VISUAL PRACTICES OF THE ON-SCREEN CELEBRITY CONTENT AS AN ELEMENT OF MASS CULTURE

The article examines the visual component of media materials devoted to celebrities. The empirical material consists of the content of federal television (TV shows “You Won't Believe It”, “Enough Rumors”, “Let Them Talk”, “Andrey Malakhov. Live”) and Russian-language YouTube (channels in the celebrity chronicle genre “Anton S Live”, “Buddha Grisna” and the talk shows “Show without name”, “New Show”) over the period from the beginning of 2019 to the end of 2021. The paper attempts to explore the screen celebrity-content from the point of view of the critical theory of mass culture. Based on the widespread scientific opinion that mass au-diences often copy the values and behavior patterns broadcast within celebrity culture, it is assumed that information messages created by tabloid media and gossip bloggers have a suggestive effect and are able to influence the consciousness and behavior of the media consumer. Thus, referring to the work of the theorists of the Frankfurt School, the author claims that the screen celebrity-content, being the product of the cultural industry, has manipulative potential. The author identifies a number of visual practices that are actively used on television and video hosting in order to retain the attention of mass audiences and satisfy their recreational needs. Fragmentation, well-constructed mise-en-scène, bright colour schemes, close-up and detailed plans, use of amateur videos, shooting with the help of a quadrotor, handheld shots, etc. All this gets an emotional response from the viewer and, therefore, constantly stimulates his interest and desire to continue to “consume” this kind of information and be interested in celebrity news.