Difference between revisions of "Concept of Star (Discussion)"

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==Dyer on the star image==
 
==Dyer on the star image==
#Star image: a "structured polysemy" (p. 63) constructed from "media texts":
 
##Promotion
 
##Publicity
 
##Film roles
 
##Criticism/commentary on those roles
 
#'''All Groups:''' Dyer argues, "The star image is used in the construction of a character in a film in three ways" (127), which are listed below. Pick one current movie star and one film. How is his/her star image used in the construction of that character? Explain.
 
#*Selective use
 
#*Perfect fit
 
#*Problematic fit
 
#Explain what Dyer's signs of ''character'' are (106+):
 
#*'''Groups 3 and 4:'''
 
#*#Audience foreknowledge
 
#*#Name
 
#*#Appearance
 
#*'''Groups 5 and 1:'''
 
#*#Objective correlatives
 
#*#Speech of character
 
#*#Speech of others
 
#*'''Groups 2 and 6:'''
 
#*#Gesture
 
#*#Action
 
#*#Structure
 
#*#''mise-en-scene''
 
#*Apply Dyer's 10 signs of character to one of the characters from ''Petrified Forest''. That is, use ''one'' of the main characters (see below) and then discuss how the signs of character are used to build that character.
 
#**'''Groups 3 and 4:''' Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart)
 
#**'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Gabrielle Maple (Bette Davis)
 
#**'''Groups 2 and 6:''' Alan Squier (Leslie Howard)
 
#Dyer's signs of ''performance'' are (134):
 
##'''Group 3:''' Facial expression
 
##'''Group 4:''' Voice
 
##'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Gestures
 
##'''Groups 6 and 2:''' Body posture and movement
 
#*On pp. 145-146, Dyer discusses how John Wayne's and Henry Fonda's performances in ''Fort Apache'' use performance signs--referring specifically to a scene that is illustrated here with a frame grab and [https://vimeo.com/345098571 online video]. Explain how performance signs function in this scene--with each group looking at one specific performance sign (see above). How would you analyze Bogart's performance signs in [https://vimeo.com/345054990 this scene]? (Dyer similarly discusses Bette Davis' performance in ''Little Foxes'', frame grabs for which are [https://tvcrit.org/Classes/Jbutler/T440/VisualStyleIllustrations02.php#davis available here].)
 
<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
 
File:FortApache YorkAndThursdayqq00 00 40qq00003.jpg|alt=John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache''|John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache''.
 
</gallery>
 
  
 
==Recommended-reading questions==
 
==Recommended-reading questions==

Revision as of 21:42, 28 February 2020

Dyer on the star image

Recommended-reading questions

  1. Richard Dyer defines "characters" as "constructed representations of persons" (89). And he argues that how a fictional character is defined has changed over the centuries. As the novel rose to prominence in the 19th century, so did a certain "novelistic conception of character" (93). Explain what Dyer means by each of these novelistic qualities of characters:
    • Autonomy
    • Roundness
    • Development
    • Interiority (how is this different for literature and film?)

Bibliography

  1. Richard Dyer, Stars, Second Edition, Supplementary Chapter by Paul McDonald (London: British Film Institute, 1998).

See also

Richard Dyer gallery