Manufacturing Celebrity

Class:
Friday 12:10pm - 2:40pm
Blended remote and in-person
Contact for Zoom links :)

Office hours by apt.
T, W, Th
On Zoom

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fraade@gmail.com

In-Class Links
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Readings Links
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Week 1	01/29	Why be famous? Motivations, evolutionary pressures, frontierism. Celebrity as a construct. Posse theory, popularity and approval. Achieved/Attributed/ Ascribed celebrity. fan motivations (Identity, community, revenge). Readings due next week: Teen Titan: The Man Who Made Justin Bieber Listening and Longing: Abridged Individual HW: Create and annotate an autobiographical celebrity fandom timeline. [Details]
Week 2	02/05	Archetype and Specialness Celebrity characters, Western celebrity literary archetypes and hero’s journey literary devices. Choosing an archetype. Choosing a celebrity style. Types of capital (social/technical, economic & cultural) and styles of celebrity (Exoticism, Exceptionalism, Exclusivity, Everydayness). Reading due next week: Trust Me I'm Lying Watch for next week: Faking a lifestyle photoshoot Individual HW due next week: Using character archetypes and the four styles of capital, create and document a celebrity brand in 9 photos. [Details] Create a Celebrity Persona for yourself Acting as your own manager, create for yourself a celebrity brand. Choose a mythological archetype from the list below or find your own. Pick an archetype that expresses a single aspect of who you are, a simplified, easily digestible version of yourself. If you already have a celebrity persona, try picking an archetype that's completely novel and new. Now, pick what type of celebrity status this character has: Exclusivity (lots of money and economic capital), Exoticism (lot of cultural capital), Exceptionalism (lots of skills and social capital) or Everydayness (the appearance of no capital) Using instagram, pinterest, or another socially-enabled collaging software, build a mood board expressing this new celebrity persona. It should contain exactly 9 photos. At least three pictures should be of you inhabiting and impersonating the character you have created. Really get into the role with some posed shots, some action shots, whatever it takes to portray this character. At least 3 pictures should show details about this character’s life, or any other imagery expressing the lifestyle with which you want your brand associated. Objects, props, scenery, maybe relationships (they can be fictitious if you want. Collect these pictures from wherever you want, no need to take them from yourself. At least one photo should express something to create intimacy - a (preferably fictitious) piece of personal information or fan access to your (preferably fictitious) inner life to help create feelings of closeness and access with your audience. At least one photo should express an opinion of some type, preferably using visuals along with a caption, but you can use words in the image if you have to. One photo is a wildcard. Archetypes: The Love Goddess/God, The Innocent Child, The Trickster, The Party Animal, The Caretaker/Mother, The Fool, The Warrior, The Dark Lord, The Hero, The Free Spirit, The Keen Teen, The Mentor, The Wizard, The Witch, The Rebel, The Explorer, The Cheif/boss, The Creator (The Artist), The Everyman, The Lost Soul, The Spunky Kid
Week 3	02/12	Content Strategy Relatability, Western public relations, media spikes, audience manipulation, performed intimacy. Listen/Read, due next week: Famous on the Internet, Broke IRL 'I Was Caroline Calloway' by Natalie Beach Group HW due next week: In your group, choose your celebrity and establish their presence on one major platform. Pick your entourage members, media roles, and supporting celebs. Assume people will each play multiple roles. Arrive in class ready to introduce us to your construct and thier current digital footprint.
Week 4	02/19	Getting Noticed: Media Spike #1 / Guest - Mayaan Brand strategy, single-sided beef or relationships, pseudo-events. Hostile recruitment and reciprocity. Astroturphing methods. Readings due next week: Celebrity Inc. (Abridged) Group 2-week HW due week 6, 3/05: Stage and document your first media spike using a three-part procedure.
Week 5	02/26	Fan Motivations / Guest Becoming a fan stories, fandom as utopia, societal recreation, Identity, and rebellion. Social coinage, lovebombing, and managing firestarters and BNF's. Reading due next week: From Smart Fan to Backyard Wrestler: Performance, Context and Aesthetic Violence HW due next week : Continue working on media spike.
Week 6	03/05	Fan Behavior Fanlike Activities: Impersonations, Pilgrimages, Rituals and Traditions, Socialization, Evangelization, Performative Consumption, Content Creation. Watch, due next week: The Art of Asking Group 2-week HW due week 8, 3/27: Get your fangroup to engage in a fanlike activity. Fandom is inherently social, so consider adding at least one supporting character to your celebrity platform. [Details]
Week 7	03/12	Fangroup Management Ritual Enemies, Ritual debate, Gift Giving, Jostling for Hierarchy, Enforcing norms and punishing infractions. Social Proof and the use of gamification Group HW: Continue fangroup formation activities, adding group cohesion triggers to the results of your fanlike activity
	3-19	No Class
Week 8	03/26	Influence and Commercialization Paid partnerships, social advertising, custom platforms, Consent advertising, Celebrity value, product integration, labor prostitution, Commercializing software Reading due next week: Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction Group HW: Keep working on group building
Week 9	04/02	Influence / Guest: Eduardo Reading due next week: Why Virality is more about Emotional Connection than Luck Group HW: Using your $50 investment, comoditize your celebrity in some way by increasing their commercial value Individual HW: Sell something using your celebrity persona. Make sure to think through your attractivemenss, credibility, and trustworthiness and choose a product to advertorialize that fits with your archetype and style.
Week 10	04/09	Virality and Memetics Reading due next week: Why do our brains love celebrity conspiracy theories? (They're bad!) Shipping and the Enduring appeal of rooting for love (Actually, they're great!) McDreamy, McSteamy, and McConnell (I don't know what they are, but they're really important!)
Week 11	04/16	Celeb Conspiracy Theories Reading due next week: Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology Individual Homework Use memetics and relatability to create something highly spreadable for your own celebrity character. Choose high-arousal, positive imagery, relatable elements (timeliness/complaining/food) or spreadability (humor, juxtaposition, ordenaryness, non-traditional masculinity, repetativenenss) Group HW: Prepare your final project proposal: Engage in a Media Spike Collaboration.
Week 12	04/23	Exploitation Group HW: Work on final media spike Optional: 'I Was Caroline Calloway' by Natalie Beach
Week 13	04/30	Singularity / Guest Critics Group HW: Keep working on final media spike
Week 14	05/07	Final presentations

COURSE DESCRIPTION
"I want to be famous!" For a decade, this has been the most common response to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The media has exploded with influencer, reality TV stars, and D-list Celebes's who could not have existed even 20 years ago. But who actually gets to be famous? It's certainly not always the most attractive, charismatic, or talented. Why shouldn't it be us?

This production-centric class will create real, human celebrities. We'll examine the social evolution, neuroscience, and historical significance of fame, and the wide variety of tactics and technologies that go into generating and sustaining it today. Then we will try them out on each other. And also maybe on some cats, puppies, and ferrets too. In teams, we'll experiment with growing our new celeb's renown and recognizability using a variety of strategies, philosophies, and platforms. The final goal will be the construction of a viable, self-sustaining celebrity with masses of adoring fans. Really. Fame isn't nearly as random as it appears!

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the evolutionary and social theories behind celebrity, in both a pre and post-digital world.
Explain and mimic the subtle and overt manipulations that go into the production of social proof on online platforms.
Utilize emerging digital and non-digital platforms to engage in celebrity-creation activities, including audience building, personal branding, fan recruitment and management, and exploitation.

COURSE TEXTBOOK
No texts are required, but there will be a number of required readings from various sources. In addition, further readings and source material will be found in the following highly recommended books:

Senft, T. M. (2008). Camgirls: Celebrity and community in the age of social networks. New York: Lang.

Duffy, B. E. (2018). (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love: Gender, Social Media, and Aspirational Work. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Lifestyle Gurus: Constructing Authority and Influence Online by Stephanie A Baker (forthcoming)

Please Subscribe! Influencers, Social Media, and the Commodification of Everyday Life by Crystal Abidin (forthcoming)

Abidin, C, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. 2018

Marwick AE. Status Update, Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age. Yale University Press; 2013.

Brodie R. Virus of the Mind, The New Science of the Meme. Hay House Incorporated; 2011.

Tashiro T. Awkward, The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome. William Morrow; 2017.

Cavicchi D. Listening and Longing, Music Lovers in the Age of Barnum. Wesleyan University Press; 2011.

Blackmore S. The Meme Machine. Oxford Paperbacks; 2000.

Jenkins H, Ford S, Green J. Spreadable Media, Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. NYU Press; 2013.

Fussell P. Class, A Guide Through the American Status System. Simon and Schuster; 1992.

Aunger R. The Electric Meme, A New Theory of How We Think. Free Press; 2010.

Carlin P. How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity, A Guide to Financial Freedom. Quirk Books; 2014.

Sternheimer K. Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, Stardom and Social Mobility. Routledge; 2014.

Pringle H. Celebrity Sells. Wiley; 2004.

Cashmore E, Cashmore E. Celebrity Culture. 2014.

Rojek C. Fame Attack, The Inflation of Celebrity and Its Consequences. A&C Black; 2012.

Phillips W. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. Mit Press; 2016.

Solove DJ. The Future of Reputation, Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet. 2008.

Rojek C. Celebrity. Reaktion Books; 2001.

Piazza J. Celebrity, Inc., How Famous People Make Money. Open Road Media E-riginal; 2011.

Lynch A. Thought Contagion, How Belief Spreads Through Society. Basic Books (AZ); 1998.

Shifman L. Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Press; 2013.

Chess S, Newsom E. Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man, The Development of an Internet Mythology. Palgrave Pivot; 2014.

Halpern J. Fame Junkies, The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2008.

Fraade-Blanar Z, Glazer AM. Superfandom, How Our Obsessions Are Changing How We Buy and Who We Are. 2017.

GRADING AND ATTENDANCE
Grades will be determined by the following breakdown:

30% Participation
20% Reading responses and one-off assignments, as recorded in a blog or emailed to the teacher.
50% Semester-long Final project

Any more than four (4) unexcused absences will result a lowering of your final grade

This class is a blended in-person/remote class. It can be experienced fully remote without difficulty.

PARTICIPATION:
This class will be highly participatory. You are expected to contribute to discussions, engage in group work, give feedback to your peers, and otherwise fully participate in class.

PHONE, TABLET, LAPTOP, AND OTHER ELECTRONICS USE
Recreational use of phones, music players, video game systems and other devices are forbidden. I know we're on Zoom, but still. Laptops and tablets are allowed for note taking, in class work, as well as relevant research only. Activities not related to the class, such as recreational use of the internet, including all social media websites, email and instant messaging, game playing, and work for other classes, will not be permitted.

TEACHING STYLE
Classes will be a mixture of lecture, reading discussion, group presentations, and critique.

COURSE SCHEDULE
The course will be one (1) time per week for two hours and thirty minutes (2:30) for a total of 14 weeks.

ASSIGNMENTS
As a class engaged in the exploration of an ongoing phenomenon and the theory underpinning it, there will be regular readings, podcasts, and videos. Students should arrive in class ready to discuss their reactions and criticism of each piece, and participation is mandatory.

Responses to reading and other written assignments are also due by email or in personal blogs within one day of the class discussion.

There will be regular assignments using class material to contribute to a semester-long project of building viable celebrity characters. These assignments must be documented (written description, photos, screenshots, or video all qualify based on the assignment) on at least one group member’s blog or emailed to the teacher. Each progress report is due by class time one week after they are assigned unless stated otherwise.

It is expected that you will spend at least 4 to 6 hours a week on the class outside of class itself. This will include reading, completing the assigned project progress, and so on.

STATEMENT OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as though it were your own. More specifically, plagiarism is to present as your own: A sequence of words quoted without quotation marks from another writer or a paraphrased passage from another writer’s work or facts, ideas or images composed by someone else. More information can be found on Tisch’s page regarding Academic Integrity (http://tisch.nyu.edu/faculty/academic-integ).

ACCESSIBILITY
Academic accommodations are available for students with documented disabilities. Please contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212 998-4980 for further information.

WELLNESS
Your health and safety are a priority at NYU. If you experience any health or mental health issues during this course, we encourage you to utilize the support services of the 24/7 NYU Wellness Exchange 212-443-9999, or access other materials on the Wellness Exchange website.