Baby One More Time – Britney Spears Deconstruction

Jessie Niven

Zooming in on the main artists foot indicates that she is bored, the classic school setting of pupils looking glum is Intertextual because in most ‘cheesy’ films, this is commonly used i.e High School Musical. This is so that teenagers are able to relate with the music and the video.

Birds eye view of the pupils running familiarises the viewers with the school and the surroundings. This almost gets the viewer excited because all of actors are.

The scene in the corridor has many close ups of Britney singing and then jump cuts to her dancing in a triangle formation, with her placed at the front, she is at the centre which makes the focus on her. The setting of the school is something most people can relate to, she is playing the role of the popular girl which would make some viewers envious of her. This is all cliché pop stereotypes.

Knee high socks

Short Skirt

Crop Top

Lots of makeup

Britneys costume connotes a sexual undertone and using voyeurism to sexualise her, this is done because she is given the ‘naughty’ impression and somewhat rebellious, which is what attracts people to watch the video.

This shot shows Britney running off, and everyone following her. Yet again this is giving her the ‘popular’ image. She has been sexualised by having men follow her, and women at the back. This suggest that she is desired.

Multiple close ups of the main artist emphasises the main attraction is her, she also has many people following her. Dancing on the street identifies that the genre is pop as this is commonly seen in pop music videos.

When the music gets more dramatic the mise-en-scene changes, she changes costume and there is a set change. She is placed in a sports hall, this expresses her ‘Tom Boy’ character, where as in the other two scenes she was portrayed as a ‘school girl’ and ‘dancer’. There is then a mid shot of Britney looking sad, to go along with the storyline. She is also sat alone which states her loneliness and sorrow ‘I must confess, with my loneliness’.

As the scene progressively gets more dramatic, there is flashing in the hall in time of the music. This makes the viewer more interested as its fairly different from the rest of the video. She is still dancing in the front and wearing sexual clothing.

As the song ends, the school bell rings and all the dancers run off. This gives a side of rebellion yet still obeying rules. Which is setting a good example to potential younger viewers.

At the end of the video it is then a flash back to Britney which is her sat in the classroom, this implies that everything was just a dream. However it is left up to the viewers to decide what they think it is