Star Image

Star Image is all about the way in which a band or an artist develop an icon of themselves, a band that is great example of that is Slipknot, a heavy metal grunge band from Iowa U.S.
They are notouriously known for their attention grabbing image, agressive music and energetic, chaotic live shows.
The band was started in 1995 when drummer Shaun Craham and bassist Paul Gray started a band called 'The Pale Ones', they then enlisted some other members into the band, Gray invited Joey Jordison to a rehearsal session, it was then decided that Jordison would become the main drummer of the band and Craham would be the custom percussion. Since then the band has had many members come and go including the death of Paul Gray in 2010.
Each and every 9 members of Slipknot have a different mask that they will always put on during a performance or show creating a slight mystery about what their faces actually look like, rarely will they be seen without their masks on, even in interviews they will still choose to wear them.

Their first set of masks when they first released them selves to the public looked something like this, very gory, very scary and very controversial to fit right in with the style of music that they play. The idea of the masks first came about when percussionist Crahan would bring his clown mask to rehearsals when the band first started, it was then later decided that each member of the band would have their own unique mask and matching jumpsuit to match. When the lead singer Corey Taylor was questioned about the masks he replied with
"It's our way of becoming more intimate withe the music. It's a way for us to become unconscious of who we are and what we do outside of music. Its a way for us to kind of crawl inside it and be able to use it.
Their image has been subject to a lot of criticism, it was generally thought of as a gimmick to try and sell more albums. The band strongly object to these claims and say its simply a way for them to become a different person and to keep their personal lives private, percussionist Fehn went as far as saying that it was a "blessing" that he can go out without being recognised.
Over the years Slipknot have developed their image; changing their uniforms and each of the masks accordingly with the release of each album, the masks do not differ drastically in appearance between albums but follow a similar style with new elements. Alongside their usual masks, Slipknot have incorporated special masks for specific reasons, for example during the bands performance of "Vermillion" in 2004-2005 the band members wore death mask made from moulds of their own faces.

In 2007 Slipknot released the music video to their song "Before I Forget" from their 2004 album Vol: 3 The Subliminal Verses. The video shows the band playing all together in a white sterile looking environment, without their masks on. We don't see their faces at all in this video, we only see fragmented shots of their bodys and out of focus shots of them playing, we also see their masks hung up in focus while they play out of focus in the shot.

In this screen shot form the video, we can see the mask that the lead singer, Corey Taylor wears in focus in front of him while he sings out of focus in the background.
There is also another member of the band in the background of the shot also out of focus form the camera and still playing.

Another shot from the video shows the lead singer again in focus showing nothing but his mouth singing into the microphone, desperately trying not to reveal how they look without their masks on, this is the most revealing shot in the video, it gives us an idea how crucial their image is to them as a band.