Planning - Artist Image

Artist image

Genre ideas:

Our genre is Alternative R&B, therefore, we intend on following conventions as well as challenging certain conventions, by making our artist conventional to other alternative R&B artists, such as SZA who has her own original style of performing.  However, we will also challenge stereotypes by allowing our artist to fulfil her emotions and morals through the song and themes, which is not evident in all alternative R&B music videos, due to artists following conventions. 

Morals and values:

We want our artist to portray subcultural ideas through her character, in order to appeal to subcultures and a niche audience. It is important that the artist is able to portray her spiritual values and morals, as her character will need to pursue this through the use of a psychic mystic ball and tarot cards. 

Media perception: 

Our artist will be perceived similar to FKA Twigs in the media, as she will be identified as a good performer in the industry rather than a fully established star. This is due to her lacking ultimate popularity and not being noticed by a mainstream audience. As a result, our artist will be perceived as niche, rather than mainstream, as she will confidently express her different views and values which may be viewed as controversial by certain audiences. Also, she will not be in the public eye as much as the mainstream artists, due to her being relatable to the audience though her normality and lack of consistent fame. Moreover, our artist will be perceived as expressing her true self to the audience, rather than being portrayed as 'fake', which is important when it comes to the audience forming an opinion about an artist. FKA Twigs similarly expresses her true self to the audience through her unique image which is evident in the media, through newspapers and magazines. 

Similar Artists:

These solo artists, including Grimes, Sia and Lady Gaga have helped us in planning our artist representation as they each portray their own unique/quirky style through the use of their music and image in their music videos. Although they all look different, they have similar morals and values as they all represent originality and may create controversy at times. 

In our music video, we want our artist to dress differently reflecting an existing character like these artists do in their music videos. We will dress our artist in all black clothing like Lady Gaga supported by a black bandanna over her head to represent the darkness and mystery in her character as she controls male characters fighting over her love. Her make up and hair will also reinforce this image as she will have exaggerated make up (smokey eye shadow, fake eyelashes and dark lipstick). This reflects the alternative R&B genre as genre characteristics suggest that alternative R&B artists challenge stereotypes to make their music video unique and intriguing for the audience.

These existing artists are all niche and do not appeal to mainstream audiences due to their originality which is  reflected in their music videos. I want my artist to be portrayed in a similar way by promoting herself as different, however, we also want her to appeal to a mainstream audiences by ensuring we do not portray her originality in an extreme manner. This is because in her other music videos she is seen as more 'normal'  and appears in this way through social media, radio chat shows and public appearances.

We are hoping to fulfill this type of artist image through mise en scene and cinematography. If we succeed, we believe it will enhance the star image of Carlie Cokell-Smith, making her more popular and interesting to watch on screen. By following theories we will also enhance this image.

Our artist: 

We have decided to use Carlie Cokell- Smith as our female artist, as we believe she will be able to reflect FKA Twigs' characteristics, but she will also express her own values and opinions through her persona and her performance. She will reflect a tarot reader, therefore, she will wear a black costume, consisting of a cloak and bandana with exaggerated hair and makeup, which will make her look like a real tarot reader. However, her niche representation will not prevent Carlie from expressing her subcultural and spiritual morals and vlaues.Carlie is also the right age as she is 18 years old, therefore, she will be relatable to the audience through her niche performance and by expressing herself to the audience through a pure  and truthful representation. Carlie also has current experience in acting and dancing, and therefore, she will be able to reflect these skills in her performance and acting, making our artist image successful and genuine.                                                                                                                          

Link to Theory:

Goodwin: Close ups, Extreme close ups and Mid shots are used to portray the artist clearly to the audience and make the audience feel anxious whilst watching her on screen. It will also enhance her star image.

Mulvey: We will not be taking Mulvey's theory into consideration as we do not want to portray our artist in a sexual manner.

Popular Culture: As the artist is a Tarot reader, she will not engage in popular activities. Instead, her actions will be more spiritual and controversial.

Dyer (Star Theory, Audience and Industry): Our artist will not be a star, but will portrayed as a good performer in the industry. This is because she is not in the public eye regularly like other popular artists such as; Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Rihanna and Taylor Swift. However, despite her not being a star, she will reflect her spiritual and religious values through her music video.

Hebdige: Our artist will appeal to subcultures as she portrays niche conventions through her persona and music. Also, her spiritual and religious views will attract particular subcultures. She may also convey controversial ideas which may not appeal to mainstream audiences, however, we will try to make our artist and the music video more mainstream to gain success.

Conclusion: 

Planning our artist representation has been extremely beneficial for us, as we now have a clear idea of how we want our artist to be portrayed, which is to express her spiritual and subcultural morals and values, which is important in making our female artist different but relatable. We are also now more aware of which similar artists we want our artist to reflect which is Lady Gaga, Sia and Grimes who all differ from mainstream artists and can crate controversy at times through their truthful and varying representation.  Now we are aware of this, we will ensure our artist is portrayed in the correct way, making her niche but also mainstream, through media perception which will allow the audience to notice her and the fact that she has her own style of music and an original persona. creating the right artist image is important in the long term as the audience should be able to identify the artist from the offset, identifying their beliefs, values and persona, which should not continuously change as it could turn the audience against the artist. Without planning our artist representation we would not be able to link our artist to certain theories such as Goodwin and Dyer who promote important factors within their theories, that should be evident within all music videos. Therefore, by planning our artist representation, we have now identified which characteristics our artist will follow and which theories will apply to her role.