Constellation of Stars

Constellation of Stars

Rain

Before we begin with our discussion on Asian stars, it is imperative indeed for us to set a clear distinction on the categories on film acting. Giannetti (2008) gives us the four categories on which the art of film acting can be categorized:

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• Extras - actors who are used to provide a sense of crowd (i.e. cast of thousands).
• Nonprofessional performers- amateur players chosen because of their authentic appearance -they look right for a given part.
• Trained professionals- stage and screen performers capable of playing variety of roles (majority of actors fall in this category).
• Stars - famous performers and are widely recognized by the public.

Song Seung Heon 송승헌

But what then is the difference between an actor and a star, they don' t necessarily mean the same.  Actors (and for this discussion, Asian Actors), as argued by Biggin (2009)  are performers who have the talent to portray a range of characters and roles.  These are individuals with a back catalogue of wide-ranging film roles.

Kolker (2002) defines Movie stars (Asian stars) as a combination of personality constructed by their films and their publicity.  Moreover, Big Stars become part of the culture,recognized, identified with, gossiped about  in the tabloids, their "private lives" becoming public business( Ibid.). 

Piolo Pascual

Takeshi Kaneshiro

Furthermore, aside from them drawing audiences, for Harris (2009), A movie star is someone whose past work enriches your experience of, and deepens your pleasure in, his or her present work.

Sam Milby

If we are to provide a list for the stars in Asia, it will be a long list, thus we only have some of these to illustrate.

On the other side, is it proper to refer to an actor gaining popularity a budding star? Probably not at all, since a star is a person who has already established enough publicity and through films he has created.

Your thoughts and comments?

References

Biggin, M. (2009).  The actor and the film star. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/the-actor-and-the-film-star-a97565. 

Giannetti, L.D. (2008).  Understanding movies. Pearson Education, Inc.: Upper Saddle, NJ

Harris, M. (2009).  What stars are for. Retrieved from http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20250042,00.html

Kolker, R.P. (2001).  Film, form, and culture.  McGraw Hill: New York, NY.

There are hot men, and there are hot Asian men.

Abstract Beefcake - First Serving

Abstract Beefcake

First Serving

Leandro Okabe

In response to the previous post "The Naked and the Nude", I am pursuing the discussion in further detail in appreciating the Asian male physique.  Previously, we have discussed the difference between the naked and the naked and its forms.  With this, let us explore the abstract beefcake.

To define the term, it is indeed worth lifting a quote from the Cambridge Dictionary Online (2010) , wherein beefcake is defined as an attractive man with big muscles, or men with such bodies as shown in pictures or in shows. 

Art and Popular Culture (2009) published a post about Beefcake magazines, on which have been in existence since the 1930s to 1960s. These magazines featured muscular men in athletic poses. Initially, the market were generally men since the magazines promoted fitness and health (Ibid.).

From the definition of beefcake, to define abstract beefcake, we can define it from the perspective in Photography, wherein these are photos of men with good physique, big muscles on which the face is not the focus (often neglected) so that the body or the physique is the center of attention.

So here are some of the Asian hunks, all in duotone photos, to illustrate abstract nude or abstract beefcake. As you may notice, if you have read the previous post on The Naked and the Nude, we have featured  here some of the hunks previously included.

See the gallery of pictures here.

Leandro Okabe

Nicky Sura Teerakol

Allan Wu

Victor Basa

Ha Seok Jin

Alfred Vargas

Yamapi

References

Art and Popular Culture (2009). Beefcake magazines. Retrieved from http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Male_physique.

Cambridge Dictionary Online (2010). Beefcake. Retrieved from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/beefcake

The Naked and the Nude

The Naked and the Nude

Victor Basa

In appreciating the beauty of Asian Men, sometimes, I can not stop myself from being analytic and too academic.  For some time, I tend to interchange the terms naked and nude when referring to an unclothed god (or hunk) until i stumbled upon this author Louis Giannetti of the book Understanding Hollywood.

Giannetti (2008) gives an interesting differentiation of the naked and the nude:

For Giannetti (2008), the term nude or seminude is for a picture meant to be looked at, meant to be admired....We're drawn to the sensual beauty of the sculpted bodies, and we want to touch, perhaps possess. Wherein, naked is usually embarrassed to be seen publicly without clothes on (Ibid.).

Moreover, Francisco(2000)  in the foreword of the Brief Encounters (2000) defines the following terms:

• Fashion - showing the garment (in this case, product) being worn  (or use as a cover) by the model who exudes style and mood
• Advertising - promoting visible products
• Abstract nude - depersonalizes the model by eliminating the face
• Beefcake - brings out the texture and tone of the model;s body while his eyes are suggesting frankness and intimacy
• Erotic - having an air of mystery, soft focus, and low-lighting that creates shadowy effects

The following photos illustrate the use of high contrast lighting that emphasizes the texture and angles of the body.

Click here for the pics

Yamapi

Fashion

Aum Atichart Chumnanont

Alfred Vargas

Brent Javier

Fashion or Advertising

Victor Basa

Lawrence Liang

References:


Giannetti, L. D. (2008). Understanding movies.  Pearson Education, Inc.: Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458




Francisco, B. (2000). Brief encounters. Metropolis Publishing:  Manila, Philippines. 

There are hot men, and there are hot Asian men.

Gerald Wong

Gerald Wong

Gerald Wong is one of my favorite models. With those eyes that pierces directly into your soul. Other models wants to achieve those hard cheekbones by artificially putting shades of make up to give the face a well defined look, but these are natural for Gerald Wong. Gerald Wong was handled by the Mannequin Model Agency, along with Alvin Goh in Singapore. I have been searching for more of his pics but to no avail, there are only limited pictures available on the net. I was under the assumption that it could be due to the fact that the data were posted in Mandarin. 

So where is he now?

I found out, recently, that Gerald Wong, who's already 30, is now working on a banking industry as mentioned by Noelle Loe. Yes you're reading it right, he is now working on such, it has not been mentioned though as to what is the nature of his work on the said industry. In the article by Noelle Loe entitled "Male model shortage" published in Asia One, it started with the thesis question "Where have Singapore's male models gone?".  Lifting from the statement  of Watson Tan, managing director of Upfront, he said in Loe's article that 'Many Singaporean guys don't take modelling as a serious career and instead do it for extra money or a way to pass time while waiting for national service.

With those statements, I think I should knock on the heads of these models (lols), no seriously though, we can't blame them if they prefer more security in their life. But for Gerald Wong, with those looks, and with more Asians gracing on the ramps of Milan, New York, Paris and other major fashion centers, Gerald Wong may have attained an international stardom had he pursued his career in the modeling industry. In fact during his time, he was not only hitting the waves, but making storms in the fashion scene in Singapore. To attest, he was the Male Model of the Year for 2001.

So, to summarize, does that mean we won't be seeing him again in the fashion scene? Hmm..well unless someone will run to Singapore perhaps convince him to go back. At least,  I am lucky enough that I have managed to keep some pictures of him since 2001 before everything will be lost on the web. And yes, 90% of the links where I got the pictures were already dead links. So just enjoy the pics here.

Gerald Wong on the left with Miguel Goh on the right.

There are hot men, and there are hot Asian men.

Tae Yang 태양

Tae Yang 태양

What I love with Tae Yang is his appeal. What makes him unique among other Korean hotties is the masculinity in his beauty. Arguably, most of the beauty of Asians has soft features, such as soft and smooth skin, other critics associate Asian male beauty to femininity in terms of its facial features. 

To support my argument on this. Let the pics speak for itself.

Quick Info:
Stage Name: Tae Yang 태양
Birth Name: Dong Young Bae 동영배
Position in Big Bang : Vocalist
Pendant: "YB" with a crown over it. ("To become the best in the music industry")
Date of Birth : May 18, 1988
Height : 174cm
Weight : 56kg
Blood-type : AB
Education: Daejin University in Theater & Film (starting in 2008)
Family Members : Parents & older brother (Hyun Bae)
Specialty : Rapping, dancing, beat boxing, singing, & foreign languages (Japanese & Chinese).
Hobby : Gardening, listening to music, & watching TV
Personality : Does his best in everything, over-achiever.
Doesn’t like to fight, he talks about his problem with the opponent.
He listens to you well and thinks about what he is going to say before he says anything.
Likes : church, summer, clothes, games, and mangas.
Musicians he admires : Usher, Omarion, Justin Timberlake
info from : Big Bang is Back
The Gallery of pics here 

The Gallery

Contact Big Bang:

Seoul-si, Mapogu Sangsudong 349-10
Ho-sung building 4th floor
YG Entertainment
postal code 121-829
SEOUL, KOREA
You can write Korean address in Korean and just put ‘South Korea’ in English at the end of address with underline.
(1) ADDRESS SPECIFICALLY FOR BIGBANG
우편번호 121-829
서울시 마포구 상수동 349-10
호성빌딩 4층 (주)YG 엔터테인먼트
(South Korea) - [put the receiver’s name here]

There are hot men, and there are hot Asian men.