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

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==Readings==
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==Dyer on the star image==
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===Richard Dyer===
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#Star image: a "structured polysemy" (p. 63) constructed from "media texts":
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#'''Group 1:''' Dyer argues, "The star image is used in the construction of a character in a film in three ways." (127) What are those three ways? Pick one current movie or TV star and one film or television program. How is his/her star image used in the construction of that character? Explain.
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##Promotion
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##Publicity
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##Film roles
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##Criticism/commentary on those roles
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#'''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
 
#*Selective use
 
#*Perfect fit
 
#*Perfect fit
 
#*Problematic fit
 
#*Problematic fit
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#*'''Student response:''' The first is selective use, where a character in a film only embodies aspects of its star's public image. An example of this is in _All the President's Men_ which makes use of Robert Redford's image as a political activist, but does not utilize his image as a romantic lead. The second is perfect fit, where a character embodies all aspects of the star's public persona. The third is problematic fit, where the character is contradictory to the star's image.
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#Explain what Dyer's signs of ''character'' are (106+):
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#'''All Groups:''' Dyer lists "signs" of character and "signs" of performance. In what sense is he using the word, "sign"? That is, what, in general terms, is a sign?
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#*'''Groups 3 and 4:'''
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#*Signs of character (106+)
 
 
#*#Audience foreknowledge
 
#*#Audience foreknowledge
 
#*#Name
 
#*#Name
 
#*#Appearance
 
#*#Appearance
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#*'''Groups 5 and 1:'''
 
#*#Objective correlatives
 
#*#Objective correlatives
 
#*#Speech of character
 
#*#Speech of character
 
#*#Speech of others
 
#*#Speech of others
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#*'''Groups 2 and 6:'''
 
#*#Gesture
 
#*#Gesture
 
#*#Action
 
#*#Action
 
#*#Structure
 
#*#Structure
 
#*#''mise-en-scene''
 
#*#''mise-en-scene''
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#*Signs of performance (134)
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#*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.
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#*#Facial expression
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#**'''Groups 3 and 4:''' Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart)
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#*#Voice
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#**'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Gabrielle Maple (Bette Davis)
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#*#Gestures
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#**'''Groups 2 and 6:''' Alan Squier (Leslie Howard)
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#*#Body posture
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#Dyer's signs of ''performance'' are (134):
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#*#Body movement
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##'''Group 3:''' Facial expression
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#Apply Dyer's 10 signs of character to one of the characters from ''Petrified Forest''. That is, select ''one'' of the main characters (see below) and then discuss how the signs of character are used to build that character.
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##'''Group 4:''' Voice
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#*'''Group 2:''' Alan Squier (Leslie Howard)
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##'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Gestures
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#**'''Student response:''' The sign of appearance can be in the way that the writers of Petrified Forest used to make Alan Squier. When we first see him he is coming in out of a sand storm and walking all over the country. This isn't something that we know how however, we are told it later on as he gets to talking to the people in the restaurant. He has this rugged look about him when we first see him however as the movie goes on we come to realize that this first impression of him is mis-leading because he isn't all that rugged. His is as described by himself an "intellectual." His has this kind of pale white look about him once we get a good enough view of him. He looks as though he hasn't rested or eaten in days. He is really skinny and tall. All-in-all the first version of him that we see is rugged but as previously stated that is a mis-leading view of him. Once the movie goes on we see that he is actually an "intellectual" who is just searching for a place to fit in.
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##'''Groups 6 and 2:''' Body posture and movement
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#*'''Group 3:''' Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart)
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#*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].)
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#**'''Student response:''' One sign of character is the speech of others. Mantee is dtalke about by other characters a long time before we actually ever see him. By then we've gotten a good idea of how the other characters are and what they value. Mantee is a folk symbol the movie has to summon to life to make the story more than a study of the characters at one fixed point in time. Mantee's arrival sees everyone's actions judged so he is naturally best developed through others' reactions to him.
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
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#[[Image:FortApache1.jpg|thumb|left|John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache'']]'''Group 4:''' 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 [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/DyerFortApacheQT01.htm online in Quicktime format]. Explain how performance signs function in this scene. How would you analyze Bogart's performance signs in [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/PetrifiedForest.htm this scene]? (Dyer similarly discusses Bette Davis' performance in ''Little Foxes'', frame grabs for which are [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/VisualStyleIllustrations02.htm#davis available here].)
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File:FortApache YorkAndThursdayqq00 00 40qq00003.jpg|alt=John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache''|John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache''.
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#*'''Student response:''' I think that what Dyer is saying is that the actors can use these performance signs to convey information about characters and also contrast two characters without actual saying it in the form of a line. For example, in Petrified Forest, it would be easy to contrast the characters of Duke Mantee and Alan without even knowing anything about the characters. You could tell that Duke Mantee is a tough, criminal type character just by the way he looks and carries himself, while you can tell that Alan is a somewhat effeminate intellectual mainly based on the way he talks and acts.
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</gallery>
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<br style="clear: both;">
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==Recommended-reading questions==
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#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:
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#*Autonomy
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#*Roundness
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#*Development
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#*Interiority (how is this different for literature and film?)
  
 
== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
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#Richard Dyer, ''Stars'', Second Edition, Supplementary Chapter by Paul McDonald (London: British Film Institute, 1998).
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#Richard Dyer, ''Stars'', Second Edition, Supplementary Chapter by Paul McDonald (London: British Film Institute, 1998).  
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[[Image:P3090218DyerButler.jpg|thumb|400px|center|Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007.]]
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<br style="clear: both;">
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==See also==
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*[https://vimeo.com/345098571 Additional ''Fort Apache'' video]: Col. Thursday meets Cochise (1476x1080px resolution; may load slowly)
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==Richard Dyer gallery==
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
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File:P3090218DyerButler.jpg|alt=Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007|Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007.
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File:Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer.jpg|alt=Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer. London, March 2019.|Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer. London, March 2019.
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</gallery>
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[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]
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[[Category:JCM412/512 Discussion]]

Latest revision as of 17:17, 2 March 2020

Dyer on the star image

  1. Star image: a "structured polysemy" (p. 63) constructed from "media texts":
    1. Promotion
    2. Publicity
    3. Film roles
    4. Criticism/commentary on those roles
  2. 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
  3. Explain what Dyer's signs of character are (106+):
    • Groups 3 and 4:
      1. Audience foreknowledge
      2. Name
      3. Appearance
    • Groups 5 and 1:
      1. Objective correlatives
      2. Speech of character
      3. Speech of others
    • Groups 2 and 6:
      1. Gesture
      2. Action
      3. Structure
      4. 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)
  4. Dyer's signs of performance are (134):
    1. Group 3: Facial expression
    2. Group 4: Voice
    3. Groups 5 and 1: Gestures
    4. 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 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 this scene? (Dyer similarly discusses Bette Davis' performance in Little Foxes, frame grabs for which are available here.)
  • John Wayne and Henry Fonda in Fort Apache

    John Wayne and Henry Fonda in Fort Apache.

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

  • Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007

    Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007.

  • Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer. London, March 2019.

    Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer. London, March 2019.

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