Beyoncé's music video for "Listen" from the film Dreamgirls uses conventions of musicals and narrative videos to tell the story of her character Deena Jones. It begins with her as a shy backup singer in casual clothes but through a wipe edit and change of outfit she becomes more confident. Close-ups highlight her emotions and movement matches the lyrics. Scenes from the film are cross-cut throughout to reinforce the narrative of her character pursuing her dreams. Camera angles and lighting emphasize the stage performance setting and Beyoncé's transformation embodies the male gaze as she progresses from shy to confident lead singer.

1. Beyoncé Knowles - Listen

2. Profile Artist: Beyoncé Track: Listen Length: 3minutes, 40seconds Released: January 19th, 2007 Labels: Music World, Columbia Producers': The Underdogs - Matt Sullivan, Randy Spendlove Writers: Beyoncé Knowles, Henry Kriegerm, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven Genre: Soul, R&B Type: Performance/Narrative

5. Screenshots of Mise-en-scene The spot light and staging lights which adhere to the conventions of drama/musical. Casual clothing which subverts the stereotypical R&B female artist. Contrasting look to Beyoncé – more revealing. ‘New image’ – catches male eye. Subverts typical R&B performance. Movement emphases her vocals. More attractive creating a male gaze.

6. Camera, Editing and Sound Camera:- The ‘establishing’ shot shows the sign ‘DREAMGIRLS’ this reinforcing the location of the video, a theatre. It also shows what film the soundtrack is from.- The close ups and medium close ups, show Beyoncé’s facial expression, drawing in the audience.- A high angle track is used to show seating. This putting emphasis on the location of the video. - A long shot is used to show Beyoncé present on the stage, here we can also see the stage lighting used. This shot shows her wanting to pursue her dream. We can also clearly see the clothing worn.-A slight high angle shot shows Beyoncé showing off her grey long dress and shows her enthusiasm created whilst singing. This allowing the audience to enjoy her performance and vocals. - A close up, once she has changed allows the audiences to she her hair and make-up and allows them to indentify Beyoncé as a different person.- A 180 turn shows a close up of her face, and then her full figure showing the person she's ended as. This supporting the sense of narrative. Editing: - The use of a wipe, shows her wearing the grey long dress from what she was previously wearing (jeans and t-shirt). The movement of a circle is formed when she's wearing jeans and a t-shirt and is followed through, picking up where she left in the jeans and t-shirt. This editing allows the video to look continuous.- The use of cross-cutting allows the listeners to see the scenes from the film that relate to the song Listen whilst she’s singing. Sound:- It is evident, that the vocals slowly progress and become richer throughout the song. This relates to the meaning of the song, again reinforcing the narrative.

7. Screenshots of Camera and Editing Wipe: Her she starts spinning .. Establishing shot, shows the location. .. The spin is continued, however wearing different clothing. Close ups show her facial expressions and the difference once changed. Emphases on location. Cross-cut: Scene from the film .. Part of the 180 turn. .. Scene from song straight after.