Beyonce: 'Sweet Dreams'

Beyonce’s video opens with a wide range of camera shots and angles, showing the star from either side, above, extremely close-up and further away. These fast paced, closer shots show the star dreaming and are quite sensual and sexy, reinforcing the R ‘n’ B genre. Her costume also portrays a sexy image and is very revealing, yet at the same time white connoting innocence and peace; an image of a dove further representing this. The song is called sweet dreams and within the first 10 seconds this is very obvious and enables the audience to relate to the song. Editing is used in a clever way to make the star seem disaffected from reality as fast jump cuts are used. Beyonce is in a dream world and the following parts of the video showcase this very fact. As soon as the beat kicks in the portrayal of Beyonce changes and she is seen dancing in a wild and sexy manner in the desert. Her outfit is even more revealing and black connotes mystery, power and wealth. Beyonce is then shot in medium range dancing with the focus being on her and her status within the video. Two back-up dancers for the remainder of the video later join her but Beyonce is always the main focus and is shot at the forefront of the frame. Beyonce has a number of outfit changes, all of which are provocative and high fashion. This video focuses upon the dancing prowess of the star, as this is something Beyonce is known for and is seen throughout the R ‘n’ B genre. The use of editing shows Beyonce in the frame with numerous angled shots of her, again showing how disaffected from reality and how important she is. The background for the majority is plain white, which enables Beyonce to stand out and conforms to R ‘n’ B being all about image.