Beyoncé is known as a solo artist, however she became famous from the group known as Destiny's child in which she was part of before she left to focus on her solo career. She's an established star with a pre-sold audience
The mid-shot of Beyonce sitting on the police car half submerged in flood water makes reference to hurricane Katrina as well as forming a binary opposition between a stereotypical working class black woman and the US police force.
Beyonce wears a antebellum dress in the mid shot of her in the what looks to be wealthy setting brings connotations of wealth and potentially slave ownership too. It has been sexualised through seeing a lot of her skin with under-boob and her legs as Beyonce is known to be a physically appealing figure.
The gesture of Beyonce holding her middle fingers up is a direct link to the anti-police ideology reinforced throughout the video. the mise-en-scene of her wearing lots of jewelry emphasises her wealth as well as forming a binary opposition of the religious background to the shot.
The mid-shot of the servant-looking figures standing to the sides of Beyonce make an intertextual reference to slavery and the servants to a wealthy family; makes reference to a religious background too. Beyonce's covered face adds a sense of mystery too.
The birds-eye shot of Beyonce hanging out of the car window has connotations of her black identity; however it also forms a binary opposition through her black identity which are stereotypically working class with her expensive looking jewelry.
The mid-shot of the newspaper seller forms a binary opposition of the mise-em-scene of his formal outfit with the less wealthy setting of the video with also black people throughout the video with stereotypical working class outfits, etc. Front of the newspaper shows the famous American black activist Martin Luther King.
Not only is the video highly experimental and controversial, but at the same time it is also very typical, with Beyoncé dancing in most of the shots she is in which is common in her music videos. This allows the producer to reach out to multiple audiences, making it polysemic as well.
David Gauntlet - Theories of identity:
- The pick 'n mix theory
- Audiences can shape their identity through picking and mixing the ideology the ideology of the product
- Therefore the same media product will mean completely different things to different audiences
Demographics are a way of categorising audiences for marketing and advertising media products; age, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, social class, political background. This is a basic way of grouping people however people are more complicated than that.
The shot of Beyonce holding her middle fingers up could be empowering to the mixed race audience, with them maybe living through racist remarks throughout their life; they would be able to relate to Beyonce and her dancers through their ethnicity
The working class 13 year old kid would completely ignore the intertextual links to hurricane Katrina and the slavery references; and instead they would be seeing Beyonce as an attractive figure, with her being sexualised. They don't have anyone to relate to in the video however they would still be able to enjoy the video through things like the setting of the underpass and New Orleans at night in which brings connotations of crime.
The black middle class professional would realise that Beyonce is making a pretty bold statement against slavery by using the word 'negro', he would also be able to relate to the police brutality side of the video which is stereotypical that all black people are involved in it however it would be more likely for him to be involved with police brutality than white people.
The pick 'n mix theory is so important to producers for making media products for the reason that it allows them to reach more audiences, essentially the biggest thing for a media product to do; profit.
Escapism - the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.
Lisbet Van-Zoonen - Feminist theory:
- The only reason for a woman to be placed in a media product is to be sexualised for a male heterosexual audience.
- That men and women are encoded in media products differently through different outfits, shot types, etc.
- The male gaze theory is how male depict women through media products in a sexualised way for their own sexual pleasure.
Halloween:
- The positioning of the women in the image clearly shows her vulnerability and how she's scared connoting danger. The facial expression of the women reinforces this idea of vulnerability.
- The mies-en-scene of Mike Myer's position in the darkness
- The intra diegetic gaze; where the character in the film is looking at another character, how she's been looked at from Mike Myers.
Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke:
- The X-rated version of the music video shows the women being objectified from wearing no clothes at all whereas the men in the video are wearing suits which forms a binary opposition between the wealth of men and the stereotypical nature of women.
- The baby goat being held in front of the naked woman aims to say women are animals in a subtle way; it also brings forward the point that women can be cute but at the same time they're sexually attractive.
Figure Skating:
- The movement just flowed
- The way she moves her legs high when she's spinning reinforces her athleticism, strength and bravery
- Her arm movement with her almost flapping them up and down symbolises her being a swan, connoting elegance and peace
- The emphasis is on her body, with her wearing a very short skirt
- The movement of her arms and legs emphasises the elegance and peace?
Formation - Beyoncé :
- Thematic links to slavery due to the antebellum dresses that Beyonce and her backing dancers wear, which is symbolic of slave ownership.
- All black religious costumes, symbolic of funerals and death which reinforces the severity of hurricane Katrina.
- The mise-en-scene of the sign reading "Stop shooting us" makes explicit reference to racially motivated attacks on black citizens by the US police.
- Cuts rapidly between high production values focusing on Beyonce and then grainy, fuzzy, low quality shots almost VHS quality which is connotative of the poverty and seriousness of the situation.
- Shot of basketball team, predominantly black, heavy representation of black people.
- Binary opposition formed by working class black cowboy framed in a poverty stricken setting emphasises themes of black poverty and deprivation.
- Line of black women dancing in formation which is also emphasised by the lyrics reinforces themes of strength and black unity.
- Police car sinking, seen in a birds eye shot symbolises the destructive power of the US police force.
- Beyonce adopts a glamorous person as she leans out of a car wearing fur, her hair in dreadlocks, symbolic of her black identity.
- Gesture of Beyonce holding her middle fingers up being anti- authority, an anti-police statement.
- Shot of Martin Luther King, the famous black activist, on the front of a newspaper
- Our ethnicity, religion, geographical location all differ how we see the video, with us making our own first opinions on the video.
The mid-shot of Beyonce sitting on the police car half submerged in flood water makes reference to hurricane Katrina as well as forming a binary opposition between a stereotypical working class black woman and the US police force.
Beyonce wears a antebellum dress in the mid shot of her in the what looks to be wealthy setting brings connotations of wealth and potentially slave ownership too. It has been sexualised through seeing a lot of her skin with under-boob and her legs as Beyonce is known to be a physically appealing figure.
The gesture of Beyonce holding her middle fingers up is a direct link to the anti-police ideology reinforced throughout the video. the mise-en-scene of her wearing lots of jewelry emphasises her wealth as well as forming a binary opposition of the religious background to the shot.
The mid-shot of the servant-looking figures standing to the sides of Beyonce make an intertextual reference to slavery and the servants to a wealthy family; makes reference to a religious background too. Beyonce's covered face adds a sense of mystery too.
The birds-eye shot of Beyonce hanging out of the car window has connotations of her black identity; however it also forms a binary opposition through her black identity which are stereotypically working class with her expensive looking jewelry. 
The mid-shot of the newspaper seller forms a binary opposition of the mise-em-scene of his formal outfit with the less wealthy setting of the video with also black people throughout the video with stereotypical working class outfits, etc. Front of the newspaper shows the famous American black activist Martin Luther King.Not only is the video highly experimental and controversial, but at the same time it is also very typical, with Beyoncé dancing in most of the shots she is in which is common in her music videos. This allows the producer to reach out to multiple audiences, making it polysemic as well.
David Gauntlet - Theories of identity:
- The pick 'n mix theory
- Audiences can shape their identity through picking and mixing the ideology the ideology of the product
- Therefore the same media product will mean completely different things to different audiences
Demographics are a way of categorising audiences for marketing and advertising media products; age, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, social class, political background. This is a basic way of grouping people however people are more complicated than that.
The shot of Beyonce holding her middle fingers up could be empowering to the mixed race audience, with them maybe living through racist remarks throughout their life; they would be able to relate to Beyonce and her dancers through their ethnicity
The working class 13 year old kid would completely ignore the intertextual links to hurricane Katrina and the slavery references; and instead they would be seeing Beyonce as an attractive figure, with her being sexualised. They don't have anyone to relate to in the video however they would still be able to enjoy the video through things like the setting of the underpass and New Orleans at night in which brings connotations of crime.
The black middle class professional would realise that Beyonce is making a pretty bold statement against slavery by using the word 'negro', he would also be able to relate to the police brutality side of the video which is stereotypical that all black people are involved in it however it would be more likely for him to be involved with police brutality than white people.
The pick 'n mix theory is so important to producers for making media products for the reason that it allows them to reach more audiences, essentially the biggest thing for a media product to do; profit.
Escapism - the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.
Lisbet Van-Zoonen - Feminist theory:
- The only reason for a woman to be placed in a media product is to be sexualised for a male heterosexual audience.
- That men and women are encoded in media products differently through different outfits, shot types, etc.
- The male gaze theory is how male depict women through media products in a sexualised way for their own sexual pleasure.
Halloween:
- The positioning of the women in the image clearly shows her vulnerability and how she's scared connoting danger. The facial expression of the women reinforces this idea of vulnerability.
- The mies-en-scene of Mike Myer's position in the darkness
- The intra diegetic gaze; where the character in the film is looking at another character, how she's been looked at from Mike Myers.
Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke:
- The X-rated version of the music video shows the women being objectified from wearing no clothes at all whereas the men in the video are wearing suits which forms a binary opposition between the wealth of men and the stereotypical nature of women.
- The baby goat being held in front of the naked woman aims to say women are animals in a subtle way; it also brings forward the point that women can be cute but at the same time they're sexually attractive.
Figure Skating:
- The movement just flowed
- The way she moves her legs high when she's spinning reinforces her athleticism, strength and bravery
- Her arm movement with her almost flapping them up and down symbolises her being a swan, connoting elegance and peace
- The emphasis is on her body, with her wearing a very short skirt
- The movement of her arms and legs emphasises the elegance and peace?
The shot of Beyonce holding her hands up looking as if she's about to put her middle fingers up shows the empowering nature of her figure in the video.
The shot of Beyonce dancing amongst the other women connotes the female empowerment within the video and also could connote the title of the song, Formation.
The shot of Beyonce holding her fist up in the air showing strength and empowerment.
Shows female empowerment through the sassy dancing of Beyonce and the other female dancing.
Demonstrates togetherness and community by also showing the spirit of New Orleans;
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