Star Image Analysis

I decided to analyse how a popular star's image has progressed over time in their music videos to gain a better understanding of how i could construct my artists image in my music video.

For my star image analysis I am analysing Michael Jackson ‘The King of Pop’, he entered the music industry in the 70s as part of the group Jackson 5. Michael Jackson is well known for his contribution to the Pop music genre.

Ben was released in 1972 and is Michael Jacksons first music video, his image in this video is that ‘angelic’ and ‘sweet’ the video is solely on performance and there is no flashy set or complicated narrative so the music company have solely used Michael Jacksons voice to sell the song.

In his later career Michael’s image has developed significantly, his videos have more substance with a balance between narrative and concept bases in the 1982 Thriller video we see Michael in character, comparing this to the Ben video you can tell Thriller had a much larger budget as it has much more Special Effects, Expensive Costumes and also more people starring in it. His image has changed and he is using different techniques and more money to sell his music.  It Is in this time era that Michael started to develop the motifs he is still well known for to this very day, one of his motifs is plain black loafer shoes and white socks which he is seen wearing in this video, another motif Michael was famous for was his dance moves, the ‘crotch grabbing’ move can be seen in several videos other popular motifs of Michael Jackson was well known for include the moonwalk dance move, him screeching ‘ow!’ in his songs and also his primate companion bubbles the chimp.


Throughout Michael Jacksons work close ups can be seen of him in his many music videos, this is to enhance his visual image, his image had changed drastically since his previous album release, his skin has drastically lightened and it was of great media interest. Hairstyle and costume are also used to support the star's image Michael Jackson was famous for his 'wet jerry curl' hairstyle, his leather jacket with zippers/studs/buckles and tight fitted trousers his music videos always had a really realistic aura and the Bad music video was shot in a car park all of these things are used to support the star image. 

Editing can also be used to enhance Michael Jackson's Image, slow motion editing is used to emphasize Michael Jackson's dance moves, this can be seen in the Billie Jean music video. His dance moves are emphasized because this is what Michael was well known for, and what he commonly uses to sell his music. His music videos usually cut to the beat which also enhances his dance moves. Camerawork is also used to reinforce Michael's image, in the Bad video low angels are used to give him a sense of superiority which also relates to his song and lyrics, close ups are also used in this Bad video to reinforce the star image. 


Michael Jackson shows his wider cultural significance through his music, he had great concern with the poor state of third world countries, we see this in earth song (1995)  he uses his music and his famous image to open the worlds eyes to issues such as poaching for ivory, deforestation, pollution and the effects of war.