Beyonce Music Videos

In the music video of Beyoncé's song 'Already ft. Major Lazer' is set in the environment of a black country and culture. This is evident due to the style of clothes she is wearing throughout the whole video which consists of animal print clothing, painted clothing which is often found in West Indian tribes and an outfit made entirely of gold. the style of the movie is a storytelling narrative as it is not constantly focused on her the entire video. There are clips of the other participants dancing and just being natural in their own atmosphere, I believe this is to tell the story of what black cultures are like as well as enforcing history. Because in the past stories were told through dance instead of talking or from books. As well as the video being a storytelling narrative, the lyrics within  the song itself also embed great power behind what Beyoncé is trying to express through her video and the song as well. One main key term which is easily picked up in the video is the word 'King' which she uses to refer to the black men of the video and of West Indian and African culture as a whole. In my opinion, the reason behind this is show the world and empower black people, in this instance men, that they are kings are hold their own riches in their own way. She expresses how they constantly hold a crown on their head and how everything they do doesn't go unappreciated in the world. 

The aspirational role model persona of Beyoncé is highlighted in this video as not only does she show areas of black culture she also participates in the dancing and the clothing shown, representing that she encourages and enjoys the culture as much as everyone else apart of it. By her doing this she is aiming for her audience to appreciate what they don't see first sight but to look beyond what people represent and take it in further. Although there are women shown in the video the main target of the video is towards men, maybe this is because they are not respected enough or what they do or because as economy changes and woman become more powerful, Beyoncé wants to remind them that they are still kings inside and out. This can be proven due to the line, 'Mind, body, soul, got a king body'. To set the tone of the country that the video is set in and to really make the audience feel more enhanced in the video, is by the lighting and colours used in the video. Its set a calm warm tone which doesn't make it seem modernist as it isn't bright either to give a futuristic/ non westernised feeling. I believe this was deliberate to make the scenes feel more made within where it is set. As well as this with the use of close up and full screen camera angles you are able to capture the minor details of the objects and clothing and props used as well as see how it fits and empowers the culture as well.

In another one of Beyoncé's music video, 'BROWN SKIN GIRL', she portrays the same ethnic themes however the gender representations are towards women over men, which is already clear from the title of song anyway. Again like 'Already', the music video isn't entirely focused on Beyonces performance, as the main focus is to make all black women no matter the darkness of these skin to feel beautiful in their own skin. I also believe she is telling a story of the narrative that black is beautiful no matter the age as she includes multiple generations within the music video as well from girls the same age as her daughter to women the older than her mother, persuadably. The persona of Beyonce that the video focuses on is the aspirational role model as well as independent woman aspect of herself. She portrays the qualities of a role model due to the way she presents her message in her lyrics through her video because not only does she talk about one shade of the brown skin girls she includes all skin colours, bringing together a union to build equality for the whole race and not just one point. She also upholds the factor of being an independent woman comes from the evident use of only females being included in the video despite one male participate who is about the song. This shows that is telling her audience that she is apart of an independent women environment giving the audience a sense that she is an independent woman herself.

The theme evident in the music is relationships, this is shown through the relationship between a mother and daughter which is presented in multiple scenes- one being a mid shot of Beyoncé and Blue Ivy at the beginning of the video standing side by side each other and Beyoncé having her arm over her shoulder presenting the element of protection that she shields Blue Ivy with. As the video carries on you come across scenes of other female celebrities posing with their mothers or other relatives in a full body shot. The theme of love and kindness is also shown as many of the girls are playing together enjoying themselves or showing actions of love towards one another. The effect of the flowers in the background/ setting of the video enforces this as flowers are used as a symbol of love from one person to another. There are serval technical codes that support the points i have noted above, one of them being the costumes which the females wear throughout the video, the use of the mixture of women wearing dresses as well as suits demonstrate that that are not limited to wear stereotypical clothing that many people in society believe that women should stick to wear. The use of the women also wearing suits encourages comfortability that all women should embed. The use of white clothing holds a presence of elegance, purity and power. The sense of power is shown due to white being used to portray superiority in many media products and it also refers to the words ‘Your skin just like pearls’ that are sung in the song. The body language of all the participants are straight and bold however relaxed representing that they can still be strong and dominant as well as having at the same time. In the beginning of the video they use a colour filter to make a few scenes appear as those they are old memories that were recorded being shown, this is highlighted as memories are seen as cherished and with this effect Beyoncé portrays to the audience how she will cherish those certain moments potentially for life. One of the main camera shots used is full image shot and close up shots. Full image shots is to be able to capture the setting and everything in the setting- fir example the trees, flowers, mirrors and women in the background etc.