Representation of Fans and Musicians of Rock
Research
The fans of rock music
Articles:
Images:
Typical fans of rock
Graph regarding information about different music genre fans. From fan article 5.
The musicians of rock music
Articles:
Images:
Singer, drummer and guitarist - their fashion, age, gender relating to their representation
Information from musician article 2
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How are fans and musicians of the rock genre represented in modern life?
Fans of the rock genre are
usually perceived as “rogue” and “dangerous” by the media through the use of
news reports where gigs have gone riot or there has been gang violence. The
attitude towards rockers links back to the rise of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s.
In the 1950s rock was so revolutionary that people didn’t understand it so saw it
as a way for the youth to rebel. In the 80s rock music was everywhere and still
is today. The fans and musicians may have evolved but the music stays the same.
Researchers
have been showing for years that fans of rock are rebellious, boisterous and
more likely to lead to violence and mayhem, but from a psychological viewpoint in
recent years they are actually shown to be “quite gentle” (article 1) and tend
to be “creative, but are often introverted
and may suffer from low self-esteem”, the negative image they are presented as has
derived from the fashions they wear and the content of the music as the bass
can be quite harsh and elect a feeling of elation and sometimes anger.
Sub-genres of rock such as indie rock
show a similar view as they typically “have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard working, and not
gentle” though this contrasts against the different style of music compared to
hard rock. (article 2)
Further
research into rock fans from the opinions of 200 college students show that
fans of the genre are less emotionally stable and agreeable that that of other genres
but score high in their openness. (article 3) This is interesting to the
representation of fans of the rock genre as they are still perceived as being out
of control of their emotions but are open to new people and ideas, representing
the freedom afforded to them through the music.
Of all the musicians of rock ‘The Beatles’ are probably one of the
most celebrated as their music has touched the entire world and ‘the collective consciousness of several generations’
(article 6). They were seen as image makers and represented throughout the
media as a class of music to be celebrated, the ‘four cheeky lads from Liverpool’
as they were effectively dubbed. They were so powerful they had “broken through
second and third world censorship and regulations and set many millions free”
just through the messages in their music. This is a positive representation of
rock musicians in the media, though it has changed since the time of The
Beatles.
As seen in article 3 “Why do all rock stars
die at age 27?” the article talks about how “sex, drugs – death – and rock”
have all become factors in the negative representation of musicians of the
genre. However the article then says “rock and roll is dead anyway”, which many
fans would disagree with and the music sales show the real facts.
Finally, the way a musician is presented
links to their choice of instrument with drummers seen as “illiterate”, guitarists
“posers”, bassists “ignorant and moody” and vocalists as “narcissistic and
egocentric” (article 9) which is society's portrayal when in reality it is just
a stereotype with little value in real information, though that is how it is perceived.
This can be seen in covers of magazines such as this one;
Where the mise-en-scene reflects much about the model.
Dave Grohl, lead vocalist of rock band ‘Foo Fighters’ is depicted here as angry
with rumours and lies surrounding him. This is seen in his facial expression
and also in the use of a red background. His costume is simple and links to the
purple of the Marvel character ‘Hulk’ who is famous for his temper and shows to
the audience the suffering he has had at the hands of the media. This shows
that the stereotype of rock musicians being angry has some truth to it and is
portrayed through their musical lyrics and sound. Though the stereotype is not
true for a lot of them.
Overall fans and musicians of the rock genre have
evolved in modern times seen in the media of articles and magazines
representation. They are seen as unruly through the presentation of the media
industry but from other points of view are actually calm and quiet people,
thought heir music is their outlet for their worries and stress. The representation has changed from the beginning of the rock genre to now and will
continue to change as the genre evolves into something new.
“Rock and roll
keeps you in a constant state of juvenile delinquency.” (Eddie Spaghetti, 2000)
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Eleanor Wemyss
Photo shoot date: Friday 22nd November, South Downs College drama department room. Used for the dark background and good lighting. Medium Shots, and Close-ups. 8:30am.
After putting my images onto the desired size of my magazine, I realised they would not appropriate as they were mostly landscape and lost pixels when being expanded. This led me to do another shoot, but this time with a different background and different number of subjects. This led me to having 100 photos, with 34 considered for use, before narrowing it down to 4. The shoot was at 1:30pm-1:40pm on Thursday 28th November. I may use the previous images for my double page spread, but I shall be using the new images for the cover. The background is much more consistent and the subject is in better light. The use of the long shot makes him look more imposing and strong to match the genre of rock. The use of the acoustic guitar versus an electric one is symbolic to the preferred magazine title at this current time in production. It also symbolises the changing media mode as rock is not just the one genre any more, it has become a variety of sub-genres, but with the underlining aspect of power and presence to the individual musician. Therefore, these photos are much better than the previous through a combination of different setting, pose and camera medium. 
