The star who's image development I am analysis is Alex Gaskarth, Lead singer of the American band All
Time Low. Alexander William Gaskarth was born on the 14th December 1987 in Essex, England. When he was only six years of age his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. This is where he and fellow band mate Jack Bakarat created the band All Time Low in their first year of high school.
Alex is lead singer for the band All Time Low and the genre that they cater for is mainly the punk rock/ punk pop genre.
In the earliest official video Alex is presented very much as just a typical teenage punk rocker. The long hair the skinny jeans and the fact that they will jump to anything with a decent beat to it. The video is from 2005 so when they were around the age of 15/16 and is a very simple video. In this video because they aren't that well known at the time the lead singer doesn't take as much of the camera time as they would today. They are just portrayed as an amateur band, and not a lead singer with musicians behind him/her which is how I feel music videos are made nowadays.
For example when he is singing the chorus the majority of the time the camera isn't actually on him, its elsewhere, its on them mucking around on the sofa, its on the bassist, its on the drummer. (1:30 - 1:50). To be honest from this video he isn't shown to have any star image as of yet.
Alex, well the whole band really are never specifically playing a character as they are always playing themselves but in different roles. They have had one video where they aren't playing themselves and they are based on someone else and this was for the song "I feel like dancing" and was a mimic of pop icons music videos for example, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Although Alex has never played a character he himself has been in many different roles; These include being on a chat show, being on a singing competition, being a mole in a whack a mole machine, and many others but most commonly he plays himself as a lead singer in a band.
In nearly every one of their videos he is performing, he is rhythm guitarist and lead singer and in the majority of the bands music videos he is included in a live performance. The most obvious one is for song TimeBomb. This is one of their newer up to date videos and in fact the idea for the video was thought up by Alex Gaskarth, Who has a lot more time on the camera than he has in previous videos.
The main visual motif that comes with Alex When hes performing is mainly the fact that he stands with his guitar slanted down the side of his body. He will also play it that way when he is playing live, its a habit I think but its turned into a motif that you recognize him for. As you can see in the image hes holding his guitar and slanted to the side. Although he doesn't do this all the time he does also switch sides.
A more obvious visual motif is of course his hair. It is if you like his trademark. It hasn't changed dramatically since the band first originated and therefore he is recognized for it. The long scruffy look. It may have changed minor in colour over the years including; black, blonde and even pink but never strayed from its original style. Other motifs include his stereotypical punk clothing for example skinny jeans and T-Shirts with writing on them.
The record company don't attempt to sell the star specifically they attempt to sell the band with Alex's Face. The record company is Hopeless Records, and when you go on their website they appear regularly.
Alex is at the front of the main image with his trademark hair flaring to the right. What they are doing is using the lead singer to sell the band pretty much which is a good tactic because as the band portray in one of their videos, although it is a band, the lead singer gets most of the original attention. Its only fanatics that then move on to the other band members when they get to know them a bit more.
During the Videos there are regular close ups of Alex when hes singing and when hes playing guitar or a certain role. He is the face of the band and this has changed a lot since the band first got together. When people say All Time Low people now think of him.
The videos very much present Alex and the band as who they are. All the videos are very creative, very different from any music video that has been produced before and that really reflects his personality and that affects his star image positively. All the videos involve props and some sort of dressing up. In the song "Six Feet Under The Stars", He is dressed up in a white flat cap, pink shirt and large sun glasses. This gives him a showoff, kind of vibe. In "Backseat Serenade" he is dressed up as what I can figure is a dog costume. This gives him a sense of immaturity and takes them back to the young band they once were. His costumes very much go with the theme of the video and are not placed specifically for him although he is a major part of the process.
For example, in the video for "Coffee Shop Soundtrack" he is wearing a towel as is everyone else but due to the filming you notice it on him first before any of the band members because due to his prestige he is positioned in the middle of the band because maybe he is considered the most important?
In most of the videos a Fish eye lens is used to film Alex because he is centered and it makes him seem larger in the image therefore more powerful and more impressionable.
In the bands newest video; "A Love Like War" Alex is pretty much at the front of nearly every shot throughout the video. This shows a correlation on how a stars image changes through their career, compare this to their original circles video and how much Alex was involved then compared to now. Alex is even on the thumbnail of the video. As the camera pans around during this video Alex's face is always the first one you see. The camera is set at the same height throughout and this is done so that Alex is the one you see the one the video is based around.
Applications that have come around during the existence of the band have also helped music videos and the way they develop. For example Youtube. Youtube has changed music videos as well as lots of other filmed media. But the way I watch and analyse these videos is through Youtube, so now Youtube is the target audience.
In conclusion, Throughout the time that All Time Low has been a band, it was only when they became popular on a small but still worldwide scale that their music videos started to reflect more on the lead singer now but I say more because its not entirely. A quote from the drummer Rian Dawson: "We are each one part of this band" and they know this which is why although their videos have changed since 2005, they aren't completely mainstreamed as others are today. Alex has developed massively though and you can see it, from a young immature teenage bouncing around to a mature man who still enjoys the music that he makes. But not only the video has progressed with him, his music as well. It was a lot more towards the rocky side when they started but as time went on they have edged towards pop punk. His image is a lot more important nowadays and it has change significantly since the band was created.
