Formation - Beyonce Flashcards
What album is Formation the lead single for?
Lemonade (2016)
Where did Beyoncé perform Formation the day after it was released?
The February 2016 NFL Super Bowl is watched by over 135million globally
What awards did Formation win?
A Grammy for Best Music Video and Video Of The Year at the MTV Video Music Awards
What disaster does Formation reference?
Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) devastated Louisiana and Mississippi
Give examples of Media Language in Formation
- SETTING of flooded New Orleans
- SETTING of plantation house
- COSTUMING of antebellum era clothing
- PROP of submerged police car Beyoncé stands on top of
- LOW ANGLE SHOT of Beyoncé looking down into what looks like a coffin
Which 2013 documentary does Formation make direct intertextual reference to?
‘That B.E.A.T’ - a short documentary about the underground New Orleans culture surrounding the ‘Bounce’ music genre
Define ‘Bounce’ music genre
High-octane, dance-style, hip hop that derives from the ‘Dirty South’ style of rap from the 1990’s and 2000’s
Who did Beyoncé intertextually include in Formation?
- Messy Mya: Mya is sampled at the beginning of Formation. He was murdered in New Orleans in 2010 as result of gang violence
- Big Fredia: Formation samples the song ‘Explode’. This supports Beyoncé’s ideology about black women being in power
Apply Gilroy’s Postcolonialism Theory to Formation
- Beyoncé banging her head presents her as ‘other’
- Antebellum costuming presents reclaiming of past oppression
- Sinking car reflects loss of identity and culture represented in media
- Coffin imagery presents lack of care for AA communities after HK
Apply bell hook’s Feminist Theory to Formation
- SUPPORT: Women dressed in sexualised clothing and dancing
- CHALLENGE: Beyoncé is in power, she is focal in each wide shot and well dressed
- SUPPORT: Antebellum costuming reflects time of female oppression
- CHALLENGE: Female centred music video
