Star Wars, The Official Magazine, No: 15 (1998)

HEARN, Marcus, et al ,1998, Star Wars: The Official Magazine, Edition Number 15, London, Titan Magazines

I found this magazine in Poverty Aid UK. The issue was released just before Star Wars the Phantom Menace, which is rather handy in relation to my essay topic.

There are many enclosed advertisements and reviews for the merchandise available at the time, as well as official articles related to the Phantom Menace.

The magazine also coincided with the first licensing deal between Lego and Lucasfilm:

'The alliance with Lucas Licensing Ltd represents a major step for the Lego group worldwide, bringing together two very powerful brands that will entertain and inspire children around the globe'

- KIRK, Kjeld

The magazine is packed with imagery ripe for manipulation and study, I will certainly photocopy some amount of it for sketchbook investigations.

There is also an interview with Drew Struzan, who had been responsible for painting hundreds of film posters, including Star Wars. 

Struzan describes the compositional process

'First it's a selection of stills, objects, characters, the faces of the actors. Then it's how they're lit and coloured. What kinds of composition do you use? Is it relaxed? Is it nervous? Adventurous? All those things begin to convey the soul of the film the emotion of it, the colouration of it. I believe in truth in advertising, so I paint what's really in the film'

- STRUZEN, Drew

I particularly like the page advertising buying back issues, the 'SOLD OUT' text on the recognisable Star Wars characters is heavy with implicit meanings, and could easily be subverted for illustrative purposes.

The magazine is certainly a valuable resource, and I will make some reference to it during the written part of the module, the imagery is just as useful, and I will use it for reference and potential subversion.

Context of Practice 3: Progress Tutorial [1]

I arrived to the tutorial somewhat confident of my structure, I my estimations in terms of word count are pretty flexible, but I think the majority of the dissertation will focus on the historical narrative. Richard was pleased with the title 'How Star Wars Became the Merchandising Paradigm', his early concerns are that I must not forgot to angle the study with a social and cultural lens, rather than writing 9000 words ranting about how great Star Wars is.

Context of Practice 3: Initial Presentation

I created this document in order to explain my dissertation project to a small group.

The consensus from the group seemed positive, and they understood the questions and topics involved.

The tutor, Richard mentioned that I should seek out books on the topics of popular culture and consumption, and that it was the social and anthropological angle that made the topic interesting.