Formation by Beyonce

Background information:

•Formation is the lead single for the album ‘Lemonade’ •LemonadeisBeyonce's mostpersonaland revealing album •Released in2016 •Jayz cheated on her this feeds star persona •Released lemonadewithoutanymarketing •Creates discourse(talk) and fans market the product by word of mouth (Henry Jenkins – Fan theory) •The dayafteritwasreleasedBeyonce performedattheSuperbowl infebruary 2016(111 million people watched it live) •Directed by Melinda Matsouka (female director of mixed ethnicity) •It wasoriginally released exclusively on Tidal (owned by Jayz this is an example of synergy) •It wontheClio awardforinnovationandcreativeexcellenceandnominatedforagrammy.

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Main themes of Formation

•2005 hurricane Katrina •Blackculture(wig shop, MLK, Compton cowboys, gospel church, basketball) •Binaryoppositions(policevsblackpeople,police vs child) •BLM

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Visual codes

•1800’s costume (antebellum – worn by slave owners could be Beyonce readdressing historical inequalities). •Locationissetafterahurricane and at an 1800s plantation ranch in New Orleans. •Performative musicvideo(lipsynching and dancing) and thematic music video (police, new orleans etc). •Beyoncehas the same costumes as other dancers (creates a sense of unity). •Realandstudio locations and a big cast of extras signify that this is a high budget music video.

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Technical codes

•Direct address •Variety ofcamera movements and angles •Highkeylighting •Diegetic soundattheend •Retro 70s and 80s filter •Parallel lyrics to image at certain times (dream it, red lobster etc) •Useofsamplesounds and dialogue (people will by the song so that they don’t have to listen to sampled speech this creates money) •Cyclical structure (starts and ends on the car)

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Media language - mise en scene

•1800s costume (antebellum – slave owner costume, modest and sexualised versions) •Same costumes as dancers (unity) •Necklace worn by Beyonce is very expensive and is juxtaposed by the themes of the music bideo (slavery, destruction of New Orleans) •Expensive jewellery adheres totheidea oftheAmerican dreamof rags to riches which is a common convention of hip hop. •Set in New Orleans (plantationranch, swampy ivy, New Orleans police car)

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Media language - camerawork

•Establishing shots (filmed as if it were a documentary) •Any NewOrleansfootageisstolenfrom‘That B.E.A.T.’ documentary by AbteenBaghira a documentary about New Orleans bounce music. •High shot lookingatBeyonce and the dancers dancing to show them in formation. •Midshot of Beyonce to show that she is central and the focus of the video. •Long shotofdancerstoshow choreography. •LowshotofBeyonce shows that she is more powerful (fanning herself and looking over the balcony). •Low angle of the police represent them as more powerful thanthechild. •Close ups focus on signifiers of wealth which is a common convention of hip hop music video •Tracking shots in corridor •Tiltingcameraincarparkwithretro70s/80sVHSfiltercommonconventionofhiphopmusic videos (Steve Neal )

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Media language - sound

•Sampling was used •Messy Mya was a famous youtuberwhowasshotandkilledatapartyin2010,peoplefeltthatthepolicedidn’t investigateproperly •Beyonce didn’t ask for permission to usethesampleandhisfamilysuedherfor20million. •‘What happenedinthe New Orleans…’ •Non diegeticsound e.g.sirens and shots. •Parallel sound (car sinking)

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Media language - editing

•Match cut (lights in teeth – emergency vehicle) •Parallel edits •80sstylefilterandtextonscreenPlay>

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Representations of ethnicity

•Ethnicityandpostcolonialism(PaulGilroy) •Focuses onblack culture •Plantation mansion/ antebellum costume – 1890’s •Readdressing historic inequality and reversing power roles •Hurricane Katrina reflects post-colonial issues – it affected a poor area which was dominated black people with low socio-economic status, the response to the hurricane was slow •The onlyrepresentationofwhitepeopleinformationwasthepolice, this could be a negative representation as it could further the divide.

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Representation of gender

•Beyonce was on top of the police car in a masculine pose •Focus on females (male roles are subservient) •When Beyonce is stood outside the plantation ranch, she is central which represents her as the most important. •Thetargetaudienceisblackwomenwhichcanbeidentifiedthrough theinclusion of wig shops etc which would be recognisable to the audience. •‘Okay ladiesnowlet’s getinformation’ addresses the target audience and has military connotations •‘I might just be the next black Bill Gates in the making’ challenged dominant patriarchal ideologies as Bill Gates is a man (bell hooks). •‘If he fs me good I'll take his *** to red lobster’ reversal of dominant sexual ideology •‘*****’ taking owbership of a female slur •Binary opposition between female children in the mansion and the boy on the streets

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Representation politics and history

•Antebellum •Key momentsinAmerican history •Left wing •References to BLM and Martin Luther King •Readdressinghistory

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