Influence 3: Toxic Analysis

                     For our textual analysis we are looking at the song 'Toxic' by Britney Spears.

Lyrics
Baby, can't you see
I'm calling
A guy like you
Should wear a warning
It's dangerous
I'm fallin'

There's no escape
I can't wait
I need a hit
Baby, give me it
You're dangerous
I'm lovin' it

Too high
Can't come down
Losing my head
Spinning 'round and 'round
Do you feel me now

With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

It's getting late
To give you up
I took a sip
From my devil cup
Slowly
It's taking over me

Too high
Can't come down
It's in the air
And it's all around
Can you feel me now

With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

Don't you know that you're toxic
Taste of my lips and having fun
With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

I'm intoxicated now
I think you'll love it now
I think I'm ready now
I think I'm ready now
I'm intoxicated now
I think you'll love it now
I think I'm ready now

Mise en Scene
The song 'Toxic' comes under the genre of 'pop', this means that the target audience would be of a lower age group (13 - 17) specifically girls as the song would have a catchy rhythem and simple lyrics so the target audience would buy the song and if the video had a dance routine, the auidence would be able to learn the routine with the friends.

The first shot where mis en scene is used is the opening scne where a prop of a plane is shown to be flying, this is to introduce the first charater that Britney Spears portrays. She portrays a blonde air hostess and gives a differnet and galmerous feel to the music video.

Another prop used is a prop of a motor bike. This also intoduces another charater which Britney portrays which is a red headed 'rock' themed girl. She is wearing a black PVC cat suit, this shows voyrism, she is also first seen riding on the back of the red motor bike which matches her hair and also gives off the feel of danger and passion. The motorbike used is seen to be very expensive and had not been used in music videos at that time of music video making.

As you can see from the photo the next prop used is a circlar object which is used as a key to get Britany's red headed charater through a volt door. This then ables her to be able to collect a vile of 'Toxic'. The object is seen in the palm of her hands to show her control and power and how she is able to minipulate things to her ability. As she is breaking into a volt this clearly brings a sense of danger and curiosity as to how dangerous the object could be.

The vile of green liquid is the next prop used as is it the 'Toxic' that Britanys charater has been searching for. The liquid being the colour green emphasises the toxic nature of the liquid as green liquid is usually assosiated to nuclear waste, poison or some sort or potion. Because of the close up of Britneys charater collecting the vile it also emphasises the importance of it and makes it clear to the audience that the vile is what she has been aiming to collect.

Here the black leather gloves are stereotypically used for criminals to kill their victims. Britneys red headed charater shows her dangerous nature as the video progresses as shows danger and power. She uses her sexuality to seduce her victim then uses the prop of the toxic bottle to kill him.

Narative

The music video for the song 'Toxic' highlights Britney changing and growing into a woman and shows her interest's adapting and changing as time goes on. The video demonstrates her becoming different people, this could be her wanting to escape her Disney image and be seen as a mature woman. The video highlights the songs sexual refrences and highlights danger/drug taking which is different to any other music video/ song she has done before.

You first see Britney as an air hostess with a revealing, 'sexy' costume, which is not what a air hostess would typically wear. This demonstrates Britneys feelings towards her growing older and shows her becoming a sex symbol. When she walks down the isle of the plane you see her underwear at a glance which also add's to her maturing and becoming a woman. This also deomstrates her sexual desires and add's to her 'sex symbol' image. Despite the fact its subtle, this then force the audience into seeing her in a different way

 Here her costume is completely different as she is wearing a red wig which symbolises danger or passion, it also gives off a goth rock feel to it, this suggests that she has many different styles and she is once again forcing the audience into seeing her in a different light as a more grown up and sexually sophisticated woman. In this particular scene she is on the back of a motor bike which stereotypically ties in with her costume and gives off a luxurious feel to the video and her charater.

One of the last scenes in the music video is Britney climbing a huge building to seduce and poison the man inside. This can suggest her up hill battle with the media, career and relationships. Here she has dark brown/black hair which can suggest mystery and evil which is relevant as her aim is to poison the man inside. Her stomach exposed and she has black leather gloves on. This costume, again, has sexual connotations to the dark and dangerous character that she is portraying.


 In all of these photos, the audience will clearly see that Britney is playing women in different roles which all are powerful and use their sex to get what they want. The narrative for Toxic adheres very closely to Steve Archer’s definition of a music video. There are performance elements to the piece so that Britney can display her skills as a dancer (one of her main selling points) where as the main narrative of a female spy who will go to any lengths (using her sexuality for instance) to reach object of the quest marks Britney’s own desire to escape the confines of the music industry. This ‘dressing up’ element of the video is also shared by her target audience who after four years of watching Britney grow older and more mature are eager to do the same. The close up and lip syncing of the main star is also the main performance of the video as well; again very common in pop videos as well as rock videos as well.

Camera Shots

Britney is the focus of the music video. Through close ups and mid shots the camera is always centred on the star attraction of the show. Any long shots that are used are usually shown to illustrate some kind of triumph for the star (the pleasure she gets from riding the motor cycle) or to show off her body (the midriff of the superhero at the end, the shortness of the air hostess outfit.) Long shots are also used to show her dancing skills. Any other performers in the video (the other air hostesses for example) are kept to a minimum and in the background, so the viewer can clearly see the ‘product’ that is being displayed (Britney Spears).

Here we have an establishing shot, this shows the audience that Britney is on a plane and also gives the auidence some sort of idea of what Britney's first charater will be. The music video has mixes of reality and fantasy and this is shown in this shot as the plane isnt a typical plane seen in day to day life.

Here is a med-length shot that shows Britney on the phone dressed as a air hostess which is the first character that the audience will see and also the last. The med-length shot helps the audience realise who the character is and what she is portraying.

Here is a med shot of a character that also is playing a air hostess like Britney, also they are almost dancing whilst attending to the people who are on the plane. These characters only have a small part within the music video as the most part of the video is focused on Britney and the storyline which these characters help to illustrate by also heightening the voyrism in the music video.

Here is an extreme close up of Britney's face which shows how she has her make-up and also the look that she has in her eye which is important for the following scene when she sets her eyes on the man that has the key to the volt. This shot also helps the audience identify that the main character is Britney and keeps the focus on her, this also establishes the mood and theme of the music video and helps the audience understand the rest of the storyline.

 Here there is a two shot of Britney and the man that she is seducing to get the key to the volt. This scene is electrified with sexual movements and actions which keeps the theme of sex and the male audience interested.

Here is a long shot of Britney which shows what she is wearing and a character change. Also it shows the Eiffel Tower in the background which is a establishing shot because the Eiffel Tower is a famous land mark in Paris. This shows the viewer that she is now a different women and shows the look that she is going for within this particular scene. The colours used for Britneys charater and the setting she is in is prodominatntly reds and blacks. Being in Paris it is known as 'The City of Love' and the colours used also highlight the emotions love but also danger and darkness. This shoes that Britneys new charater involves love and danger combined.

Editing

Editing mirrors the fast beat of the song so that the style is rapid and consistent. Most music videos that are pop in the variety employ this technique and Toxic is very conventional in this manner. For an interesting comparison view the video for ‘Everytime’ which is a lot different because of the nature of the speed of the song. The editing is in sync with the song lyrics, for example the first lyric is "baby can't you see I'm calling" and she is on the telephone whilst she is singing this lyric and is used to generally make the lyrics and music video correlate.