Video Analysis 1

 














Beyonce - Broken Hearted Girl

You're everything I thought you never were
And nothing like I thought you could have been
But still you live inside of me,
So tell me how is that?

You're the only one I wish I could forget
The only one I love to not forgive
And though you break my heart,
You're the only one

And though there are times when I hate you
'Cause I can't erase
The times that you hurt me and put tears on my face
And even now, while I hate you,
It pains me to say
I know I'll be there at the end of the day

I don't wanna be without you, babe
I don't want a broken heart
Don't wanna take a breath without you, babe
I don't wanna play that part
I know that I love you, but let me just say
I don't wanna love you in no kind of way, no no
I don't want a broken heart
I don't wanna play the broken-hearted girl
No, no, no broken-hearted girl
I'm no broken-hearted girl

There's something that I feel I need to say
But up til' now I've always been afraid
That you would never come around
And still I wanna put this out

You say you've got the most respect for me
But, sometimes I feel you're not deserving of me
And still, you're in my heart
But you're the only one

And yes, there are times when I hate you,
But I don't complain
'Cause I've been afraid that you would walk away
Oh, but now I don't hate you
I'm happy to say
That I will be there at the end of the day

I don't wanna be without you, babe
I don't want a broken heart
Don't wanna take a breath without you, babe
I don't wanna play that part
I know that I love you, but let me just say
I don't wanna love you in no kind of way, no no
I don't want a broken heart
I don't wanna play the broken-hearted girl
No, no, no broken-hearted girl

Now I'm at a place I thought I'd never be, ooh
I'm living in a world that's all about you and me, yeah
Ain't gotta be afraid, my broken heart is free
To spread my wings and fly away, away with you..., yeah, yeah, yeah

I don't wanna be without my baby
I don't want a broken heart
Don't wanna take a breath without my baby
I don't wanna play that part
I know that I love you, but let me just say
I don't wanna love you in no kind of way, no no
I don't want a broken heart
I don't wanna play the broken-hearted girl
No, no, no broken-hearted girl
Broken-hearted girl
No, no, no broken-hearted girl
No broken-hearted girl
_______________________________________________________________________

Broken Hearted Girl by Beyonce is a music video based on the development of Beyonce as a character overcoming a break up. The music video begins in black and white showing an ariel shot of a car driving into a contrasting white lined parking bay. The lines stand out apose to the back ground and car, acting as bars in relation to Beyonce feeling trapped in the love she has just left. The image cuts to Beyonce inside the car reinforcing that she is the one who is trapped. Her make up is dramatic but ruined as mascara under her eyes shows she has been crying relating to her current emotion and state of mind.

The video next goes on to show dark silouettes on a contrasting bright beach, the edit remains black and white and this indicates that what the audience are being shown is a memory of the relationship Beyonce shared with he ex boyfriend. The bright, almost white, beach shows the happiness and hope she had and still has for the relationship to work again and through the use of lyrics "You're the only one I wish I could forget" it shows she is still stuck loving him and cant imagine being with anyone else even though she knows she has too. Again this reinforces the white lines from the start as a sense of her being trapped by her emotions. On the other hand the silouttes of the couple are almost all black relating to the death of the relationship and the contrast in their feelings from when they were together to how they are now.

Lots of cuts of Beyonces face inside the dark car seperate the beach scenes throughout which not only show that she is reminicing on the times she spent on the beach with her ex but also it makes the audience feel sorry for her because it shows the happy scenes the pair shared together on the beach but a crying Beyonce in the car, reinforcing the happiness is no more.

In contrast to this the mise en scene of the male character shows him wearing a white costume which could indicate that he is actually the one that we should feel sorry for as white connotes innocense. Maybe Beyonce is the one that ended the relationship but now she regrets it and wants him back and that is why her silouette is constantly black in the shots. Evidence for this point could be confirmed in the line "And though there are times when I hate you", she might of hated him at one point and broken up the relationship but now her hate has gone and she regrets it, she's broken hearted because hes accepted it and moved on but shes stuck regretting everything. A fade, a convention i have noticed appears a lot in videos of my chosen genre, goes on to show Beyonce on the beach.

In relation to the song lyrics its shows her slowly moving on and now instead of her watching from the car of where they use to go she is now walking it alone. Shots cut back to the couple on the beach but the edit is more faded showing she is fighting it and getter stonger about the situation as it fades away. The cuts on Beyonce get faster and faster as indication to her fighting the love and her feelings to want to fight begin to get stronger. There is a medium shot focusing on her smiling when her lyrics say "I know that I love you" He still makes her happy although she is weak and sad. This shot lasts for 9 seconds, one of the longest shots in the video. It shows Beyonce showing facial emotions that express happiness to sadness, this relates to her trying to fight her love for him by accidentally remembering their time together and then realising thats no longer the case but she keeps on going round in circles. A darker shot is then introduced of her and her ex laid together, the reason it is darker than the rest of the video is because its her memory and not real time. The shots like this don't last long, informing the audience that her mind keeps remembering all of the times together and as soon as she remembers one thing she remembers another and keeps flicking through them all.

A shot is continuously repeated through the video but getting closer and closer to Beyonce. She is walking to the sea which shows layers of various colours which I previously discussed represents the different emotions she is going through in relation to the different shade of colours. Black being the pain, the grey being the confusion and the white being the happiness that she gets closer and closer too in each shot, showing her development of seperating herself away from her ex. As the video goes on it focuses on longer shots of Beyonce on the beach and this time they're in colour. The colour expresses how she has reached happiness even though she is still singing about some love she has for him it shows she has now reached the stage where she can say she isn't trapped in his love and has regained freedom from her feelings towards him. She still looks back on the times they shared and this is shown with shots like before of them both but this time in colour. As well as this there are some more shots of her in black and white which shows although she is over him there is times she still thinks of their time together because he did have a big impact of her life. She looks at these memories positively now and uses them more as lessons, singing about how her heart is now free, reinforcing her overcoming the relationship shown through the colour.

She recreates a red rose where the petals are flying around her indicating her heart is no longer broken as she has been able to rebuild it over time. A mirror image edit is shown of Beyonce turning around with her whole rose, making the video appear more joyful indicating her recovery. The video finalises with shots previously seen but faster, lots more colour and all round more positive and energetic. It finally goes back to showing Beyonce in the car again but this time she is smiling and showing happiness about her relationship she has just left. The video has shown her progression and although they're still separated and she has still been a broken hearted girl, which is stated in the last line of the lyrics, she can look at it all in a different light and be happy.

Cinematography -
Throughout the video there are lots of alternate shots from close up to longshot, to mid shot to extreme close up. This helps to express the emotion shown through Beyonces body actions and facial features. It makes the audience aware of how she is feeling and also indicates how the audience show be feeling too. Lots of rotations are also used to not only give the auidence a better view of beyonce and the locations but to express her confusion of the passing time and again create emotion within the viewer.

Editing - Lots of edits such as the clear black and white filter has been used to indicate history within the video. Beyonce is singing about the past and how she is now moving on, the black and white indicates an older era as that is how the media was first seen through black and white colour tv and has sterotypically stuck as an old factor. As well as this connotation it also helps to show the audience Beyonces emotion of being in a dull and sad place trying to move on from her ex, that is replaced with colour shots when she regains strength. Fades, Overlays and multiple images are also used to express her confusion of what she really wants as well as building excitement for the viewer and continuinty of the piece.These effects act as transitions in relation to the piece and with the song being slow fast cuts simply wouldnt work, so this relates to the conventions of music video styles.

Mise En Scene - Beyonce is seen as a style icon and although she is singing about a low point in her life she still manages to look good in a dress and her hair nicely styled. This is done so the audience still identify her as the stylish 'Queen B' that she is known to be but to also help with her repretation through advertising. Beyonces icon is to look good and to be continuously idolised by every woman on the planet. If she was seen lookimg a mess in her music video she would be going against her self created sterotype and this could work against her in terms of her popularity and success. At the end of the video were Beyonce is recreating a red flower this connotes the love they share tearing apart and then the strength she regains. It also indicates her broken heart linking to the song lyrics and song title, she remakes the flower just like she rebuilds her heart as no one else can do it for her. this shows the strength and possitivity she now has and encodes the audience, pacifically woman that this is the determination they should have when going through a breakup.

Sound - The sound in the video in non diegetic as it has been added after the shots have been taken to make sure there is no interference with other sounds on location. The sound is made up of music and lyrics put together by the artist and influences the timings for shot changes and the transitions used to change inbetween each shot. The speed of the music becomes faster then slower throughout the song and this changes the length of the shots and how quick they change.