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Textual analysis of Toxic - Britney Spears

                                                        Britney Spears


TOXIC

Performance –
When she is on the phone, it acts as if she is telling the story whereas the shots of her in her white suit is aimed to be more sexual and less story based.
She performs every now and then in her see through suit where she dances and its quicker shots. Whereas when she’s walking on the plane its longer shots and slower crops, the shot on the plane tells more of a narrative.
She is sexualised throughout the whole of the music video; however, some parts are more sexualised than others are. Shown by the costumes she is in and also movements, she is quite confident and out there, giving her a powerful image. Although the plane is filled with men she is dominant over them.

Lyrics -
Helps tell the story or give a general feeling or mood. Don’t always make sense it can sometimes be based around one line. She’s attracted to a man but he is toxic… bad male stereotype. Juxtaposed with the video as she actually in charge of him but she’s singing about him having control instead. She’s using her sexuality to take control over them. The words she says it says he is in control but she’s flaunting herself all the time. General feeling of the video is she’s the dominant one.The lyrics also try to indicate that she wants to give off the impression that shes growing up and becoming an adult. Her fan/audience would probably be of the same age as her so she could relate with them, going from teen years like when she appeared in Disney, compared to her image now where she is growing up.

Music –
Tempo, of the track to drive the editing and may emphasise particular sounds by foregrounding instruments. Auto tuning which gives a superficial impression. The high tempo dance track in which Britney Spears actually dances to, as well as it matching the genre of a pop song as they tend to be up beat and fast. The fact of the tempo being high could also indicate of how thoughts are flying through hand around her head.

Genre / mise en scene –
Costumes, backgrounds, lighting, shots etc.
Lots of costume changes, especially costumes that are out there and bold. Also more location changes but not always that vibrant and that clear to see. Can sometimes be suttle and hardly noticeable. Typical mainstream pop music videos. Aimed towards the younger girls... teenagers usually. To give off that she is trying to grow up she does a lot of 'bump and grinding' to give off a sexual message to the male figures watching. A lot of the performance  is based on her appearance of what she is wearing and how she is acting rather than her actual voice.

Camerawork –
The camera shots/angles etc. within this video is eye level with the artiste Britney Spears. There is a mixture of long shots and short cuts, some are jumpy small crops where as some are longer shots. There are a lot of her face in close up shots which is usually a stereotypical thing to be done in a music video. Her body is also shown up close as she’s seen as a male gaze. As well as this she is directed at the camera a lot. There are long shots during the video to show her whole body in one shot mixed with some medium shots where they just focus on her and what she is doing, cancelling out what is going on in the background.

Editing –
The edits are fitted to the beat; they are mainly fast. There are no filters put over the natural shots. The quick movements from her goes with the fact that she is just going through men. The fast editing also helps to mirror the tempo of the song.

Intertextuality –
 Holly valence from Neighbours has the same suit as Britney, the nude suit. There was also a spy program called “Alias” about spies at around the same time, Britney wears a black costume when acting as a spy, therefore this could have been an influence onto Toxic.

Narrative –
The main story is about a female spy who is willing to do anything to get what she wants. Lip-syncing is also used within the narrative/performance, which is usually used within a pop video. She uses her dances and her sexual personality to get the men she has her eyes on.

Star image/ the brand -
Released in 2003. She started as a child star and released toxic when she was 22 showing a change in her attitude and that she had grown up and should be taken more seriously.
She is sexualised in the video in how she is dressed in quite revealing or tight clothing and how she acts towards the men in the video in her body language, this is for the male gaze mainly based on how it is all men sat on the plane when she is the air hostess dress quite revealing and acting in a sexual way around them. She is represented as confident and in control, especially over the men.

Voyeurism –
Britney has been sexualised due to the clothing she is presented in and the actions she does, especially some of the dance movements.
Image result for britney spears toxic


Image result for britney spears toxic

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