to exposing herself, she is viewed by her audience as an individual person there is no one like her or anyone who would pull  of the look.
Pour it up defiantly show Rihanna as a product, she is seen as a piece of art. This s because of her uniqueness in the video, meaning her outfits her dancing and her personality. The music video show her as a fake person because Rihanna is not like this in real life she is different to how she is made out, therefore she is a product of creativity and this is not representing her true self. As the artist is not themselves in the video it means the are a product they are not seen as a true person, instead they are made up to fit in with the video and attract and audience specifically male in this
videos case.
In this video Rihanna isn't seen as and ordinary person, she is mostly represented as extraordinary. Throughout the video there is no sign of her true personality, she doesn't have many relatable elements in the video other than the setting and facial expressions. The artist is constantly dressed in minimals, she is wearing a bralette and booty shorts and in some shots she is even wearing a giant faux fur jacket which comes down to her ankles. This is not a normal outfit which the audience would expect to see, it is not an everyday piece of clothing or even an evening outfit, it is completely unique with nothing they can relate to except for the fact that she is a popular artist who sings club songs. Meaning she is more likely to wear something daring or different in her music videos so that the can attract her target audience of 18 to 28.
This music video places the audience for the hegemony of women's expressions. It makes the audience for allowing women to express themselves however they want. The artist makes the female audience feel that they shouldn't hide who they are and that they should be able to be themselves and do what they like. Rihanna does this by showing them her creative side thought her outfit and dancing, she shows them that she is free to be who she wants and she sent going to let anyone stop her from doing so.

The target audience for this 'Pour it up' music video is males and females ages 18 to 28. This has changed slightly from the Russian Roulette video, the range of the audience has shrunk. This is because the genre change, the previous video was R&B which generally has a wider audience compared to club music. This is because the club genre is more relatable to a younger adult audience as they are more likely to go to these club setting and hear/enjoy the music unlike people above 28, they are starting a more settled life, maybe starting families or settling in jobs. This younger target audience of 18 to 28 can relate better to the artist as her character in Pour it up because they understand the video and can relate well to their own life. Russian roulette is also relatable for their audience of 15 to 35 but has a wider range because the older audience are also able to relate to this video as they have more experience in the messages of relationship and can relate it back to themselves.

The messages and values in this music video I believe is to be daring in life and to be yourself. This is shown Rihanna shown er creative side, she is doing what she wants to do and clearly isn't bothered about what other people are going to think of her. This shows the audience that they can be what they like and they shouldn't be effected about what other people think. Another message of the video it so have fun, the artist is shown to be letting her hair down she is doing what she likes and enjoying her music, along with the other characters in the video. They are all shown to be dancing provocatively and enjoying it, they are having fun being 'wild' and expressing themselves through the music.
This is different to the last music videos message which were focused on love and not allowing it to control who you are. This change is mainly because of the genre difference, R&B is known for focusing on love stories and relationships so that the audience can relate it back to their own lives. Whilst the club musics main aim is to make the audience have fun, it makes them what to dance along and enjoy thematic, making them forget about their own issues. This change is done so that Rihanna has a wider audience, she is capturing attention from the two genres, intriguing her audience form Russian Roulette to see how she is represented in Pour it up. The time era also also and effect of the change. Pour it up was released in 2013 and Russian Roulette is from 2009, this time difference shows the change is what the audience is in demand for, Rihanna has also changed her genre to keep up with what the audience want which in present time is club and house music. The time era has also changed the messages of the songs because of what people find more acceptable it is less of an offensive for artists to dress provocatively, unlike in 2009 it wasn't as normal and was seen as extremely daring.

Summary

The points i have made show how and artist can change over time. My research in to Rihanna shows that she has changed her genre to keep up with her audience and to keep her career interesting. She also follows the ra changing how she represents herself to suit the times the three music videos are released. Each video changes as time goes on, to match the different genres of dance-pop, R&B and club, this shows each part the artists creativity and how she uses the micro elements to follow genre conventions and appeal to her audience. She uses Goodwins theory, genre conventions and parts of dyers theory to appeal to her audience. 

I think Rihanna made the decision that she did so that her music videos would become more successful and so that she could enable her audience to relate with her, the song and the messages of the lyrics and the videos. For example the narrative style in Russian Roulette is extremely effective because of the metaphor use within game being played, it aloud the audience to understand in an extremely deep level how she was feeling and how she wanted them to feel, which they could then relate to. Another example it the Setting in Pon De Replay this decision of having a club as the setting was also very effective because they audience understand what the atmosphere should be like and can then relate that the how Rihanna wanted them to feel when listening/watching the video.

This change in Rihanna shows how she reinvents herself to keep up with her audiences demands and what the music world lacks. She continued to change herself throughout her career to keep interest on herself and to keep the audience intrigued to see what she would produce next or represent herself as. 

This research will help my group and I decide on an artist to use for our music video because it has shown many ways in which an artist can change themselves to appeal to their audience. It has shown me how genre conventions are used in order to create messages and values which the audience can relate to and use to relate with the artist. These three analyses music video also show my group and I why it is important to identify and maintain a target audience. It is important to decide on a target audience show that when is comes to planning an create the product all micro elements and conventions can be focus on appealing to them, it makes the video much more successful as the audience are able to understand the meaning and relate it to their own lives or own experiences.