How Formation uses media language and representation is used to create emotional responses in the audience
How Formation uses media language and representation to create emotional responses in the audience
An potential viewing of 'Formation' may confuse the viewer with its polysemic messages and narrative strands that taken out of context bare no meaning to the viewer simply seeming to be a montage of random dance numbers. The sheer number of messages and real world issues connoted alone is overwhelming for the viewer. The confusion would escalate with various unconnected and unexplained shots appearing such as the opening and closing mid shot of Beyonce on top of a police car submerging in the water, as well as shots of Beyonce and her entourage in old fashioned bodices. The music video follows a fragmented narrative as evidenced by the various unconnected shots further making it a challenge for the viewer to follow what is going on as well as understand it.
The intertexual appearance of Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy makes the video almost a hyper-reality (Baudrillard). It breaks the barrier between the fictional reality of the music video and her personal life. This upholds the conventions of traditional Bounce music videos as well as Beyonces library of music videos making the hardcore fandom feel gratified (Katz) for their knowledge of Beyonce's personal life and being able to notice references in her video.
The genre is conventional to Bounce music videos yet it subverts genre conventions (Neale) which would question viewers. The young black male dancing in front of armed police officers creates a sense of binary opposition (Strauss) between the two as the boys peculiar response is unconventional creating notions of otherness (Gilroy). Both social context is a convention in narrative R&B music videos and dancing for Bounce music videos however Beyonce merges the two together. This unconventional hybrid of performance and social context would interweave an enigma code (Barthes) that forces viewers to decode the meaning in different ways (Hall). This leads to a confused response as well as an awareness on the way your emotions are being played.
The representation of black females within the text creates an awareness in audiences as well empowering audience members of the same group represented. The shot of black women in old fashioned bodices is almost surreal as it seems unconventional and ethnically inaccurate in a historical sense. This is the intended message as Beyonce adopts a bell hooks stance in that all women do not share a collective experience. The shot is a juxtaposition of the rich Caucasian middle class women who speak of female prejudice yet have not faced nearly enough of the prejudices black females have faced throughout history and day to day life. The ideology is reminiscent of intersectional third wave feminists. This positions audiences (Hall) in the viewpoint of a black female making viewers empathetic towards their treatment in comparison to Caucasian women and black males.
Having knowledge on the context behind the music video would create a sympathetic and upsetting emotional response. The detailed mise-en-scene of flooded areas and perished regions of New Orleans will upset passive viewers (Hall) who may have experienced hurricane Katrina first hand or negotiated viewers who have also been affected by a similar environmental disaster as they are positioned to relive their unpleasant memories. This is an emotional response that is mediated by context.
Formation is a music video that hinges on prior knowledge of various social and cultural contexts to achieve their intended response however even without, the video raises awareness and creates various emotional responses via its narrative structure, intertexual references, genre conventions and mise-en-scene.
The genre is conventional to Bounce music videos yet it subverts genre conventions (Neale) which would question viewers. The young black male dancing in front of armed police officers creates a sense of binary opposition (Strauss) between the two as the boys peculiar response is unconventional creating notions of otherness (Gilroy). Both social context is a convention in narrative R&B music videos and dancing for Bounce music videos however Beyonce merges the two together. This unconventional hybrid of performance and social context would interweave an enigma code (Barthes) that forces viewers to decode the meaning in different ways (Hall). This leads to a confused response as well as an awareness on the way your emotions are being played.
The representation of black females within the text creates an awareness in audiences as well empowering audience members of the same group represented. The shot of black women in old fashioned bodices is almost surreal as it seems unconventional and ethnically inaccurate in a historical sense. This is the intended message as Beyonce adopts a bell hooks stance in that all women do not share a collective experience. The shot is a juxtaposition of the rich Caucasian middle class women who speak of female prejudice yet have not faced nearly enough of the prejudices black females have faced throughout history and day to day life. The ideology is reminiscent of intersectional third wave feminists. This positions audiences (Hall) in the viewpoint of a black female making viewers empathetic towards their treatment in comparison to Caucasian women and black males.
Having knowledge on the context behind the music video would create a sympathetic and upsetting emotional response. The detailed mise-en-scene of flooded areas and perished regions of New Orleans will upset passive viewers (Hall) who may have experienced hurricane Katrina first hand or negotiated viewers who have also been affected by a similar environmental disaster as they are positioned to relive their unpleasant memories. This is an emotional response that is mediated by context.
Formation is a music video that hinges on prior knowledge of various social and cultural contexts to achieve their intended response however even without, the video raises awareness and creates various emotional responses via its narrative structure, intertexual references, genre conventions and mise-en-scene.
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