Music Video Analysis - Task before Music Video.

Music Video Analysis

My video analysis will be on Beyonce Knowles video of “Single Ladies” released October 13th, 2009. Beyonce, born September4, 1981, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, choreographer, video director, actress and model. Beyonce was previously in the famous R&B girl group Destiny’s Child until going solo in 2003. Since then Beyonce has earned world domination in the R&B charts and has released hit after hit.

Beyonce is under Columbia Records, an American record label founded in 1888. Columbia Records’ parent company is Sony Music Entertainment. Other artists under Columbia Records are Destiny’s Child, Maxwell, Three 6 Maffia, Barbara Streisand and so on. Nearly all of the artists under Columbia Records music videos are quite high budget featuring glamorous locations and elaborate costume and props.
The video for “Single Ladies” reflects the genre of R&B very well, as it contains alot of performance which is typical for an R&B artist such as Beyonce. She is known for her extravagant and sexy dancing which is emphasised here through the use of fragmented body shots.

The target audience for this song is mostly females aged from 14 and above. The video portrays a strong sense of female independence and many females can relate to what Beyonce is singing about. The video is quite clever because although the target audience is females, it would still appeal to male viewers because of Beyonce and her dancer’s revealing leotard black costumes and seductive dance routines. Beyonce’s costume makes her look very sleek and slim and also emphasizes her
derriere which she is known worldwide for and attracts millions of males.

The video is very unusual as it is shot in one location throughout and there are no costume changes, which subverts genre expectations as usually R&B music videos are shot in a number of different locations and consist of alot of montages. Usually there are changes in locations and costumes to keep the audience interested and to ensure multiple viewing, but even though this video consists of none of that it still keeps you as an audience focused and happy to watch it each time because of the amazing, unique choreography.

There are surprisingly only 19 edits throughout the whole video. Most of the video consists of long shots as the main focus of the video is the choreography, so by using long shots, the audience can see Beyonce and her dancers from head to toe and see every single dance move which they carry out. There are very few close ups and when they do appear they are only for a few seconds edited to the beat of the music. There is a great relationship between the editing and the music. When the song reaches its climax and becomes faster, so do the edits. This adds emphasis to lyrics because everything becomes faster and alot more intense at that point of the song, drawing alot of focus onto the main point of the song.

The lyrics are hugely illustrated by the video as majority of the choreography links to the lyrics. For example, in the chorus Beyonce sings “if you like it then you should have put a ring on it”. These lyrics are then illustrated through gesture by Beyonce and her dancers flipping their ring hands back and forth and pointing to them. Also the lyrics and title of the song “Single Ladies” is illustrated by the video being 3 women only, on their own and “single”, there are no men in the video.

This video sells Beyonce as a strong minded, independent woman which young girls will look up to and older women will appreciate. This relates to many of Beyonce’s previous songs and videos as she is very much an artist promoting women power and strength. However this song is an interesting representation of femininity as it could have an opposite effect on men. The fact she is saying that if a man likes her he should ask her to get married could scare certain male listeners away as she may come across as too controlling and ‘clingy’.

The video is also a sequel to Beyonce’s video of “If I Were A Boy” which shows Beyonce playing a hurt and heartbroken woman who then turns into a strong and confident “single lady”. For all of these reasons I think this music video is brilliant and very intelligent.