Formation - Music Videos (Component 1, Section A)

Question 1

What event shared the songs release date?

Answer 1

Super Bowl

Question 2

Name two issues raised in the video

Answer 2

black lives matter, hurricane Katrina, police brutality, slavery

Question 3

What type of dress is Beyonce seen wearing?

Answer 3

Antebellum dress (slavery)

Question 4

What does ‘bounce’ mean in regards to the video?

Answer 4

style of music in new Orleans - from the documentary THE B.E.A.T

Question 5

What natural disaster influenced the music video?

Answer 5

hurricane Katrina, specifically the flooding destroying lower income households

Question 6

What album is the song from?

Answer 6

lemonade

Question 7

Give a binary opposition example in the visual codes

Answer 7

beyonce wearing an antebellum dress

Question 8

Give a contextual reference that shows that ‘Formation’ is addressing racial tension

Answer 8

police surrendering when the boys break dancing
women wearing denim
stop shooting us graffiti

Question 9

How long is the music video?

Answer 9

4.48 (longer to make a message, not just a song)

Question 10

Which successful man does Beyonce refer to in her lyrics for ‘Formation’

Answer 10

Bill Gates

Martin Luther - on the newspaper front cover

Question 11

The video was directed by who?

Answer 11

Melina Matsoukas

Question 12

Beyonce’s performance shift from moments of aggression to more culturally recognisable what?

Answer 12

dance routines

Question 13

Apply Barthes semiotics to the antebellum dresses

Answer 13

signifier - black women wearing white dresses

signified - referencing the antebellum era of American history

Question 14

Baudrillard argues we are immersed in a world of images that are no longer ‘real’, does Formation conform to this?

Answer 14

no - the frames are a collection of historical events in history and challenging the negotiated police racism in america
yes - released day before the super bowl, reducing important issues down to a means to promote her own career

Question 15

How many views did the super bowl match get when she performed there?

Answer 15

100 million

Question 16

Beyonce frequently uses what mode of address, gazing directly at us in strong, powerful stances

Answer 16

direct mode of address

Question 17

What’s the most iconic scene Beyonce’s in showing power?

Answer 17

her standing on the sinking police car

Question 18

Does the representation of women condone the objectification of women?

Answer 18

yes - dance sections where she wears shot/tight outfits
no - the outfits are deliberately provocative to attract an active audience to question the shift in women roles - the denim for example, taken off men ad used on women how they want.

Question 19

hooks position is what?

Answer 19

feminism is a struggle to end western patriarchal sexism. Does the video pay a part in that struggle or part of the oppression?

Question 20

Gilroy says racial hierarchies and binary opposition are based on ‘_________’

Answer 20

‘otherness’ - having a black women in power juxtaposes the binary opposition

Question 21

What does Sapphires mean?

Answer 21

comedic depiction of black women, common staple of talk shows and reality TV

Question 22

What does Jezebels mean?

Answer 22

Over-sexualised representations of black femininity have significantly shaped perceptions of black women since slavery

Question 23

hooks would argue Beyonce is using the black stereotype of Jezebel within her performances, how?

Answer 23

Copies the Jezebel formula as the women parade their bodies in sexually explicit sequences , inviting audiences to view black women as highly promiscuous