TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF BRITNEY SPEAR’S TOXIC

THE LYRICS The lyrics used in Britney Spears toxic video hint at hidden meaning behind the song that Britney is leaving her squeaky clean Disney image behind her and wants to create a new, more grown up image for herself. By using lyrics like ‘I need a hit, baby give it to me’ and ‘I think I’m ready now’ she is able to brand herself with an ‘adult’ image as the song gives off a sexual vibe.

Also the lyrics can be used help to demonstrate Steve Archer’s and Andrew Goodwin’s theory of music videos, of how there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, which can help illustrate the meaning of either the lyrics or the video itself. For example one of the lines in the song is ‘ with a taste of your lips, I’m on a ride’ which is actually played out in the music video as we see her kissing another characters lips. This allows the audience watching to easy pick up on the fact that the music and the video have the same meaning.

THE MUSIC At the start of the video straight away the high tempo track toxic is played. This goes against Carol Vernallis’s theory of music videos and how the sound may be revealed slowly. However her theory of how characters in the music video move to the music can be proved through how we see Britney frequently dancing in time to the music. For example towards the end of the video we see Britney dressed as a spy/agent and she is seen dancing and moving through the lasers, while keeping with the beat of the music.

THE MUSIC At the beginning of the intro to the song the music is played without any lyrics, along with this the we see an aerial shot overlooking a city. This part of the music video can be used to prove Carol Vernallis’s theory of how there maybe gaps in the audiences understanding of the story. As there is no lyrics being played or no story being showed at this moment there is no way for the audience to understand the meaning behind the song or its video at this point.

The beat of the song and the visual of the music video can be used to show Steve archers theory of ‘thought beats’. As the song is an upbeat, fast track it means that the audience is more likely to remember it over a song that has a slow tempo. Also in the song there are some very discrete high pitch sounds, which makes the process of synaesthesia more achievable for the audience listening. Additionally the fact that Britney wears revealing outfits makes the visuals for the video memorable, this can help the audience to picture the sounds in their head as they are able to remember the song through the visuals that go with it.

MISE EN SCENE/GENRE As Britney is not known for her singing voice and more of the image she has created for herself, the music video for toxic is a good example of how she does this. In the video she is seen wearing various revealing costumes (e.g. a short airhostess outfit, a sequined body suit) and dancing along to the music in a ‘risqué’ way, this can be used to prove Andrew Goodwin's theory of how music video demonstrate genre characteristics as typically female pop artists wear revealing costumes when they are performing or in their music videos. Also the fact that she wears revealing outfits in the video clearly indicates the idea that she wants to create a new sexualized image for herself as in her previous music video for ‘baby one more time’ she had a much more innocent image. Plus the fact that she is seen wearing these types of outfits adds to the fact that she realize on her physical image to make her famous instead of her voice.

MISE EN SCENE/GENREAs well as using her costume to publicize her new grown-up image in the video Britney uses her non-verbal communication in order to show that she wants to leave her old image behind and replace it with a more sexualised version of herself. In the video she is seen doing various ‘risqué’ dance moves in time to the music, this is gives an oblivious sign to the audience of the image she is trying to create for herself. But she also achieves this by doing various hands gestures in the video and by the way she looks at the camera. For example at the start of the video we see her spilling a drink on a man that is next to her, right after this she looks at the camera in a seductive way. By doing this it illustrates that she is trying to brand herself in a more sexual way as along with the way she looks at the camera, her costume and the lyrics clearly indicate that she doesn't’t want to be seen as the innocent pop star she previously was. In addition to this throughout the video she also uses different hand gestures that could be classed as seductive. For example in the video a close up shot shows Britney putting her hand across her lips, this hints that she is trying to give off sexual appeal as along with the lyrics ‘with a taste of your lips’ she puts herself in a position to do this.

CAMERAWORK Britney the most significant thing in the music video, so obliviously by using lots of close up shots within the video and with the camera following her every movement will signify to the audience that she is the main and sole focus in the video. In the music video we constantly see either close up or extreme close up shots of Britney lip syncing the lyrics to the song. By doing this will allow the audience to clearly see what she looks like and the way she looks at the camera, which can be use to advertise the brand that they are trying to sell , Britney herself. Also the shots of Britney dancing can be used to prove Steve archers theory of how camera movement is often motivated by dancing. For example in the video a long shot is used to show Britney performing a dance routine, right after this the camera in motivated into changing to a mid shot showing specifically how Britney is moving to the time of the music and the way she look. This is done because evidently as Britney is the main focus of the video close ups showing her dancing will need to be featured within the video, so the fact that her dance moves motivate how the camera moves hints at how important she is to the video. Also the mid shots can be used to promote the brand as the shots show off Britney's dance moves and the way she looks which is needed in order to sell the brand to the audience. In addition to this the shots show off Britney's impressive dance moves and emphasizes how good of a dancer she is, this needs to be done because as she is not known for her singing voice they need to use other aspects of her in order to make her memorable to the target audience.

EDITINGThe use of fast cutting between the different shots in the music video can be used to prove Steve Archers theory of beats and how typically a music video will use cuts in order to try and match the rhythm of the song. For example as the song has some very high pitch notes it is very instinctive when the beat of the song changes when it does the frame changes to show different shots of Britney from different angles. Also rapid editing that is used in the music video matches the theme of excitement that the song creates as the fast cutting builds up a momentum for the audience watching. Also the fact that rapid editing is used within the video can clearly establish that the song is of a pop genre as typically this sort of editing is used by in pop artists in their music videos as normally the songs are upbeat so that editing usually matches the beat of the song.

INTERTEXTUALITYThe character that Britney portrays in the music video for Toxic can be related to the female characters in the thriller film Sin city. They can be related through their costume and the purpose behind them wearing this. Both of Britney and the female characters are seen wearing revealing costumes with the theme of red and black. They are wearing these costumes in order to create a sexual image for themselves. The characters from sin city are seen doing this because it goes along with theme of the film so Britney has copied this as it is a easy way of showing what image she wants to create for herself to her fans.

Also the music video for toxic can be related to Taylor swifts bad blood video as Taylor is seen wearing similar costumes and doing similar actions(e.g. riding a motorbike) in her video that Britney does in the video for Toxic. Taylor does this because a Britney is a clear pop icon so by copying Britney's video see can get people to relate them to together .

NARRATIVE/PERFORMANCE The video can be used to prove Steve Archers theory of how normally a music video will have a clear choreographed dance routine within it. This can be proved easy as towards the end of the song Britney is seen dancing a rehearsed routine in time to the music. Also the fact that Britney is the main focus of the video and features in all aspects of it establishes Steve Archers theory of how the artist is a part of the story, acting as a narrator and a participant at the same time.

The music video for toxic can be used to demonstrate Carol Vernallis’s theory of how the video is a response to the music. For example in the video close up shots show Britney's lips and her touching them this can be used a visual response to the lyrics ‘with a taste of your lips’ that features in the song.

BRAND/STAR IMAGE Britney's new grown up image that she has shaped for herself is advertised in all aspects of the video, clear examples of this would be her costume, the way she dances and the lyrics to the song. The fact that she has branded herself in so many different ways can be used to signify that she needs to do this in order to stay popular as she doesn’t have the voice that Adele or Leona Lewis has so she has to branch out and brand herself more than they would have to in order to catch the public eye.

VOYEURISM/LOOKINGBritney’s video for toxic is an oblivious example of voyeurism as it in the video she is seen performing ‘risqué’ dance moves, she wears revealing costumes, wearing colours established with being sexual and seductive and close ups are constantly used to show parts of her body that are desirable to male gaze, which is the preferred target audience for the video. Britney is forced to be branded in a sexualized way as she doesn’t have a memorable voice she and her label have to resort to focusing on the ways she looks in order for her to contend with other artists who are famous for their voices. Also the way that Britney is sexualized throughout the video can be used to prove Andrew Goodwin's theory of how there is frequent reference to looking in a music video.