"Lucky"

I chose to analyze the music video Lucky by Britney Spears. The video is a narrative video because it tells a story. It talks about a girl named Lucky who is so sad because although she is a star, she is missing so much from her life. It takes us through sequences where we see her waking up in a beautiful hotel room, accepting flowers from an admirer, accepting an award: all while she struggles with the cost of fame.

Looking at the video from a visual standpoint, many different elements are used. In regards to the mise en scene, the video begins with using contrasting lighting between bright and dim. The billboard shown with Luckys' face on it uses a high key lighting, whereas the buildings behind it uses low key lighting. This is to emphasize what the audience is supposed to be looking at- Britney on the billboard, while creating a night backdrop for the shot. The cinematography used is also interesting. In the same opening shot of the billboard, we see that camera is using an extreme long shot, and then zooms in very quickly to show a medium-close up of Britney. Throughout the video, so many ranges are used. Another extreme long shot shows Britney going to answer the door, a high shot of her accepting flowers, close-ups of just Britney herself; almost every shot is implemented in this video. The video also uses visual techniques by showing Britney as Lucky and Britney as Britney in shots together. Obviousl, we know there is only one Britney, but they have edited it in a way that we can see Britney as both of these characters in the same scene.