Module Information
Module Identifier
FM21320
Module Title
Stardom amd Celebrity
Academic Year
2019/2020
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Viewing | 10 x 3 Hour Viewings |
| Lecture | 10 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 10 x 1 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay 1 (2,500 words) | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Essay 2 (2,500 words) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay 1 (2,500 words) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay 2 (2,500 words) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts in and theoretical approaches to stardom and celebrity.
2. Evaluate historical shifts in celebrity cultures.
3. Assess the roles played by audiences, actors, employers and different media forms in the construction of stardom.
4. Analyse the way in which case studies of specific examples illustrate stardom and celebrity.
5. Consider this analysis within the wider context of mainstream filmmaking and media performance, across cinema, television and alternative media forms.
Brief description
This module investigates the subject of stardom and celebrity across film, TV and media contexts.
A) Cultural and political contexts: understanding the processes by which stardom and star images are constructed within popular and public cultures and the political impact of these.
B) National: having an awareness of the different ways stars are consumed within different national and transnational contexts (both away from, and in relation to, Hollywood filmmaking).
C) Theoretical: exploring how stardom has been traditionally theorised within celebrity studies and cultural studies.
D) Historical and industrial: investigating the changing role of the star within the Hollywood industry from the early 1900s to the present day, and the star as a ‘worker’ as well as an ‘image’.
E) The multi-platform nature of celebrity, whereby the construction and maintenance of stardom is achieved via enterprises across a variety of media forms including cinema, television, the internet and print media.
This module offers a critical insight into the history of stardom within mainstream media. It will examine major theoretical discourses pertaining to stars, stardom and celebrity culture. Students will be encouraged to consider the correlation between individual stars and the range of contexts which define performers as stars via a series of case studies linking major stars with a variety of historical and critical approaches. The way in which stardom is constructed by producers and consumers through film texts, marketing discourses, multimedia platforms, national and transnational cinemas, audiences and specific historical circumstances will be analysed.
A) Cultural and political contexts: understanding the processes by which stardom and star images are constructed within popular and public cultures and the political impact of these.
B) National: having an awareness of the different ways stars are consumed within different national and transnational contexts (both away from, and in relation to, Hollywood filmmaking).
C) Theoretical: exploring how stardom has been traditionally theorised within celebrity studies and cultural studies.
D) Historical and industrial: investigating the changing role of the star within the Hollywood industry from the early 1900s to the present day, and the star as a ‘worker’ as well as an ‘image’.
E) The multi-platform nature of celebrity, whereby the construction and maintenance of stardom is achieved via enterprises across a variety of media forms including cinema, television, the internet and print media.
This module offers a critical insight into the history of stardom within mainstream media. It will examine major theoretical discourses pertaining to stars, stardom and celebrity culture. Students will be encouraged to consider the correlation between individual stars and the range of contexts which define performers as stars via a series of case studies linking major stars with a variety of historical and critical approaches. The way in which stardom is constructed by producers and consumers through film texts, marketing discourses, multimedia platforms, national and transnational cinemas, audiences and specific historical circumstances will be analysed.
Content
This is the indicative content of a number of topics that will be studied on this module:
• The history of film stardom
• The construction of star images and their meanings
• Stardom and gender
• Audiences responses to stardom and celebrity
• Marketing and publicity
• Multiplatform celebrity
• Cult stardom - The Wrestler as a hybrid celebrity
• Television stardom
• Transnational and political stardom
• Stardom, media personalities and celebrity culture
• Celebrity labour
• The history of film stardom
• The construction of star images and their meanings
• Stardom and gender
• Audiences responses to stardom and celebrity
• Marketing and publicity
• Multiplatform celebrity
• Cult stardom - The Wrestler as a hybrid celebrity
• Television stardom
• Transnational and political stardom
• Stardom, media personalities and celebrity culture
• Celebrity labour
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Students will be given the opportunity to reflect upon basic statistical data (primarily presented in percentages), through encouraging key research studies in the field |
| Communication | Lecture discussion and feedback, as well as written work |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Lecture discussion, assessment and feedback |
| Information Technology | Extensive use of Blackboard |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Communication (written and oral), teamwork, IT |
| Problem solving | Lecture discussion, written assignments and acting on feedback |
| Research skills | Requirement for assignments |
| Subject Specific Skills | Knowledge of stardom and celebrity studies |
| Team work | Lecture discussion – in small teams |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5