Dyer’s Star ImageTwenty One Pilots (Tyler Joseph) Analysis

Intro & Early Star Image

Twenty One Pilots are a duo originating from Ohio, and they formed in 2009. The band originated of three members, two whom left, and Josh Dun joining, creating the duo known as Twenty One Pilots.

Relevant genres include: indie pop, alternative, rock. The image established in the earliest twenty one pilots music videos

is that Tyler Joseph’s music is unique, he used to use a mask which hides their identity and makes him out to be quite dark. Tyler’s image in the earlier videos comes across as dark, he wore dark clothing and had a sad image around him, mirroring his music.

Star Image Development

Tyler can be seen to play a character, in videos and live performances Tyler is seen to really get into the music, his body moving in sync to his music. He comes across far sadder in music videos than he is.

Motifs that are commonly seen in performances and music videos are the black hands and neck, which reflect the album ‘blurryface’ and these are shown throughout the era. However, during the ‘vessel’ period, Tyler wore darker colours, wore a black mask for a lot of the time, and wore items of clothing that relate to a skeleton, including doing his makeup to look similar to a skeleton. They also have a symbol which is widely used amongst the band and their fans.

How are they sold?

Close ups are used throughout their music videos to show the emotion Tyler is feeling. The band has relatable lyrics, and this is done to sell to older teenagers who can relate to lyrics that are about mental illness.

Props are used to enforce the relatable lyrics, for example a noose in ‘holding onto you’. However in later videos few props are used, apart from the use of instruments to enforce the originality of the band and the talent of the band. In a few videos there are background people, for example ‘lane boy’ has two people behind Tyler, however these people aren’t explained, and neither is their costume, however it promotes the originality. They costume is usually the same, dark colours with masks, which reflects the original dark image of the band, and the relatability for their audience.

How do camera and editing reinforce the image? Camera is often used to prove the talent of the band (and Tyler), this

is done with a lot of pans during concerts, highlighting the amount of fans they have. However, close ups are also used to enforce the relatability of Tyler, showing he’s emotion in sad lyrics. The filming is also in dark location

Editing is usually continuous which shows that the image of the band has stayed the same, but moving along slightly. The editing is also slow paced, this enforces the sad relatability of the band, and also gives the audience more time to see the talent and originality of the band.

Wider Cultural Significance

Twenty One Pilots have grown significantly over the last year. This is because of the wide teenage audience that can relate with the lyrics, with mental health problems growing, this band gives teenagers something they can relate to, therefore the audience growing.

They also have grown because of their originality. With so many artists sounding similar, twenty one pilots have their own sound which their audience enjoys. This means they don’t fit into any cultural trends, and because of that, it has added to their popularity.

Conclusion

We can see that Tyler and twenty one pilots have started out with a dark, sad image, although this has stayed the same, they’ve progressed to show more of their talent.

They’re sold to show their talent through their music videos and also their originality with their music videos being different. They’re also sold to be relatable to a teenage audience with sad lyrics and music videos.

Their clothing and makeup reflects the sad image that the band has. The camera and editing strongly reinforce the bands image with slow

paced editing to enforce sadness, and long shots to show the talent of the band.