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Delve into the evolution of stars in cinema, from Golden Age icons to modern powerhouses, as economic and cultural entities. Learn about the real person behind the star, star as a product, their influence on film production, and the rise of star power.
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Fs2: Audiences and Producers: Stars • The study of stars in the context of film studies is a recent phenomenon. Throughout the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, stars were at the forefront and centre of the film industry. After the 50’s, things changed somewhat, until, in recent times, they have reemerged as the holders of great economic and cultural power. Stars are much more than a person or actor, they are in fact a product with economic and cultural value.
Stars: Five aspects • There are five key elements to the study of stars: • THE REAL PERSON • THE STAR AS A PRODUCT • ROLE, CHARACTER AND PERFORMANCE • THE STAR AS AN IMAGE, A PERSON AND CELEBRITY • THE STAR AS A REPRESENTATION AND SOURCE OF MEANING.
The real person. • Who is the real person behind a star? Does it matter? Does it contribute to your enjoyment of a star’s performance? Are there certain characteristics and idiosyncrasies with which you identify? • Many argue that the “real person” behind the star is insignificant. Many stars don’t use their real names and lead relatively private lives outside the media spotlight. Audiences rarely glimpse what a star is really like, more often consuming their image through media texts (magazines, tv, websites etc…) and film. Knowing the “real” person is perhaps less important than consuming their image or indulging fantasies about who they might be. People who meet stars are often shocked by the physical embodiment of an image that is so prevailent in the media.
The star as product • The idea of a star was not always with us. Prior to 1910, actors’ names did not appear on the credits of a film. After 1915, it became clear that the presence of a certain actor contributed to the success of a film and helped to differentiate genre movies from one another and generate financial success. This led to the Star System of the Golden Era of Hollywood. Nowadays, the presence of a star is still a significant financial factor in film production, influencing the production, distribution and exhibition of a film. A star is someone who contributes to a film’s box-office success but who can do it over a number of films rather than just one.
The star as product. • Stars are part of the labour force that produce a film: the raw material from which films are made.The real person, through beauticians, dialogue coaches, hairdressers and fitness instructors, needs to be transformed into a star. Though they may have “star quality” the transformation process ensures the real person can become a star image/product. • The film industry perceived stars as a means of drawing audiences to cinemas. Stars were therefore seen as a form of capital, a commodity that could be bought. Consequently studios set about contracting them both short and long term, allowing them no say in which roles they played and suspending them without pay if they refused.
Stars: Patterns • Stars were contracted because they targeted and helped attract large audiences for their films. Stars began to embody a set of conventional elements, through standard behavioural and gestural patterns, a look or sound. Through repetition, audiences came to expect a certain type of performance and anticipate what the star was most likely to do. This had appeal for audiences who went to see films because they knew what to expect. This, logically, led to the association of certain genres with certain stars through, iconography, visual style and position within the narrative. Stars, to sum up, function in the same way as genre, by delivering on audience expectations.
Stars as products • Studios began to generate publicity around a stars’ off-screen lives in order to complement their on-screen appeal, and thus generate demand for tickets. Stars were also seen as an investment, a protection against possible loss of revenue. They could be used to save a film that either had a poor story or was a remake.Studios served to create an image/persona for stars so as to increase their box office appeal.
Star power. • With the ending of the star contract system. The power of stars has increased massively. They are now free agents, with talent agencies negotiating contracts on their behalf with the big studios. Stars now have more power to select what film they appear in, making less films than under the Hollywood Studio System. With the increasing trend towards big-budget star-studded features and the increasing competition from television and music, stars have developed “star power”. Many stars own their own production companies and now use their economic power to control the films they appear in, in some cases producing and directing themselves as well.
Star power • This power has translated into phenomenal fees per film and stars having control over how a film is made. They can demand script alterations, recuts, a quota of close-up shots, even the approval of final cut (actor’s cut); a priviledge afforded to very few directors. They can, in fact, determine which films get made. The value of a star is now measured in terms of how much money his/her films make over an opening weekend. This is the insurance value for an investor: a guaranteed return on an investment. Because there a so few major stars, their presence in a film will guarantee a certain amount of revenue. This has led to many calling Hollywood a star’s industry.
Role, character and performance. • For an audience, the value of star’s performance is relative to the degree to which an actor has become the character, the extent to which the performance is truthful, believable or realistic. A film is often a vehicle for a star giving him/her the chance to demonstrate his/her qualities in a particular role. Some stars are considered auteurs, artists who impress an individual signature on a film. A can Star either: • Submerge his/her personality to create a role • Use his/her personality to create the character. • Either way, acting ability is not a prerequisite for becoming a star. (Keanu Reeves?)
Character. • The star’s ability in playing a certain kind of role or character, gives a production value to the film-maker, who then knows what to expect. Characters can be adapted to fit a star, or the former’s characteristics can correspond to those of the star. Nevertheless, few really believe that the star is the character and vice versa. According to Richard Dyer, there three ways in which a star can relate to a role/character: • Where the character makes selective use of the star’s persona. • Where a character and a star seem to be a perfect fit. • When the character and the star are opposed; the problematic fit
Image and stars • The image of a star is vitally important to the film industry, as the star is used in the marketing and promotion of a film. The star image is constructed through:promotion, advertising, publicity, film roles and characters and critical commentary on those roles. The media promotion of stars depends upon one essential opposition: • They are real-not real • Ordinary-glamorous • Like us- not like us • The result is that on the one hand you have the stars’ idealised image on screen and on the other the real-life aspect to their persona. Neither are based on on first hand knowledge, but on images that are mediated.
Trademark value • Stars are used to sell films in the same way that genre or special effects are. They usually feature heavily on a film’s poster and will clearly, partly through their image, signify to audiences what kind of film to expect. This is known as their trademark value. They therefore form a link between what audiences expect from a film and how the industry targets audiences. They consequently conform to convention in the same way as genre, playing the roles audiences expect from them. This in turn helps to standardise the industry’s output as they can carry with them roles from one film to another (think Arnie or Sly).
Fans. • Are the media the only ones who create a star’s image? Do audiences not contribute to the construction and meaning of star’s image? Many argue that the image of star created by the media and film industry is far less fixed that they would imagine, with audiences playing a creative part in the process of star understanding. The amount of unofficial fan sites and publications for major stars suggests that fan behaviour is outside the control of the film industry, even though it serves their cause. Some suggest that this form of fandom is in fact a form of fetishization, fuelled by the media in the first place. It does, however, lead to the creation of alternative communities of fans bound by a common interest irrespective of geographical, ethnic and class factors. The internet has contributed enormously to these processes.
Representation and meaning. • Some stars are popular at certain times in history because they come to represent an attitude or ideology that closely matches its era. For example, Arnie and Sly were big in the 80’s during the Reagan era which was a particularly aggressive time in American foreign policy. It’s hard to define exactly what stars mean, but they allow audiences the pleasure of identification, there to do things we can never do and lead the lives we can never lead.
Summary. • A star is real person but this does not matter. • A star is a product that is used to attract audiences to a film. • A star is an image, actively created by the media and the industry, which in turn helps market a movie and create fans • A star’s image may be different to the roles he/she chooses. • A star has insurance value for producers, production value for film-makers and trademark value for audiences.
