
When watching a music video, we never take the time to break it down and realize its purpose. In fact, majority of the time we must re-watch the video just to notice an important scene. Within Beyoncé’s “Formation” video there are several scenes referencing to major news headlines we all see daily. Throughout the video Beyoncé visually and lyrically references the Michael Brown case. Beyoncé is a powerful black woman today and to see her take a stand on the racial issues of America was a bold move. The one motif that stood out the most to me was each scene with Beyoncé on top of the New Orleans police car. In the first scene and throughout the video we see Beyoncé standing on the cop car sinking from a flood and later we see Beyoncé on the same cop car just in a different position and the surrounding has changed slightly. This will be a key scene that will occur several times throughout the video demonstrating her power and remorse to those affected by current racial issues. 

In the first scene, we see Beyoncé standing on the cop car as its slowly sinking from a terrible flood. Right away we can see by her stance while standing that the theme is Beyoncé feeling powerful and that she isn’t scared from the issues of racism with the law enforcements. The foreground of this first scene shows the police car with water up to the tires and Beyoncé is crouching on top of the car in a bright red dress. The color of her red dress stands out against all the dull colors around her. The red dress on top of the cop car symbolizes blood on the cop’s hands. The fact that she is crouching seems more relaxed than before when she was standing. A longshot is used in the first scene showing Beyoncé’s full body. This type of view makes the scene deeper by focusing on the flood and the cop car sinking. Ignoring the violence going on with racism she still supports her cultural traditions and the black lives matter movement. 

The background of the first scene is much deeper when it shows the homes of families now ruined from hurricane Katrina. A lot of families lost loved ones and everything they owned over the course of just a few hours. Beyoncé uses the hurricane aftermath as the background setting for multiple scenes to symbolize other types of tragedy.  The homes of countless families being destroyed references to how they would be after the death of a child. This destruction was felt by the family of Michael Brown. Beyoncé using these deeper instances allows her to side with the media in portraying events like these to the public in ways that will upset them and bring them together with the police for a change. The media is an easy way to connect the world on current racial issues and fight against the prejudice. 

Later in the video we see the same motif just in a different scene. We still see Beyoncé in the foreground but this time she’s sitting on the roof of the car with her feet on the windows and the car hasn’t sunk any deeper. By her sitting on the car it changes the mood of the scene to more informing almost as if she’s addressing a crowd standing in front of her. The mid-ground and background remain the same but the tone seems to be more serious. A longshot is still used allowing us to focus on the flooding and countless lives that were affected from the flood just like the family of Michael Brown after his innocent death. The car starts to be consumed by the water and is up to the windows but this time Beyoncé is a little more relaxed on top of the car in a laying position. And the view begins to change from a longshot to a medium shot with more emphasis on Beyoncé and takes away our attention from the surroundings. 

By the second scene we hear lyrics of “Formation” start to reference black traditions and characteristics. When Beyoncé says “I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros.” Baby hairs and afros are a popular culture in the black community. “I like my negro nose with Jackson five nostrils.” Beyoncé is embracing the fact that she has a big nose. By Beyoncé including these two lines shows that she acknowledges her black culture and flaunts it. This helps show all other African Americans to embrace what god has gave them. “Earned all this money but they never take the country out me, I got hot sauce in my bag.” She also lets people know that no matter how much money she has it won’t change her traditions in her life. She still carries around a bottle of hot sauce in her purse when she goes out since it is commonly associated with creole. 

As we get to the end of the video Beyoncé is standing on the car again with it almost fully underwater and she says “I might be a black bill gates in the making” asserting her wealth and power and doesn’t let the law and media stop her. Yet again her stance while standing to assert her power. The last scene we see is Beyoncé laying on the cop car as it sinks under the water she’s telling her “ladies to get in formation” as they stand up together. Laying down on the car looks as if Beyoncé is giving up hope for a change. Beyoncé’s main purpose in this video is to take both sides of the media, police and civilians, and bring them together and show that they all relate together and must fight together not against each other. The last scene of the car sinking with Beyoncé on top is a great scene to close with because its showing that if we continue at the rate that we are with racial issues then things could go “under water” quickly.  

In conclusion, a motif is used to get across a statement without directly saying it. When a popular idol or icon stands up against a movement using a motif, the public is more likely to side with that person. With her being such a well-known person it makes her audience larger. Beyoncé’s video brought together both her audience and those affected by the Ferguson shooting that occurred back in 2014. Millions of Americans were troubled and afraid on that tragic day in Ferguson, Missouri. This caused protestors and riots to begin over the course of a few years. With all of the news stories and media coverage it was only time until one of today’s mainstream artist took action on the situation. Therefore, Beyoncé’s main purpose in this video is to try and side with the media, police and civilians, and bring them together to show that they all share the same morals in life. Her positive actions have influenced many people worldwide to stand up against all of the prejudice and come together to show that law enforcements and civilians, black and white, can come together and all put an end to the racial segregation that is occurring. Who’s a better person to do so than Beyoncé, someone that everyone likes and majority look up to.