Beyonce’s formation video was extremely popular because of the message that she was trying to send through visual motifs during the whole video. This is the main reason why it is so important to understand what she is trying to say and why she is saying it. Several colors are repetitive in the video, which means they have a special meaning; Beyonce is trying to say something through these colors. Also, there are some body positions combined with camera angles that makes the viewers see the video the way Beyonce wants them to see it in order to get the right message. Using all of these visual factors, Beyonce is trying to send a message of injustice towards her race, especially regarding police brutality, and towards women regarding their rights. 

At the beginning of the Formation video, Beyonce is sitting on top of a police car wearing a red dress. In this scene there is red, not only on Beyonce’s dress, but in the lights of the police car. As a primary color, red is a very bright color. Red means power in this scene. Beyonce sitting on top of the police car means she is sitting on top of the authority; she is defying authority.  The car is also half sunk in a flooded area, which means that when a disaster comes everyone suffers the same, even the authority. There is no black or white and there is no power or authority. This scene is presented mostly as a long shot because she wants us viewers to see the whole thing in order to interpret it the right way. Then, it becomes a close-up trying to emphasize that in real life, authorities are not in the picture because they are not the ones affected.  

The second scene, min 1:25 aprox., shows Beyonce and her dancers in an empty pool, dancing in formation.  Again, red is the dominant color: if not in abundance, it is well-visible in the white swimsuits that they are wearing. The order in their formation translates into organization and red is the power of women.  Red shows the power of women in organizing themselves and society. The white in their swimsuits represents peace. Beyonce is trying to make a connection to women’s rights too, since there are only females in the pool in this scene. Beyonce is trying to tell us that women want change which requires power, and they do not want war, they want the process to happen in order and peace. That is why they dance instead of fight, and wear white instead of any other color.

Beyonce often combines her surroundings and colors to make us understand things. In another scene, min 1:00, Beyonce is sitting in a room that seems to be in a very fancy house judging by the size, the furniture, and the amount of books surrounding her and the rest of the women there. In the past the only people that could live in those houses were white people, this would mean that Beyonce would not have the opportunity to be there because she is not white. She is trying to show us how unfair things were for her race, in the past. Beyonce is wearing a very fancy white dress with a hat, which also used to be worn be white people only. Beyonce’s message in this scene is that things have changed, for good. Black people, like her, can live in these houses now too. The white in her dress represents classiness and peace, she did not get her hands dirty or fight anyone in order to live in a house like this, she earned it all herself. In a bigger picture, this means that all the things that black leaders fought for in the past were working to achieve equal rights for people in the future.

Min 4:22. Again, body positions and camera angles are key. This scene shows a little African-American kid wearing a black hoodie and a lot of policemen wearing black as well. What is more important than this is that all the people in the scene are putting their hands up. This scene can be summarized in one sentence ‘hands up, don’t shoot’. In the past months many African-American individuals have been in this position; facing a cop, hoping that they will not shoot, and unfortunately in many cases the cop ended up shooting. This is what Beyonce is trying to make us think about. How unfair the situation is for the African-American person. She shows us the whole picture in a long-shot; makes us see how vulnerable the person is against the police and how everyone can see it. Then it becomes a close-up where the only thing that is shown is that big number of policemen in the scene, also referring to how vulnerable and innocent the kid is. 

During the whole video, Beyonce mainly dances along with women. All her dancers are women. At moments they dance slower, then they do stronger movements. Women sit with Beyonce in the big house and hold their hand fans like they own the place. In min 2:15 a woman is driving a truck, which used to be something that only men did. Beyonce is sending the message that women are able to do everything men do. Women should be treated the same way men do; they should be offered the same jobs, and should be paid the same amount of money.

At the end of the video, Beyonce sinks with the police car and the red dress. This scene sums up the whole video. Beyonce, who is an African-American woman wearing red, is sitting on top of a police car that is sinking. This scene presents every aspect Beyonce tries to send us a message on; she represents women and African-Americans, the policy car represents the authority, the red dress represents the power to defy authority and all of this sinking represents how unfair the situation is. She is lying on top of the car, which means that she is tired of fighting for equality and not getting it. Beyonce makes a whole video on the situation we live in today to make consciousness on how unfair it is for some people and warn us of the consequences if these issues are not fixed soon. We will all sink. 