Beyoncé's music video :)

I could probably sit here all night talking about all of the different music videos that Beyoncé has made for her songs because there are so many. They are all really good and unique such as "Single Ladies - Put a ring on it" where throughout the video she does is dance in a room with two other people, but I have decided to look at Beyoncé's music video, "Irreplaceable". 

Beyoncé Knowles' and Ne-Yo's vision was to create a record that people could relate to, regardless of their gender. Lyrically, the song refers to breaking up with an unfaithful man and it contains a message towards female empowerment.


The following quote is what most people think Beyonce is..
"She has an amazing voice, she's a great dancer,she writes her own music, she is beautiful, and she is very level headed for a person with her success."
I believe her music videos mirror this definition of her because they show that she is a strong women and can look after herself. Also, she uses all of her talents in her music videos to show that she is a triple threat. 


Goodwin's seven.

1. Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics.


Beyoncé's general genre of music is R&B which tends to have genre characteristic in music videos of highlighted sex appeal in women. Beyoncé tends to demonstrate this particular genre characteristic in her music videos, and in Irreplaceable she wears clothes that represent this such as a dress and a cropped top. In the music video Irreplaceable she does not highlight the sex appeal as much as she does in her other videos such as "Best Thing I Never Had" where, at the start of the music video, she wears not too revealing nightwear which shows off her curves, but is still stylish, with her hair up and her make-up done.


However, Beyonce is portrayed as powerful women whereas, the characteristic of a female in a R&B music video is that they are used as props instead of someone who is taking charge and standing up for themselves. Another genre characteristic that Beyoncé shows in her music video Irreplaceable is the use of close-ups. Throughout the music video, the camera closes in on Beyoncé when she is singing and saying certain words. Beyoncé uses this in almost all of her music videos constantly because it is a big R&B music video characteristic. The following music video of Beyoncé's is a good example:

This music video is her new one called "Countdown". There are many close-ups of Beyoncé singing and acting out the lyrics to show that she is the main focus of the music video.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.



As it shows on the right, Beyoncé links the visuals in her music videos to the lyrics. For example, it shows Beyoncé performing and singing "To the left, to the left" at the same time. This is a prime example of relating the visuals to the lyrics. Another example of this in the music video Irreplaceable is when Beyoncé says "it's my name that's on that tag". At this point she points at her chest indicating that she is referring to herself in the song lyrics. Beyoncé also relates the lyrics to the visuals in her other songs, such as "Run The World". In this, when Beyoncé and the rest of the dancers/singers say 'girls' the visuals on the screen shows a long line of women with soldier type outfits on, which also links in with the girls running the world.


3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.


This video shows a relationship between the music and the visuals because there the music in the background is quite slow, which goes well with the fact that the visuals are of the people in it being quite laid-back. Also, throughout the music video, Beyonce moves in time with the music. For example, when she is walking outside, her hair bounces and she also walks in time with the beat. This shows a clear link between the music and visuals. 


4. The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist.


The video Irreplaceble by Beyonce certainly shows a lot of close-ups of Beyonce throughout the video. By having close-ups of Beyonce, it will make it obvious that the song is by her and this will therefore increase the amount of money made from the song. Audiences and fans of Beyonce will be able to relate to the video because they will see Beyonce throughout the video, and because they will have liked her other music videos, they would also notice that it is her and would make them watch the video because of this. By doing this it will help Beyonce be promoted and the record label will be happy with how the music video uses Beyonce as the main focus. Other music videos may not even feature the artist or the band and would therefore not promote them as much as it would if they had have taken part in the music video. 

 5. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work.


Beyonce shows that she is a strong women throughout all of her videos, and she focusing on the performance of her songs, but not in the case of performing it on stage, but instead, she performs through dance or acting. For example, in one of her music videos - Single Ladies she performs a dance with two other ladies and in another music video - If I Were A Boy she performs through a narrative of her and a man. Also, in this video it is in black and white which she also uses in other music videos of hers, where they are mainly music videos that have a narrative behind them. I believe this is to focus on the song and the meaning behind the lyrics, whereas when it is in colour, it invited the audience to take notice of the visuals more than the lyrics. 


Another thing that recurs across Beyonces work is the lyrics being about love and relationships, especially in her earlier work. The music video Irreplaceable is a prime example of this. Most R&B songs are about love and relationships which shows she also follows this characteristic of this certain genre, but she also does different types of songs where she can have fun in the music videos and try new things and work with effects, such as on her new music video - Countdown, she is shown three times on the screen at once in three different outfits and she is also shown in 4 different places on the screen through the effect of split screen. This shows that Beyonce does not stick to one type of music video but she explores different ways of making the visuals strong and eye-catching. 

6. There is frequent reference to the notion of 'looking' (screens within screens, filming, cameras) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment of the female body.


Beyonce does not conform to the genre characteristic of a female in a R&B music video. Women are usually seen as being "trophies", "eye candy", "sexual objects" and "the property of males". Also, they are shown there is not any respect towards them. Whereas, with Beyonce she portrays herself as a confident, happy, strong women who can look after herself and uses men instead of them using her. Women who are in the R&B genre are more likely to be like Beyonce, such as Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, instead of the women that appear in men R&B artists' music videos, such as in Snoop Dogg's music videos.


7. There are often intertextual references - mostly to film, television and popular culture.
I cannot see particular links with intertextual references but this music video shows a lot of images of nice cars and big houses. This can be linked in with wealth but I do not think that the music video has anything to do with wealth so these nice things might just be there because they fit in with the conventions of a typical R&B music video.