Development of star image - Miss Georgiou

Development of star image

Britney Spears

· Baby one more time

Genre and generic conventions: This music video and song fits into the pop genre. We can tell this by the how she is dancing, the beat of the music and by what she is wearing and how she is performing. The way she is dressed also connotes that this is a pop video. This video is filmed in a school which also suggests that it is a pop song/video.

Her image: Her image is a school girl; she’s wearing skimpy clothing which is showing her belly, legs etc. This suggests that she is a teen as well and that she’s singing about love and revenge.

Target Audience: The target audience would be teen girls, the age of 13+ the reason for this is because of how she dresses, she also targets her music at this age group so that these young girls can aspire to look/act and be like her.

Goodwin’s theory:

1. In this video Britney Spears has a lot of dance routines, this connotes that this is a pop video. The beat also suggests that this is a pop video; it is up-beat and is catchy. Pop videos usually consist of people dancing. This video has dancing in it.

2. There is a slight relationship with the lyrics and visuals. “..My loneliness is killing me...” these lyrics are supported by dance moves which lead the audience to an understanding of what the narrative is. “Hit me baby one more time”, It’s almost like she’s trying to be seductive and also sell an image to the audience.

3. There was a lot of close ups to show facial expression as she sang. This helped us to see the emotion when she was singing and also help us understand her and the idea she was getting across more. This also shows Britney’s face and body up close, which appeals to some of her audience.

4. There are many close up shots in this video. These shows what is going on in more detail, it also portrays messages that she is a young teenage girl who has been hurt by love and she is now a single woman who is defiant and determined.

5. In the music video there were many voyeuristic shots of Britney Spear’s body language and costume which showed the audience that she was wearing a school uniform and that the music video was set in school. This portrays the artist as a seductive teenager and suggests that her audience and in particular; her male audience will fantasize about her.

6. There are no intertextual references in this video.

7. This video is performance based and also narrative based. It is performance based as there is a lot of routine dancing and acting. There is also a storyline which is portrayed by the acting and the dancing.

Her messages in her video: The message in clear in this video. It is clear that it is a love story and that she is lonely. “My loneliness is killing me”

· Toxic

Genre and generic conventions: This is also a pop video; the conventions of this video which make it a pop video are that there is a lot of dancing; her clothing also suggests that this is a pop video.

Her image: Her image in this video is an air hostess. She looks raunchier in this video which suggests that she is slowly starting to alter her image; this is probably due to her getting older.

Target audience: I would say that this video has been targeted at an older audience, both girls and boys. This is because her image is raunchier, she would appeal to both men and woman as she is someone a girl would aspire to be like and she would appeal to a man because of the appearance.

The messages in her video:

The message in this video is that she is an independent woman and also a feisty female who knows what she wants and she gets what she wants. She is seen as the dominant sex in this video.

Goodwin’s Theory:

1.This music video correctly shows the genre characteristics of pop, the reason for this is because there are a lot of dance moves which show that this is a pop song. There is also a lot of acting. The rhythm is upbeat as well which shows that it is a pop video.

2. There isn’t any relationship between the music and the lyrics. However the word ‘Toxic’ is explained through the props she uses; she drugged people with some sort of liquid, which shows the “Toxicity” and also explains the story line. She also appears fiery and aggressive which shows that she is “toxic”.

4. There are many close up shots in this music video. These show what is going on, in more detail and portray messages that she is trying to get across to her audience. For example; in this music video, there is a close up as she pours the liquid in the man’s mouth; this shows that she is getting revenge on that man. It also shows that she is independent and a free woman.

5. in this music video there are many close ups of Britney Spears dancing. This shows that she is trying to be seductive and therefore appeal to a certain audience.

6. There is a small intertextual reference as she drives past the Eiffel tower on her motorbike; this shows the audience that that particular scene was shot in Paris.

7. This video is mainly performance based as there is a lot of performing. Dancing is the key element in this video this backs up the idea that there is a lot of performance in this video. There is also a lot of acting which is accompanied by music and lyrics which also makes it more performance based.

· If you seek Amy

Genre and generic conventions: There isn’t much dancing in this video as there is in the other two. However it is still conventional to the pop genre. This is because of the clothing, storyline etc.

Her image: Her image in this video is much raunchier that in the others stated before. In this video, she is more seductive and acts in a different way which gives off a totally different image to the images portrayed in the other music videos.

Her target audience: The target audience for this music video would be an older audience, for example; 15+, simply because of the nature of the video. This wouldn’t appeal to a younger audience. The audience would be both male and female.

Goodwin’s theory:

1.The performance shows that it is a pop video. The dancing and acting show this also.

2.There is a relationship between the lyrics and because it illustrates the lyrics. As she is singing there is performance which goes with the lyrics and creates a storyline.

2. There is an illustrative relationship between lyrics and visuals because as she sings, the visuals go with what she is saying.

3. There is an illustrative relationship with the music and the visuals also as they go with the storyline and the visuals.

4. In this music video there are many close up shots which suggest that she is a fiery woman with no remorse for anything she does. It also shows her facial expressions which portray her as a unique individual.

5. In this video there are close ups of Britney Spears body which portrays her as seductive and beautiful which is what she attempts to do throughout her video. This leads to the suggestion that her audience, males being the main ones, like her appearance and fantasize about her.

6. There are no intertextual references

7.This video is narrative and performance based.

Conclusion:

From analysing these three music videos, I have found that Britney changed her image as she got older, going from a young, innocent girl, to a raunchy seductive woman. This is to attract new audiences, for example older men and other women who aspire to be like her. I believe that she chose to reinvent her image so that she can slowly become more popular and also to open her music up into a new audience and wider audience. It is important that her image appealed to her target audience because she has to fore fill the expectations of the audience and therefore lead them to wanting more etc.

Another reason why I believe she chose to reinvent her image was to make a good come back, with new music and a brand new image, as she was out of the media industries eye for a while due to problems which she said. Britney had to come back stronger and with more of an incentive to attract a wider range of people.

Dyers star theory: Britney Spears promotional material constructs an image and does not reveal her as a real person. Through her promotional material she is only shown from the surface and no deeper information is conveyed, this means that her audience are left with an incomplete view of the artist. Britney Spears represents someone as seductive and feminine through her videos, this leaves her audience wanting to aspire to be like her (seductive and sexy - appealing to a certain audience). Through the promotional material, the meanings which are presented are that she is a independent young woman with not a care in the world. The artists promotional images do not leave the audience wanting to know more as her created image shows all to the audience. Through consuming the artist, the audience are positioning themselves within a culture as most young girls/woman aspire to be like her so therefore most will look/act the same.