1. Advanced Portfolio Homework task. Submission Friday October 3rd
Task 1: Choose 1 music video
Run the World (Girls)/Beyoncé/Pop/Narrative Performance
Use the following boxes detailing Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements, to analyse the text:
Genre elements Conventions
Characters –
representations,
stereotypes,
behaviour, body
language, specific
actors/stars
Female strength and independence/ links to feminism
Breaks stereotypical female music video
War like body language, standing straight and large ‘army’ against
another
Beyonce is the only star
Fighting and violence
Narrative events –how
is the narrative
ordered and
structured?
Non linear narrative follows a variety of events including beyonce
with the animals, blowing up a car and then the two ‘armys ’ facing
each other ending with beyonce removing a policemans badge?
Iconography – props,
symbolic codes
Wild animals and huge horse suggests power and strength
Riot shields suggest conflict
Cars blowing up and fire
Contrast in colour in outfits
Setting- mise en scene
Set in a desolate desert setting
Similar to a warzone
Technical and audio
codes – camera use,
editing, lighting,
diegetic/non diegetic
sound, sfx
Wide angled long shots to show vast setting and huge group of
women
Fast cut edits to fit tempo when scene changes
Long cuts of dance performance
Strobe light effect
High key lighting on women
2. Advanced Portfolio Homework task. Submission Friday October 3rd
Beyoncé’s music video for ‘Run the World (Girls)’ is a hybrid of narrative and performance style. The
video uses Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements in order to enhance the viewer’s experience and convey
the message of the song. The main themes of the video are feminism and female empowerment,
and these are expressed strongly through the five elements: characters, narrative events,
iconography, setting and technical and audio codes.
Characters are used in the music video in order to add to the narrative aspect of the video, and also
performance. Beyonce herself is the star of the video and is the only recognizable actress. The
moves the focus solely onto her and also allows us to appreciate the huge cast of other dancers who
accompany Beyonce in her performance. All of the female characters are represented as strong
women who behave like soldiers at war. The women all stand straight in uniform lines in the form of
a ‘female army’ and even salute. This representation breaks the stereotype of women in music
videos, linking back to the themes of feminism and empowerment. It may be argued that in this
video, the women take on the persona of a stereotypical male, with themes of strength and
dominance. This role reversal is effective as it emphasise the women’s strength as they stand against
the ‘male army’.
The narrative aspect is displayed through a story, consisting of Beyonce’s army of women standing
up against an army of men. Various scenes of the two groups standing up against one another occur
throughout the video. The music video follows a nonlinear narrative, as various scenes are cut
together randomly. Some scenes are arguably conceptual, such as scenes including Beyonce holding
wild animals by chains or Beyonce standing in front of an exploding car. Other scenes such as
Beyonce fighting against the male army dressed as riot police follow the storyline that the women
are at war with the men. The random structure to the video arguably makes the video more exciting
and engaging as the audience have new and different scenes to experience all the time.
3. Advanced Portfolio Homework task. Submission Friday October 3rd
Iconography is arguably the most extensively used element in the music video. The video uses grand
and extravagant props in order to make the video appear to be epic and impressive. For example,
Beyonce enters the video on a huge horse which rears against the sunset. Other animals such as
wolves and bulls are included to make the video seem almost like a Hollywood film due its
extravagance. Beyonce also stands next to a lion, which has conotations with dominance, power and
pride, all of which link to the message behind the video. The costumes worn by the characters also
have various connotations. The female characters wear brightly coloured dresses and accessories
where the men wear all black and carry riot shields, connoting conflict and viol ence. Other epic yet
violent imagery such as exploding cars and fire are again all stereotypical of the male, action thriller
genre which Beyonce attempts to break down by using these themes in a feminist video.
The setting used in the video is a vast and desolate desert space. The setting is arguably similar to a
warzone, which links to the narrative of the video. Some of the performance shots seem to filmed in
a sort of temple, with huge brick columns. Both of these huge settings link to the epic nature of the
video. Shots include images of mountains, sunsets, fire and burnt trees. The mise en scene of the
setting also suggest that the video is filmed in an area of conflict, again adding to the masculine
imagery of the video.
Camera use is effective in the video to help establish themes. Many of the shots in the video are
wide-angled long shots which are used either to establish setting or to show the performance
element of the group of dancers. Many of the shots including Beyonce and the group of women are
long shots which fit their entire bodies from head to toe. These shots are also often shot either at
eye level or from below, displaying the female dominance in the video. Editing is used effectively in
order to fit the tempo of the song, where the beat or change in rhythm replaces the need for SFX or
4. Advanced Portfolio Homework task. Submission Friday October 3rd
diegetic sound. Fast cut edits are used between different scenes in order to build momentum and
excitement in the video. Longer cuts are used during the performance scenes so that the viewer can
watch the dancing without any distraction, therefore displaying the talent in the video. One scene of
Beyonce also uses a fast cut edit with a strobe light effect, in which Beyonce’s close up is cut with an
all-black screen. This effect is disorientating and enhances the viewing experience for the audience.
High key lighting is used on the women in the video in order to connote their power and strength in
the sequence, linking to the feminist message behind the video.
In conclusion, Beyonces music video for ‘Run the World’ effectivley uses Lacey’s Repotoire of
Elements in order to convey the key messages and themes of the song and video, including
feminism, female strength and empowerment. By using narrative structure in order to establish a
story of female uprising against a male army and iconography and characters in order to enhance
this sequence with performance, the video successfully conveys this idea by linking back to the song
and its lyrics.
5. Advanced Portfolio Homework task. Submission Friday October 3rd
3. Create your Advanced Portfolio Blog in blogger and email me your URL. Call the blog Your Name:
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