Formation - Textual Analysis

About "Formation":

• Formation is the lead single from Beyonce's album, Lemonade. This album was released the day before Beyonce performed at the super bowl final in February of 2016.
• The video was directed by Melina Matsoukas, and was released with the song.
• The video won many awards such as a Clio Award, and was nominated at the 59th grammy awards
• The video is set in New Orleans, which is flooded due to Hurricane Katrina.
• The video is associated with the message regarding racial tension, as it drawls historical parallels with references to racism and slavery embedded within the video.

The theme of conflict in this video:

In what ways are the themes of conflict encoded in this video?

• Beyonce is positioned sat on a sinking police car. This creates a binary opposition. Black people are stereotypically a group associated with being in trouble with the police, by placing her on top of the car, the theme of conflict is encoded as the link is clearly acknowledged.
• The lexis of the graffiti on the wall, states 'stop shooting us', the collective noun, 'us' demonstrates that the police are targeting a specific group, which encodes the theme of conflict as it acknowledges the tension. The verb, 'stop', also creates the narrative that the police are in the wrong, as they are the ones in control of their actions, and therefore makes them seem like the villains within this situation. This creates a story for the conflict, and therefore makes it appear more real for the audience.
• The cast are all black, except for the police. This creates the narrative that white people purposefully target black people. The music video is arguably empowering the whole way through, showing various scenes of black people being powerful as exampled by the mise-en-scene of facial expressions. The only time when we see Beyonce in a vulnerable position, with her hands raised, is when the police appear. This shows that the conflict is between white police officers and the black community.

What are the functions and purposes of this music video? 

• The function of this music video, is to show the ideological perspective of the producer, which is that black people are largely mistreated by the white community.
• It's goal is to present the message, that this racial inequality needs to stop, and brings forward an argument for the modern world world, where black people are often targeted in police shootings. We know this as the audience, as this topic is often brought up in the news.

What is it trying to get its audience to do? 

• By presenting these messages, the producer is trying to make the audience feel rage and dislike towards this treatment and therefore rebel against the treatment of black people by police.

What groups are represented in this music video? 

• In some segments of the video, black people are presented to be rich. This can be shown via the mise-en-scene of the setting, which shows a grand house, and the cast are wearing stereotypically expensive dresses. The costumes, however, are clearly older. This creates the narrative that this segment of the video is set in a historical time period. This creates a subversive representation of black people in post-modern America, as they have previously been represented as being poor and slaves. 
• But similarly, there are also some stereotypical representations of black women. For example, the mise-en-scene of the setting of the wig-shop, is stereotypical as society is under the impression that black women are the only racial group to shop for wigs.

Is this a typical music video? How do you know?

• This video is unconventional, because it brings in political topics and arguments, which would not be expected of a piece of entertainment. This is also not acceptable to a hegemonic standard, as many would disagree with political messages being embedded into a piece of artwork.
• It does include some conventional aspects, such as a dance routine and Beyonce being on screen almost throughout the entire video, reinforcing her star-quality. However, it is clear the message of this video is the main focus opposed to anything else.

Textual analysis

1. The song itself has a repetitive beat throughout, with not a lot of variation. It does however, sound new and a refreshing modern sound, which reflects the message the video is trying to portray - evolution in ideas
2. The voice over of 'what happened after New Orleans', is Messy Mya, an African America who was shot dead. This is significant, as it is at the beginning of the video, and therefore it sets the theme for the entire piece
3. The singing style is different to Beyonce's stereotypical style, which is heavily associated with strong, female vocals. This style is more talkative and reflects rap, which is linked with black culture. This new vocal style and connection to her culture, further emphasises the theme of this video - which is an insightful evolution of black empowerment 
4. There is a narrative of conflict created via binary opposition of white people in the police officer outfits, and black people being victimised. This creates the narrative that white police officers are the villains, as they are the only ones pictured with weaponry throughout the video.
5. There is a narrative of black empowerment created via the use of an all-black cast, this choice of actors, minus the police-officers, creates a strong focalisation on their race. By showing black people in powerful situations, such as being dressed in jewels, it creates the feeling of empowerment.
6. The setting of the empty swimming pool, with the women dancing at the bottom. The idea of formation is firstly presented to us in terms of family, and therefore women. This shows that women need each other during tough times, and by sticking together within a strong formation, survival and success is achievable. This presents a strong message about black women, and helps to create the narrative that they are powerful.
7. The mise-en-scene of the white costume worn by the black women, incorporates historical features. It acts as symbolic coding, as it is a corset, and shows how despite them now being free they are still held back and oppressed. 
8. When Beyonce is sinking on top of the police car, the voice "What happened after New Orleans?" Can be heard. This voice belongs to an African-American comedian, Messy Mya who was shot in the streets. A murderer confessed, but claimed he was bipolar and therefore was released from prison. 
9. The clips of the flooding is from a Sundance documentary.
10. Beyonce's back up dancers were shown wearing black-panther outfits, this is an example of intertextuality as it is a reference to the Black Panther Party, who practised militant self defence of minority groups against the US government.
11. The inclusion of the newspaper prop has reference to Martin Luther King, which is another example of intertextuality. This presents another powerful black figure for the audience.
12. The inclusion of a dance routine is conventional.
13. The theme of female empowerment is further channeled during the scene where a woman is driving the car. This subverts stereotypical values of women in society, as it shows a woman doing tricks and spinning the car around, a job and skill associated strongly with men.
14. The mise-en-scene of Beyonce's costume in multiple scenes is reference to black empowerment. Her hair is styled into braids, which holds historical significance for the black community. 
15. When she wears the colour black, she is seen in a strong and powerful position, as explored via the use of gesture when she had her middle fingers up. The close-up camera angle upon this gesture exploits the audience to her power, and makes them watch. This positions the audience as being weak against Beyonce, as they are forced to look at her. This creates the narrative that when proudly wearing the colour black, Beyonce is powerful and unstoppable.