Evolution of Britney Spears Analysis

Analysing the different cover issues of Britney Spears helped me understand how a person can be portrayed based on the angling of the camera, the lighting, the person’s facial expressions as well as their costume. It made me think about how I want the cover star of my magazine to be portrayed as well as the portrayal of my magazine.

The image angle is a bird’s eye view. You can tell this as she appears to be lying on a bed and in order to get the image taken while she’s lying on the bed in to take a bird’s eye view shot. With this shot, you can see most of Britney’s body, along with a costume, the props used and the pink bed spread that she is lying on.

Britney is wearing her lingerie which consists of her underwear and bra and she has a white school shirt on which is unbuttoned and opened so you can see her bra and her toned body. Her underwear and her bra contrast in terms of representation as the black bra gives of a more mature representation whereas the underwear reminds people that she is still young. The picture suggests that she is trying to provoke a sexual reaction from the audience as she is not fully clothed. This image will be appealing to the male audience as they picture was obviously taken this way to get men to like her. However, females, especially teenage girls, might also use this image as a body inspiration. As Britney was 17 years old when the picture was taken, they might aspire to that body as she is of similar ages to teenagers and as she is in the public eye.

The props used in the image are a teletubies teddy which she is holding. This prop tells people that she is still young as teletubies is associated with a kids television programme. The telephone that she is holding up to her ear in the other hand however conveys a different message to the audience. Her mouth is opened which again shows she’s trying to be sexy.

The setting of this image is on a bed with a silk, pink bed sheet. This connotes a sexual image to the audience.

Men would be attracted sexually to this image whereas females would be envious Britney is young, beautiful and she has a body that most females would aspire to have.

The black bra compliments the polka dots on her underwear. Some fashion experts say a woman wearing black implies submission to men, which would make sense as she is dressed and is posing this way to a get a reaction from men rather than females.  The white on the school shirt she’s wearing symbolises innocence and purity which contrasts the way she is being represented through the rest of her outfit. The pink on the bed sheets represents romance and charm. It may also convey playfulness or tenderness. This colour is commonly preferred by young girls to show that they tender and soft.

 

Britney is less than half naked. She is wearing white underwear with a pink lining and is covering her chest with a sheet. In this image she is trying to get intimate with the reader.

She’s in a closed room, which adds to the intimacy of the shot.

The high key lighting makes the picture more honest which adds to the intimacy.

The only colour used is white (and the pink on her underwear lining). The white symbolises innocence and purity. The little pink used represents romance and charm. It may also convey playfulness or tenderness.

The use of black and white is useful as it shows the emotions on her face and makes her look innocent. The image is in low key lighting which makes the image appear dramatic and conveys a lot of atmosphere and tension which is reflected through the text alongside the image which says ‘BRITNEY SPEARS INSIDE AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY’.

Britney wants a close relationship with the audience and is shown through the close up of her face. She’s baring her emotions to the audience so they can understand how she’s feeling with everything that’s happened to her.