Formation

Question 1

When was the music video released?

Answer 1

6th February 2016

Question 2

What was it exclusively released on?

Answer 2

Tidal

Question 3

What album is the track from?

Answer 3

The album Lemonade

Question 4

How many viewers did Beyoncé’s super bowl performance of this song get?

Answer 4

115.5 million US viewers

Question 5

What awards did this video receive?

Answer 5

MTV video or the year

Grammy best music video

Question 6

Name 4 pieces of cultural/historical pieces of context related to this music video:

Answer 6

2005 Hurricane Katrina where New Orleans flooded 
Slavery / antebellum era 
Police brutality 
Black lives matter movement 
50 years of the Black Panthers

Question 7

What is the main comparative study for this video?

Answer 7

That B.E.A.T documentary on bounce music

Question 8

What does watching the video require?

Answer 8

Awareness of present and past racial issues in the US

Question 9

What does the image of the dancing boy reference?

Answer 9

Police brutality footage

Question 10

In terms of costume, give an example of contrast and conflict:

Answer 10

Old fashioned dresses vs contemporary tight fitting and revealing dance wear

Question 11

What is the contrast in terms of performance?

Answer 11

One finger gestures/ movements vs sexualised dance routines

Question 12

What are the 2 possible readings of this video?

Answer 12

Exploring black experience in USA

Personal exploration of Beyoncé’s life / the issue of gender equality

Question 13

What genre does this song fit into?

Answer 13

Trap/bounce music, both of which fit into the hip hop genre

Question 14

Where does trap/bounce music originate from?

Answer 14

South of USA

Question 15

How can Roland Barthes theory of Semiotics be linked to Formation?

Answer 15

Beyoncé and other black women pose in white antebellum - era dresses associated with slave owning women = reverse of roles/overcoming racism or suggesting that racism is still about?

Question 16

How can Baudrillard’s Postmodernism theory be linked to Formation?

Answer 16

Postmodern audiences are usually presented with images that aren’t real
Formation challenges that by being constructed using real images and references

Question 17

How does Baudrillard suggest that the video upholds the idea that audiences are presented with simulacra-images (not real)?

Answer 17

The ‘real’ images could be seen as a tool to make sales therefore making them not real

Question 18

How can Bell Hook’s Feminist theory be linked to Formation?

Answer 18

The video offers a strong gender message and shows Beyoncé as having made a political commitment to feminism

Question 19

How does Formation goes against Bell Hook’s Feminist theory?

Answer 19

It feeds into patriarchal oppression of women (objectification,sexualisation)
Beyoncé could have just adopted a feminist lifestyle in order to make sales

Question 20

How is Beyoncé represented as a person of strength and power?
(Representation idea)

Answer 20

She makes direct address with the audience by looking into camera

Question 21

In what way could this video be seen to reinforce the idea of objectifying women?

Answer 21

Sexualised costumes and dance moves

Question 22

Explain how Gilroy’s Ethnicity and n theory can be linked to Formation?

Answer 22

Challenges racial hierarchies by subverting expectations and having black women in positions of power
Could also the concept of otherness as races are divided