Nobody has watched more Beyonce videos than I have. You’d be lying. I have watched the music videos, live performances, interviews, behind the scenes and movies repeatedly. There was a time I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Now that I have a PHD in Beyonce videos, it’s only right that I make this obsession educational for everybody else.
- Be The Main Focus Even In A Group
This here is some camera voodoo. Have you ever noticed that Beyonce could be in a video with tonnes of girls or down to just two girls and you can hardly recall their faces? They are there but they are not there. When you watch Run the World (Girls) the Mozambican dancers are there but they are beheaded in the shot. You’ll hardly notice because you are mesmerised by the fancy footwork. Learn to dominate your space. Take command of the room when you enter it. Be memorable, alluring, charismatic and all this starts with solid self confidence. People will see you the way you see you. Carry yourself like a goddess and everybody else will fade into the back ground.
- You Don’t Need PDA To Prove You Love Your Man
I should have written this before Lemonade and 4:44 but ah well. In the earlier videos, we’d hardly see any PDA between Beyonce and JAY Z. There was the phone booth scene in ’03 Bonny and Clyde but that doesn’t count. They hardly touch each other and be lovey dovey. As a branding student, I see that this could have ruined Hov’s street cred. When I watched ‘Déjà vu’ I started questioning if they were even together. She dances around him like a pesky fly and when he acknowledges her, he taps her butt while he calls her his ‘oh.’ The love songs had other men e.g Halo, Broken-Hearted girl, etc. The Carters have managed to arouse our interest and monitise their marriage in the process. Because they gave us so little, we wanted it more than ever.
- Every Side Should Be Your Best Side
Did you know that Mariah Carey can only be shot from one side because her ex husband told her that the other side was ugly? Yes, watch any 3 music videos by MiMi and you will notice that she is only ever shot from one side. (I need a life.) Back to the topic at hand, Beyonce has been shot from every angle imaginable and she looks great. Girls that take a lot of selfies are very aware of the angles that work for them and which side is their best side but what happens when you get photographed by someone else and you have no say over which angle the image is captured from? YouTube has a million tips and tricks to help you cover up your insecurities and make every side your best side.
- Don’t Overshadow When Featuring
Sometimes I watch a music video and I cannot tell who’s song it is. I know somebody is being featured but because power struggles haven’t been balanced, it gets a little confusing. Beyonce is a dominering artist. She is hard to upstage (except in her movies) and she is hard to ignore. She has found the balance between remaining Beyonce without upstaging the owner of the song. Some schools of thought assumed that she is lazy to give her all on other people’s videos but would you want another girl to wear white at your wedding? Yes she turns it down a notch but her brand needs her to deliver because Beyonce is Beyonce. If you are the Beyonce of the crew, take note that not everything is about you. Let people have their moment without you hogging their limelight. Don’t out dress your host, don’t cause a scene to get attention, don’t make every conversation about yourself.
I hope this post has inspired you to see beyond that which meets the eye.
What are some of the observations that you have made from watching Beyonce videos?
