
Visual graphics have an extreme variety of elements that all contribute to a sola theme or meaning. Many social issues, including gender and racial inequality, are creating tension nationwide, and as a response, people have expressed their views on these problems with more visuals such as paintings and music videos. Celebrities and artists have learned the great impact that some elements included in their work has on the social messages they are trying to get across to their viewers. Beyonce and an local artist in Dublin, Ireland included certain elements like color schemes, role reversal, and specific perception shots that symbolize their views and to raise awareness on gender and racial inequality. 

In one of her recently released music videos called “Formation”, Beyoncé Knowles use many techniques including role reversal throughout the mini-film. During multiple parts of the video, she is shown in 1800’s southern royalty clothing while sitting in a lavish mansion with her wealthy friends. This type of role reversal is significant because back during this time period, African Americans were still enslaved and women as a whole were known as a minority. Therefore, by having this role reversal, Beyoncé is making a statement that we’ve moved passed these times as a society and it is about time we recognize everyone as equal. Another type of role reversal used in this video was the scene towards the end with the little boy dancing in front of a line of armed police officers. After the little boy is done dancing, the cops raise their hands similar to the nationwide symbol involved with the Black Lives Matter movement, “hands up, don’t shoot”. This type of role reversal shows how Beyoncé feels about his matter that officers need to understand it is unacceptable to shoot an innocent citizen who is unarmed and non-threatening with their “hands up”. 

Another important technique used by celebrities and artists is specific color scheme. A picture that stood out to me when it came to effective photographical techniques was a picture of a mural posted on the side of a building in Dublin showing two men caressing each other. The mural, painted by a famous local artist, was posted in light of the ongoing gay rights movement. By using a black and white color scheme in this mural, it goes to show that love goes beyond any skin color or physical characteristics, but is an emotional connection that can be shared between anyone. Also included in the Beyonce video is an important use of color scheme when she and other dancers were dancing in the house dressed in all red clothing. Red is a color associated most of the time with passion and anger. By dressing in all red Beyonce shows her true feelings through the color scheme that racial inequality is an extreme problem that she feels has been going on from generation to generation, which angers her. 

In addition to color scheme, Beyoncé uses various perception shots during the video. One scene with a specific perception shot was the full shot used to film Beyoncé on top of a sinking cop car. Using a full shot in this scene shows the whole setting of a cop car sinking during the flooding of Louisiana. This is extremely symbolic because the cop car in this case represents the lowering respect and image the citizens have of cops in today’s society, slowly sinking instead of rising in authority. Another specific scene that uses an important perception shot in the part in the video is when her and her dancers were dancing in the parking lot of the grocery store. Beyonce uses a bird’s-eye-view perception to show the exact formation of the choreography, and multiple times the dancers were aligned in an “X” during the dance. This is significant because this formation symbolizes the former equal rights activist, Malcolm X, who was extremely passionate about putting an end to racial segregation during the 1960’s. Using this shot, Beyonce shows her passionate opinion about also wanted to bring a stop to racism happening today. In addition Beyonce’s use of photographical shots, the person who took the photo of the Irish mural also took into account the arrangement of the perception of the photo. When this photo was taken, many people were walking the streets around it and were included in the photo. This eye-level angle goes to show this mural should be seen by any person, and having this painted on a building where so many people are passing shows how passionate the artist was when choosing the size and location of this art.

Overall, specific photographic elements included in visuals seen in everyday life are extremely effective when trying to send messages about their true opinion when it comes to social problems such as racial and gender inequality. Whether it is using certain color schemes, filmic shots, or role reversal, elements such as these are significant in growing up in a world where artists try to show their true opinion in social movements. 