Beyoncé- Me Myself and I

Forms and Conventions/InstitutionsGenre: R&B/SoulReleased in 2003

Director: Johan RenckReached #2 in the ‘Billboard US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs’ Chart

Label: Columbia RecordsMTV played this music video as the channel plays music videos that feature well-known mainstream artists (which Beyoncé is), which is where most consumers watch the video, as opposed to Internet websites such as YouTube, as this option of viewing a

video wasn’t as recognized/mainstream to the audience.

Hybrid of Performance, Concept and Narrative

Performance as she is singing (lip syncing) to the audience

Concept based as parts of the video are in reverse to show the audience that she would deal with previous situations with her new mind set of being an independent woman.

The Narrative is the fact that her boyfriend has cheated on her, therefore she feels as if she needs to be dependant on herself only.

Cinematography

Relationship between sound and imagesEditing

Mise-en-scene

Wide shot used a lot to display as much as possible. This links with the fact that this song is of the R&B/Soul genre, whereby songs of this genre tend to be about the artist revealing all their emotions.

Background curtains and artists clothing are black as the theme and emotions towards the situation in the song are negative, therefore the black colour scheme adheres with the tone of the song (narrative wise).

Artist is smoking a cigar which is stereotypically a masculine practice, and therefore ties in with the fact that she wants to be independent and break the division between gender roles and be independent.

Main editing technique used is parts of the video being played in reverse. This technique was used to show the audience how she would deal with the situations differently with her new mind set of being an independent person overall.

In parts of the video the artist is lip syncing the lyrics of the song.

In other parts of the video she displays what is said in the lyrics through acting. At one point she says ‘I’m smarter than that’, which is in reference to the artist trying to drown herself.

Taking the techniques used into consideration, I believe that some techniques adhere to the conventions of R&B/Soul music videos, e.g. it displays the artist singing to the camera, which is a convention seen in R&B/Soul music video as it suggests that she is presenting her emotions. However, I believe that the main editing technique used in this video (parts of the video being played in reverse) is not conventional with R&B/Soul music videos, but works well with the meaning of the song, and therefore this music video subverts with the conventions of a R&B/Soul music video to a certain extent, without going off on a completely different tangent, making it an unique R&B/Soul music video.

RepresentationsThe artist is represented as wanting to be independent as a result from being dependent in a relationship, whereby her partner cheated on her. The video shows a growth from being dependent to being independent.

Evidence through Mise-en-Scene

She is attempting to drown herself as she is vulnerable due to her dependency on her partner failing her as he cheated on her.

Artist is smoking a cigar which is stereotypically a masculine practice, and therefore ties in with the fact that she wants to be independent and break the division between gender roles, and be independent.

She is alone, wearing expensive and sophisticated clothes, which suggests that she is successful and wealthy without a male figure, which again ties in with her goal to be independent.

Evidence through Camera and Editing

This medium long shot allows the audience to see her posture, of which she is walking boldly, with her head held up high, which represents superiority, independence and elegance.

Using Panning allows the audience to see the artist sing about her emotions. This links with the dominant representation of women being emotional and displaying their emotions very obviously as opposed to men who tend to bottle hide their emotions.

Audiences

I believe that the target audience for this music video are women who have been cheated on, so invites them to empathise with Beyoncé. In this medium shot, Beyoncé is crying and contemplating drowning herself due to her partner cheating on her. When applying the Uses and Gratification theory to this, audiences tackling the similar problems would be able to identify with her through their personal relationships. A feminist interpretation of this video would be that women are vulnerable and unstable without a partner, which is suggested here with Beyoncé even contemplating death due to an unfaithful partner.

I also believe that as Beyoncé is looked upon as a positive role model in the media, the message of being independent and confident despite a partner cheating on you will attract these women and encourage them to overcome a similar situation by this approach. In this medium long shot, Beyoncé is walking upright which implies dominance and confidence, qualities that the audience targeted in this video would want after situation like this. When applying the Uses and Gratification theory to this, audiences may feel pleasured by watching a positive outcome from a negative situation and feel as if they can aspire to Beyoncé's approach and hopefully identify with her personally, eventually. A post feminist interpretation from this video would be that women can be strong and dominant with sex appeal. This is shown through her revealing her cleavage but still walking upright with her head held high.

Target Audience and Audience Theories