Textual Analysis of Music Video

I am analysis the ‘If I were A Boy’ video by Beyoncé which was directed by the English music video and film director, Jake Nava. The song debuted at number two on the Uk Singles Chart, selling 64,554 downloads on November 15, 2008, showing true potential and as it spread worldwide everyone knew about this song and its video.This song is different to other Knowles’ songs as it is not traditional R&B but a pop introspective ballad and so fits into the genre of Pop. The music draws influences from folk rock through use of acoustic guitars, drums and strings. The video is generally about Knowles husband's situation actually becoming her experience, he is a police officer who takes his supportive wife for granted, and she takes on the role of a police officer and the video is played in reverse as she is first enamored by her colleague however after the reverse we see that it is actually the husband who does these things.

This video is also different because it was made in black and white which is effective because it shows that it isn’t that happens as a one off, but is something which always happens and has been happening all the time and that its universal. The lyrics may appear contradictory to the video as in the video we see a lot of the police force however in the song it doesn’t say anything about the police. However the video is giving an example of what the lyrics are talking about. For example the video shows her ignoring her phone and the lyrics say ‘I would turn off my phone, tell everyone its broken.’ I think this way of explaining the lyrics through visuals is very effective because if the video was different the viewers wouldn’t understand the exact message which was being portrayed. Also the idea of the men and women switching places to show the pain portrayed in the video was very effective it unfolded to the viewers the possibilities if it was the other way around.

The music and visuals are quite contradictory as the video is quite fast pace while the music is quite slow tempo and at points doesn’t go with the visuals. The video does change pace with the music, for example at 4:11 when everything is slowed down, the music goes back into the video with a slow pace and we see a shot of a male going down some stairs in slow motion. There are many close-ups of the artist which could show that the record company is trying to sell the artist. However the close-ups also show the emotion of what she is saying and therefore giving the viewer a deeper meaning to the story and to her words. This video relates to other videos by this artist because it has a clear story line, and has a moral for the viewers to take away with them. This video has change of image in a way because of the use of ballad to tell a story is different, as her usual style of music is in the R&B, also the use of black and white is a change of image as it is not something she usually does however it shows that she is prepared to leave a lasting moral in her viewers minds.

There is no sense that the artist is on sexual display however there are displays of affection which are used as a reverse psychology to make the viewer understand that the displays were wrong and misplaced. The music video was mainly performance based which was effective in making sure that the audience understood the visuals. The use of a narrative beginning and end was very effective because it showed that it is only a story and brought the video back to reality. This is very powerful and effective because it leaves a lasting message in the viewer’s mind that this happens all the time and that it’s not just a story but also a reality, which may have been the director’s aim.