Beyonce:Sweet Dreams

Beyonce has created an alter ego whom she calls ‘Sasha Fierce’ this is someone who takes over when she is on stage to protect who she really is. In her recent album ‘I am Sasha Fierce’ there are two disks, I AM…, provides Beyoncé with a musical showcase for a group of intimate heartfelt ballads, it is about who she is underneath all the make-up and drama. While the SASHA FIERCE disc gives voice to a more fun, sensual, aggressive, outspoken and glamorous side to Beyoncé's up-tempo, dance-oriented persona.

The singer wanted to break out of her traditional R&B genre and explore new things, she wants people to hear songs with stronger song lyrics and in singing these songs she feels the emotion in the story is sold so much better, this can be seen in the song ‘Sweet Dreams’’, which I have chosen to analyse. According to Beyoncé, "SASHA FIERCE is kind of the opposite, she's more the other side because sometimes you don't want to think, sometimes you just want to feel good. She's the party girl, she's bootylicious. She is but I'm not. She's my alter ego. I'm finally revealing who I am."

I have chosen to analyse the video to ‘Sweet Dreams’, as this is the song I have chosen to create a music video to. I therefore thought it would valuable to do an in-depth analysis so I can get a better understanding of the meaning behind the song, adapt ideas and also to enable for me to take on a different approach to the original video.

People often misinterpret the real meaning to Beyonce’s songs are simply viewed by most people as being “sexy” or “fashion” or just about love and relationships. But there is a much deeper meaning in her songs and I think this is reflected in her video to ‘Sweet Dreams’. For the reason that, within the video and lyrics lies hidden symbolism and references to dark themes such as possession and mind control. The lyrics of the song and the imagery of the video have a supernatural and unearthly quality, where Beyonce professes her love to someone or something she calls a “sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare”. The song reflects upon the new Beyonce she has created, her darker alter-ego ‘Sasha Fierce’. When this other side of her comes out she is no longer in control but rather being taken over by someone else. But ultimately this is not a real person. So this state of mind control can be a sweet dream, which is a blissful state where the boundaries between reality and fiction are blurred or it can be a nightmare that she is no longer in control of her own body and allows herself to do things that ordinarily she would not be comfortable with.

The film noir sets up a very distinctive style to the video. The careful use of lighting has been depicted to convey a particular atmosphere and mood for the song. There is a contrast between light and dark made evident throughout the video. This could be interpreted as the representation of the binary opposition, good and evil.

The video begins with a long shot which shows Beyonce lying on a bed in a dark room, with black pillows and we can hear the diegetic sound of her heart beating. Note she displays contrasting colours, on the top she wears white and the bottom half is covered by a black sheet. This could represent the good side of her and her darker alter ego. Within the mise-en-scene and sound a tense atmosphere has immediately been created. A lullaby tune begins to play which is different to one you might expect to hear, it adapts an eerie and unwelcoming tone, this signifies danger. As the video follows the conventional shot syntax we get a close-up of her face to establish character for the audience and to illustrate emotion, which then switches to an extreme close-up of her eyes to illustrate that she is asleep and begins twitching which indicates she may be dreaming. The camera begins zooming in and out in sequence with her as she toss and turns to the beat. Although zooming is unusual because of the possible disorientated effects, however it has been purposely chosen to represent disorientation within her sleep. As the lullaby grows louder it depicts a menacing tone but it also sounds like a triumphant tune, this may represent the new creation of ‘Sasha Fierce’

A long shot displays her being risen from her bed, guided by a dove. This could have several connotations depending on how deep you read into it. A dove is associated as a symbol of peace and love and religious connotations can also be made. Given the context within the scene we create darker connotations such as a holy sacrifice usually a dove would be symbolised as peace and good nature, but it has a holy connotations like a sacrifice maybe? The dove could be the beautiful element to the nightmare that is taking over her body. An extreme close-up focuses upon her eyes as they open wide and we hear a piercing scream. This gives closure to the scene whilst conveying a sense of danger to the audience.

The opening sequence before the song is important to establish narrative, mood and atmosphere. It has given the song a more serious set up, which in-turn may lead to the audience reading into her the meaning behind her lyrics through visuals in her video, instead of just viewing the dance element within the video. The film noir sets up a dream style to the video. The lighting used is unearthly and ominous and is always in contrast with a darker side; maybe to represent the dream and nightmare element. An extreme long shot locates Beyonce in an alternate world. It is represented as being far away from reality through cinematography such as tracking away from her, detaching her from the real world and through the mise-en-scene. For example a white horse is seen running in the background this represents that she is in a dream, faded editing is often used where Beyonce will be replaced by an emerging second image of her, this type of editing is usually used to signify the beginning or end of a dream, and this is an iconic element to the song. The narrative is non linear, as it does not flow in any type of chronological order, this is conventional of music videos as their main focus is not on narrative but on the artist and song itself.

It is common in music videos for there to be backup dancers. The backup dancers in this video appear similar to Beyonce; the duality theme has begun to represent her alter egos. The backups never overpower the main singer; they appear in order of height establishing her as the most powerful, this is represented through costume, her hair is big and unruly while theirs is up tight and scraped back and Beyonce is wearing knee high boots her posture is more outspoken showing confidence and authority. They can also be used to portray the singer’s emotions or thoughts, for example in one scene they appear literally broken in half as if illustrating her state of mind.

The editing of this particular music video uses match on action through out, I believe this is used to create a realistic music video and a video that is easy to view, without confusion for the audience as the concept behind the video is already very intense. The cuts are also so well integrated to the music video, and at times match with the beat of the music and lyrics that the audience are almost unable to notice the cuts within the video itself. Apart from a few obtrusive straight cuts which are used for dramatic effect such as when she appears in a new location or as a new character. Transition editing is also apparent, this type of editing is used to signify the beginning or end of dream sequences and is therefore suited in relation to the song.


In total Beyonce changes her appearance five times. Outfit changes are important in music videos to adapt to different locations, moods or character. As a female artist she creates added voyeuristic pleasure from adding sex appeal as most of her outfits are not provocative or offensive, but sexy and revealing. However the outfits are not what you would see one wearing on a daily basis but are iconic to the style of her video.
Her outfits are all black up until she changes into a silver, shiny dress which portrays her as feminine and glamorous. At this point her lyrics make reference to prayers which reflects upon God. It is important that dark themes and negative connotations are not linked with this as it could offend her audience. Her innocence is portrayed through the use of her arms down by her side with her hands sticking out rather child like might present themselves. Lyrical representation is used in her hand gestures as she forms a prayer shape.

In order to portray to the audience emotion and atmosphere, there are scenes whereby she appears in a mirrored room reflecting multiple Beyonce’s. This connotes a sense of confusion and being lost or caught up in something, trapped even. Her frustration is made apparent when she smashes the mirror into a million pieces creating a montage and fragmented scene. The pace is slow and the glass glistens in the light, this continues with the unearthly atmosphere, the pleasure element is suggested in the movement of the glass. It appears to be glistening in a magical sense suggesting it is not threatening like glass usually would be it is not thundering down but floating in the air, it has been given a ‘beautiful element’.

Out of the glass her robotic alter, Sasha Fierce is born. We pick this up through costume and body language. She appears wearing a robot suit boasting tin/metal like qualities and appears like a copper colour. This is important so the audience can understand the change. Her dancing changes from her usual ‘body poppin’ routine to a robotic dance style to compliment the outfit. I believe she has chosen to portray her self as a robot to represent that when Sasha Fierce takes over from the real Beyonce she is in a state of mind control and operates like a robot would.
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The final image ends with the camera panning down Beyonce’s body, and ending with her legs. This used to show the audience the new found confidence within herself and portrays her new controller by bringing closure to the video and in turn ending the dream by saying ‘Turn the lights out’, and the screen goes black.