Toxic music video analysis LIZZIE GARRARD & SOPHIE JOHNSTON

Genre/Mise en scene The very first costume we see Britney wearing is a very revealing Air

stewardess costume, e.g. showing of cleavage and a very short skirt. Along with this she has red fake nails which give off connotations of fierceness and passion. The second costume is a skin tight translucent cat suit with diamantes on. She has on natural face make-up but with a smoky eye which can be considered a more daring and sexual make-up look. Thirdly, we then see Britney playing the part of the a spy wearing skin tight red and black leather cat suit with red diamante sunglasses. She is also wearing a red wig with over the top red and black make-up with yet again more cleavage on show. Wearing the colours red and black give Britney’s character the connotations of being quite dangerous, bad, and passionate. The final costume is again made of black leather, accompanying with black boots, collar, bra, and long fingerless gloves, with a black wig and her stomach on show. The only thing red is her cape.

The music video comes under the pop/dance music genre.

Cinematography

As this is a pop music video, lots of close up’s and mid-shot’s are used to show and Britney (the star) is in pretty much every shot of the music video as she is the one appealing to a audience demographic.

At the start of the video when Britney is portraying the part of an air stewardess, there are close-up’s of Britney’s hand on a phone in which we can see she is wearing long, red false nails. We see this again when a close-up of the champagne is used which she then spills over a passenger which becomes seductive and we can see by the male characters facial expression that he is enjoying the attention. A horizontal pan is also used on the plane to show all of the passengers (which happen to all be male, again appealing to a demographic).

Close up and mid-shot’s are used to show Britney lip-syncing the lyrics of the song.

When Britney changes costumes/characters, a low angle shot is used to show the new personality and outfit she has changed into.

Editing

In terms of editing, a variety of CGI techniques are used to create a science fiction atmosphere for the audience. Although this effects seem outdated now, when the video was released (2003), it successfully portrayed a futuristic scene.

All the clips/shots chosen in the music video match the beat, movement and mood of the song which gives the song a certain atmosphere for the audience to view. Rapid editing is used throughout to compliment the tempo of the song when switching between shots.

Cross cutting is used to switch between scenes in the music video, the scenes have contrasting connotations to each other for example in the first scene where Britney is an air stewardess, she is wearing a blue dress with natural make-up giving connotations of innocence, whereas in the next scene where she is riding on a bike through Paris, she is wearing a skin tight black leather cat suit with a red wig and red eye make-up giving connotations of danger and passion.

Lyrics

“I need a hit, baby give me it” “You’re toxic I’m slipping under” “Too high can’t come down” “I’m addicted to you” “You’re dangerous, I’m lovin’ it” “With a taste of your lips I’m on a ride” “I took a sip from my devil’s cup”

All of these lyrics have many connotations relating to sexual references. Many of these lyrics suggest the man she’s describing is like a dangerous drug that she’s addicted too and therefore the song being titled ‘Toxic’ reinforces the lyrics.

Intertextuality

The Holly Valance video for ‘Kiss Kiss’, could have been an inspiration for them when they made the Toxic music video. A similar nude suit with diamantes on is used in the Kiss Kiss video as it is for the Toxic music video.

For a more modern representation, Taylor Swift’s music video ‘Bad Blood’ uses a similar outfit and red wig when she is a portraying a spy and so does Britney in toxic when she goes to get the drug. Both music video’s were directed by Joseph Kahn so he may have used similar idea’s from Toxic when creating Bad Blood.

Narrative/Performance

In terms of narrative, the start of the narrative begins with Britney being an Air stewardess, and is shown being overly attentive towards the passengers which become sexual.

In the second part of the narrative, Britney is playing the part of a spy going to retrieve the ‘toxic’, showing she’ll go to any lengths to reach the object, much Britney’s own desire to escape her past that she had just overcome when the music video was release (2003).

In terms of performance, her performance can be described as provocative, relating to Laura Mulvey’s theory the ‘Male Gaze’. A main feature of performance in this music video is the use of close-up’s and shot’s of Britney lip-syncing the song.

Star image/The brand

Fans have certain expectations of what they want to see in the music video so record companies have to be careful what they produce as they want to make sure it still appears to the widest demographic.

The ‘look’ of the star and the music video itself determine what the viewer would like to see.

Voyeruism/Looking

Laura Mulvey proposed the idea that because most directors are male, the presence of women in film/music videos are solely for one purpose which is to appeal to the male eye (‘The male gaze’).

Women are often sexualized by using close up’s of the woman’s body to make her an object of desire. They achieve this by putting women in clothes that are very revealing and sexual which show off their bodies.

In the toxic music video, lot’s of close up’s are used to show, like the theory by Laura Mulvey, Britney as a sex symbol to her male viewers.