A2 Media Studies: Advanced Portfolio

The music video for ‘If I were a boy’ filmed in New York in 2009 is taken from Beyoncé’s album ‘I am... Sasha Fierce’. The video is created in black and white and the narrative follows an elliptical/enigmatic structure with themes of gender representation and role reversal. The videos storyline depicts a failing relationship between a heterosexual couple and for the first half of the video shows their roles in the relationship swapped which creates confusion for the audience. The female character is played by Beyoncé, at the beginning of the video she portrayed as being confident and ungrateful of her partner when she skips breakfast made by her husband, flirts with a colleague and subsequently gets caught dancing with him at a party. Her husband is represented as loyal and loving when he buys his wife presents and refuses to flirt with an attractive girl from work. When the wife is caught cheating the non-diegetic sound stops and dialogue is used, as this happen the couples roles are reversed to how they should be and we realise that it was in fact the husband who was flirting with his colleague and his wife who was being faithful. The audience originally find the idea of the female character cheating quite abnormal however when they realise it’s the husband it becomes the all too familiar stereotypical image of a loyal wife and ungrateful husband who’s taken her for granted. This then causes the consumer to consider how their opinions change and how it has become more acceptable for men to cheat in a relationship. This role reversal idea was used by Beyoncé to reinforce

her idea of independent women and creates the idea that she feels women are vulnerable in relationships.

In terms of Binary opposites, the video has been filmed in black and white creating the idea of good vs evil. The colour black usually gives negative connotations of death and mystery of the unknown whereas white has connotations of goodness, purity and innocence. This idea can be reflected in the characters views towards their relationship; the husband is behaving in a way that is considered wrong whereas his wife is being loyal to him. Strauss theory of Binary Opposition can also be seen in the attitudes they have towards other colleagues and also their difference in job, the wife has a stereotypical slightly dull office job whereas her husband has an exciting fast-paced job as a police officer, this shows that their lives away from each other couldn’t be more different. Iconography depicting a failing relationship is used in the music video when the husband tries to ring his wife and we see her look at her phone and ignore it while she is in a bar with colleagues. This scenario seems slightly abnormal for a woman to be doing this however when the roles are reversed it becomes the

conventional image of a man ignoring his partners phone calls. Iconography has been used in the video to make it relatable for Beyoncé demographic of females aged 16-30 as they may have experienced a similar situation in their relationships. This idea of independent women that Beyoncé creates in this video and has done throughout her career will then empower her female audience.

In terms of mise-en-scene the video is set in several different conventional pop video locations, the first is in the couple’s urban style apartment, which is used to juxtapose the characters roles. This is done by similar shots being used of each character so that the audience are able to compare their roles, it also allows them to see how different genders are represented. Other settings such as a bar, an office and a party are seen ion the music video, these ordinary locations are used so that familiar to its audience and therefore will suggest that this is a common situation that they can relate to therefore making them feel more sympathy for the singer. It will also make them questions why it is viewed in the media for it to be more acceptable for men to behave unfaithful in relationships, which will in turn reinforce Beyoncé’s theme of independent women.

Close up shots are frequently used on the husband in the first half of the video and when the roles are reversed in the second half close ups are then used on the female character when we realise she is the one who has in fact been hurt. This shot is successful in enabling the consumer to see her pain therefore making the video more emotional and appear more intimate; subsequently this makes the audience feel empathy towards her. In the latter half of the video another setting is introduced and it is the first time we see Beyoncé use performance elements in the video.