Beyonce 1+1 analysis

Beyonce – Gender/Sexuality representation

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition:

• ·      The music video starts off with a clos up shot of Beyonce. She appears to be alone in a dark setting. The use of a bright light exposes Beyonce to us in the dark surrounding. 
• ·      The next shot shown is an extreme close up of her eyes whilst water pours don the screen.  This shot, especially the use of water, is an attempt to make the video more seductive. The water is a clear symbol for sweat, which is linked to sex, which is the meaning of the song. This is clear by the repeated use of the line “Make love to me”. 

 Sound:

• ·      The song itself, in terms of sound, consists mainly of only drums and guitar throughout.
• ·      Beyonce’s tone of voice throughout the song is quite high which casts the passion within her whilst signing.
• ·      This specific song consists of multiple high notes

Mise-en-Scène:

• ·      At the beginning of the video, Beyonce appears in a dark setting. It appears that she isn’t wearing any clothing. This is due to the initial use of close-ups. This instantly shows that Laura Mulvey’s idea of the male gaze is correct. She instantly appears as an object of desire, especially to the male heterosexual viewer.
• ·      Throughout the video, she is wearing golden clothing, glitter and is lit u by a golden light. This is used to show she is valuable and resembles the idea of wealth, which men are attracted to. This again fits with the idea of the male gaze.
  
• ·      As the video progresses, it does appear that Beyonce is wearing clothes, but very little.  This all contributes to the idea of the male gaze  that women in today’s media are just objectified for the pleasure of men.
  
• ·      The video features a mixture of colour design in relation to lighting. Colours such a gold, blue and red are used. The use of gold relates as I said before to the idea that she symbolizes value and money. The usage of red adds an element of seductiveness since it symbolizes something that is hot and is always used in the shot involving water, which may indicate what has caused her to sweat.