

Throughout the music video to “Formation” by Beyoncé, there are many visual elements that contribute to the overall message of power.  There are multiple different scenes in this music video, each bringing their own contribution to the overall message.  Beyoncé incorporated many different arguments in this video and touches on past problems and present problems in the world.  The main message the viewer receives from watching this video is the importance of power and owning that power.

One of the first scenes in the video is one of the ultimate scenes portraying power: the scene of Beyoncé standing and sitting on top of the sinking car while she sings and dances.  From the second the viewer sees this scene it strikes the viewer as powerful.  Beyoncé is on top of a sinking car, in the middle of a large body of water with seemingly no one around her and she does not look the least bit bothered.  The fact that she is on top of a police car adds to the message; the police car is sinking and Beyoncé is standing on top of it letting it sink.  At one point it looks as though Beyoncé is pushing the car further down with her foot, she is above the police and is taking them down.  This expresses power.  She is taking down the police who are some of the most powerful people in the world.  Beyoncé’s facial expressions are another aspect of this scene expressing power.  She looks strong and confident while in a very scary and alarming situation where most other people would be panicking.  She is singing the words “I slay!” repeatedly letting the viewer know she is unbothered on this car and is still owning it.  She also sings “paparazzi catch my fly and my cocky fresh,” knowing how easy it is to be taken down by the endless rumors by paparazzi and haters but not letting them bother her, she is unnerved letting them know to keep watching her gain success.  Beyoncé has a million reasons to be giving up in this scene and does not give in to any of them, she still stands and owns it showing her power. 

Another scene expressing power is the scene of Beyoncé sitting with some other women in a lounge area.  All the women around her are fanning themselves with old fashioned hand- held fans and Beyoncé is the only one not fanning herself.  Beyoncé is in the center of the room, the scene and the women, visually showing her power.  They are wearing clothes and sitting on furniture from a time period when African Americans had little to no rights.  However here Beyoncé is, one of the most successful African American women in the world, sitting in these old fashioned clothes that at the time period she would have never been able to wear.  This shows her hard work to get where she has gotten, she is doing what she wants and wearing what she wants because she has the confidence in herself to.  She is powerful in this scene while singing the words, “sometimes I go off, I go hard, get what’s mine, I’m a star,” showing how hard she has worked to get to where she is today.  She grew up in the South raised in a black family and is well aware that things are not given to people.  She knows it takes hard work and she goes hard to get what she has.  Her facial expressions remain serious in this scene and extremely confident.  The camera does a close up and Beyoncé is looking directly into the camera without looking away once.  She is tilting her chin up slightly and is sitting up very straight, showing how confident she is in her body and life.  She knows she has worked hard for the power she has and it shows through her body language.  She then goes on to repeat, “I slay!” once again letting everyone know how powerful she is.  This whole scene oozes with power Beyoncé is an African American woman in what most people would consider a white setting and she is so confident.

A repeated scene throughout the video is the scene of Beyoncé with many other women in the parking lot with clothes from the 70s on.  From the moment the viewers sees this scene there is a sense of power.  The first thing the viewer sees is a close up of Beyoncé looking directly into the lens saying, “I slay,” once again with strong confidence written on her face.  Right after that the camera switches to a bird’s eye view of a large group of women dancing to the repeated words, “I slay.”  This is powerful.  They are all standing together and dancing in synchronization to strong words showing how they feel.  The dance moves are very bold, the women are stomping and moving roughly but in a confident way.  During the entire scene Beyoncé is in the middle of the women; they are following what she is doing and surround her showing her powerfulness while leading this large group of women.  At one point in this scene the women are formed in an open circle around Beyoncé.  In this moment Beyoncé says the words, “Slay trick or you get eliminated!”  This meaning is that, if you don’t live your life with confidence and own it then you won’t make it in the world.  She expresses the importance of hard work to get the power you want and being proud and owning your power.

This music video offers many different visual effects and elements that relate to different messages.  There are many different themes and arguments in this video and many relate to each other.  The most prominent message in this video is confidence in power.  There are multiple scenes relating to power and many lyrics expressing power and owning that power.  