Britney Spears Took Aim At The Media In 'Piece Of Me' Video

The following italicized article is from www.mtv.com:

Britney Spears might not have been at her personal peak when she released Blackout in 2007, but she also wasn't afraid to show the world that she was in on the joke.

On her single "Piece of Me," Britney sings about how every move she makes is reported by the media. And what better place to film a video for the song than in a nightclub with reporters and paparazzi trying to capture Brit's every move?

"On 'Piece of Me,' I really just wanted to put the mirror back onto the whole experience," director Wayne Isham told MTV News about the video's concept, which finds Britney flirting with boys and dancing around the club. "You can see that she had that kind of confidence. And, literally, every take became a more and more confident take, so that she could have fun with what was going on. Not being over-the-top sarcastic, but ... having a laugh at everything that was going on around her, with confidence."

At the time, Britney had become a tabloid staple. And, even when she was trying to get her career back on track, it seems the paparazzi were there to mess with any comeback plans. "She was late," Isham recalled. "People made a big thing about it, [but] how could she not be late, when you have 50, 65, 75 people running down the street chasing her car? That was a long day for the crew. It was literally a 20-hour day for the crew. She was there for the last six hours of it. She got there late, showed up and just kicked ass."

Isham encouraged the pop star to get loose for the video and (literally) let her hair down.
"The very last dance of the piece, she had her hair up, and I go, 'Can you just do one for me with your hair down?' She dropped her hair down," Isham recalled. "You'll see we intercut with her hair up and her hair down. That was the last piece. She just rocked it from her heart. She choreographed that last dance at the very end. She did that on her own and said, 'Let's go for it.'"

The video, which earned the singer three VMAs in 2008, would prove that no matter what was happening in her life, she could bring it. "When she goes for it, she goes for it," Isham said. "You know, it's about the story line, it's about her dance, it's about her appearance," he said. "I just love that she's one of the few that are still left that step up to what music videos are about."

Source: MTV

Britney Spears Declared Her Independence With 'I'm Not A Girl' Video

The following italicized article is from www.mtv.com:

Britney Spears had been grappling with her budding adulthood when she released her third album, simply titled Britney, in 2001. With songs like "Overprotected" and "Let Me Be," Spears seemed to be letting out her adolescent angst. But on the single "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," which was also featured on the soundtrack for her flick "Crossroads," the singer wanted the world to know that she was ready to be treated like an adult.

For the video, director Wayne Isham just wanted to have Britney out in nature — even if the setting seemed a bit dangerous for a pop star. "I go, 'Let me check it out first,' " Isham told MTV News about having Britney stand on the edge of a cliff. "She understood that if my fat ass was out there and I could stand there, then she could stand there," he laughed.

The singer might have been willing to take the risk, but she still had some trepidation about standing on a cliff. "The wind started picking up a lot and almost dropped me over," Spears recalled. "And I was like, 'OK, gotta go.' "

Nonetheless, Isham loved the way the video looked and said there was no green screen involved. "She went out there and, without a safety cable, just stood there with those cowboy boots on," he said. "She was standing on the edge in her cowboy boots, looking hot. We'd be right on the edge, and she had not a blink of fear."

Spears said in 2001 that the song was actually intended for the "Crossroads" soundtrack before she included it on her album. "The song was written for the movie once we had the decision to make the music part of the movie," she said. "It's an inspirational song, and it's probably one of my favorite songs that I've ever sang."

And the video is one of Isham's favorites too. "I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience with her and what she's doing right now," he said. "She stepped into it with positive energy. She ended up stepping out and kicking ass."

Source: MTV