Analysis of a star

CHARLOTTE CHURCH

Charlotte Church came onto the music scene at a very young age singing classical opera, but as she grew older she began to sing pop songs which related more to her age. She began her singing career in 1998 at the age of 12 and became an immediate success, but as she has grown up her music has changed a lot and the messages within her songs and her target audeince has also changed very much.

Just Wave Hello -
Just Wave Hello is one of Charlotte Church's first music video's, and it was filmed in 1999. This music video is from when she first entered the music industry as a classical opera singer. The video is strongly preformance based, but also concept based as the video contains her singing but also shows people from different cultures and religions waving and welcoming people. The videos concept relates to most of the lyrics in terms of the repetitive lines 'wave hello' and 'it's time to go now'. Also the concept of welcoming different people with open arms is strongly shown in the video, and this is the main message in the music video as she is singing about a peaceful world.
This music video has a very innocent ambience about it due to, the classical genre of music, the concept of the video, and the costume that Charlotte Church is in. The long white dress and high neck line express Church's innocence and purity which would appeal to her target audience which would likely be mature women around forty and over, due to the genre of music. The most noticeable aspect of Goodwin's theory in this music video is the frequent use of close ups, this technique would allow the audience to have a clear view of what she looks like and the expression on her face which will link to the tone of the song. As this music video is from when she was first introduced into the music scene it would have been important for the record label to have her identity and image known to everyone, so these close ups would have helped with that aspect.

In this music video Church is seen as both ordinary and extraordinary, which links to Dyer's theory, as her image is a typical young girl but she also has an extraordinary talent, which is being able to sing in a mature opera style.

Crazy Chick -
After a short break in the music industry, In 2005 Charlotte Church returned and reached number two in the UK singles charts with the song 'Crazy Chick', this song, and the album it is on, shows Charlotte taking a new direction into the pop genre. The song reflects her teenage years better than her previous classical career and it also allowed her to produce songs which are targeted at teenagers her own age. This change in music genre definitely attracted a new target audeince to her, as many teenagers will enjoy her pop songs and they will also enjoy her music videos as they show her being a rebellious teenager, so many teenage girls aged around 12 to 18 would aspire to be like Charlotte Church. This music video shows many obvious signs of a change in image and style in Charlotte Church. This long shot from the music video shows her wearing dark revealing clothing which is a dramatic difference from her innocent, pure image in her first music video, as she is now being shown as a provocative woman. The video also contains alcohol, parties and a slight rock chick image. The video is mainly performance based and also has some hints of being concept based, much like the first music video. However, following Goodwin's theory, the many close ups which are used show Charlotte Church in a more mature and sexy way, and the black and white filter gives her a rock chick image.
Also, in relation to Goodwin's theory, there is a link between the lyrics and visuals, as when the words 'you're making me a crazy chick' the close ups of Cahrlotte show her dancing with her wild hair, and the party atmosphere can relate to the words 'crazy chick'. Another thing which has changed in Charlotte Church's music is the message she conveys in her songs, as in her first music video her songs had innocent and pure messages and intentions, but now in her teenage music career the messages in her songs have changed and are now mainly about partying and having fun, and also about boys and relationships. So these new messages in her songs will relate more with her new target audience and relate more to the pop music genre characteristics.

How Not to be Surprised When You're a Ghost -
This extremely new song from Charlotte Church shows how much her and her music has matured since her teenage years. Instead of singing under the classical or pop genre, Church now embarks on the new genre of indie rock, but with a haunting twist on it as the piano creates the perfect atmosphere for the lyrics which are about the inevitable fact that a loved one will die. So as well as the maturity in the music genre, the message of the song and her voice, the lyrics have also matured as they have a more personal meaning. The video is performance and concept based as, although the video is quite strange and creepy (especially from the already perceived image we have of her from her past music), it also has a message that shows how you might expect ghosts to look like, but that you should not be scared or surprised by this. So therefore the lyrics strongly link to the visuals, like Goodwin states in his theory. In addition many close ups are used to show her new sophisticated look and to show us her facial expressions, which tell us that this is a very serious music video compared to her previous ones. Furthermore, as well as her image and music genre changing again, her target audeince has also changed again as her more serious songs and more mature music genre will appeal to young adults and adults agen around 16 to 35.

So, overall throughout Charlotte Church's long music career her image has been changed and adapted many times; from classical to pop and then to alternative indie rock. As well as her style of music changing, her image has also changed in terms of her actual look; in the first music video she is portrayed as a young innocent girl, in the second she is shown as a sexy rock chick, and in the latter she is seen as a matured, sophisticated, serious woman. Throughout her career her target audience seems to have been continuously changing, however with her latest song it appears that she has tried to keep some aspects from both genres of music which she embarked on in her earlier career. As 'How Not to be Surprised When You're a Ghost' contains her soft yet strong voice from her classical career, but also her power and rock chick image from her teenage pop career.

Dyer's Star Theory
Dyer's Star Theory applies to Charlotte Church as during her child and teenage years her image was constructed by her management, therefore relating to Dyer's point that stars are not real people, however, she did begin to make her own image during her more mature years, which is evident in her latest music video. Charlotte Church's management would have changed her image into the sweet and innocent one when she was younger, and then the sexy and rebellious one when she was a teenager in order to relate to the target audience and persuade them to buy her records, therefore earning them money and making her a more popular and known star.
Also, many pop stars are created and molded to look like real people, but to also be more extraordinary than the average teenager. For instance in Church's 'Crazy Chick' music video' she is shown to be an average teenage girl but with a more rocky edge and with an extraordinary talent.