The star I am analysing is the late, world famous singer Michael Jackson. When he was very young he was part of the Jackson 5, a group which contained the 5 Jackson brothers, but, as the lead vocal Michael Jackson was the star. He later went on to be one of, if not the most famous performers ever with a number of legendary songs which are still enjoyed to this day and also many memorable music videos which have been watched all over the world. He was also very important because he was one of the first black men to have a music video regularly shown on MTV, which was Billie Jean. The genres he was involved in mainly was pop, R'n'B and rock.
As a solo artist, the first two music videos Michael Jackson released were 'Don’t stop 'til you get enough' and 'Rock with you.' Both videos have similar and different aspects, but both successfully show the audience Jackson's image early on in his career. For example both show just Jackson dancing, which later become synonymous with Michael Jackson. Both videos are shot with just him singing and dancing, in the first song with a changing background and the second with a green disco light behind him, to focus on just him as he was still establishing himself as a soloist, so he wanted the audience to focus on him directly. These videos helped Jackson have an image which was energetic and fun because of the dancing but also 'cool' and modern with the younger audience his videos were aimed at because of the special effects used in 'Don't stop...' and because of his tuxedo and silver jumpsuit he wears in both videos respectively.
As Michael Jackson's career developed, both his physical appearance and image as a music artist changed considerably from his earlier music videos. Even though in his videos he doesn't play different characters perse, his personality and individual character changes. For example in the music videos 'Bad' and 'The way you make me feel' Jackson's famous dancing abilities are shown fully as nearly the entire duration of the videos Jackson is dancing. Also, in 'The way you make...' video he is shown as someone who is desirable to women and who is pursuing women through his dancing. 'Bad' shows Jackson as the title suggests as a rebel and a little bit dangerous which is very different to his other videos, although the video is more concentrated on the dancing rather than danger etc. Also throughout Jackson's career a number of visual motifs became associated with him, which helped his popularity and career grow to new heights. For example, his white suit and hat, the single silver glove and his signature move, 'the moonwalk.' All of these became synonymously associated with Jackson and helped him to become one of the biggest stars in the music industry.
Moreover, camera-work and editing were important tools in Michael Jackson’s videos to help him develop his star image. Again, I will return to Jackson’s first video as a solo artist, ‘Don’t stop till’ you get enough’, as the camera work is interesting in showing how he wanted to establish himself. The only camera shots used in this video are close-up shots of Jackson when he is singing and long shots of him dancing, this alternates by the camera continuously zooming in and out on the singer. The close-up shots are used because as an establishing singer, Jackson wanted the audience to just focus on him and his appearance so that they can begin to recognise him more, and especially associate his voice and songs to his face. The long-shots purpose is to fully show off to the audience the dancing skills Jackson possesses, as this was and would later go on to be a major part of his star image, as his dance moves that he shows in this video would later become synonymous in all of his video’s.
Later on, as Michael Jackson’s career progressed and he became a major star, the editing and camera work showed how his star image had developed and moved on. The music video ‘Black or white’ is an excellent example of this. The editing used in this video is to help show Jackson’s opinion on racism. For example, at the end of the video editing is used to show the faces of different people of different races change quickly and transform. This is done to show that the differences between people should be celebrated and that we are all the same. This shows that Jackson can now focus on getting his personal message across through his video’s, rather than just solely focus on dancing and singing to make him a star. Also, the long shots in this video show Jackson dancing with various people from around the world. This helps to show how he embraces diversity as part of his image, but also shows the confidence he gained that he was a big enough star that he could perform in groups in his videos but still have the focus and attention of the audience mainly on him and his performance.
The impact Michael Jackson made to wider culture is massive, probably more so than any other star. He was majorly popular throughout his illustrious career. Through his music and videos he was able to spread his message of peace and acceptance to a global audience.
In conclusion, through his music videos, we have been able to see the development of Michael Jackson. From his early videos which showed him to be a young, energetic and upbeat performer to his later video’s where he still showed the same qualities but also conveying a message to the audience through the camera work, editing and mise-en-scene.
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