Codes and conventions of indie and rock music videos

Codes and conventions of indie and rock music videos

• 1.
  CODES AND CONVENTIONS OFAN INDIE/ ROCK MUSIC VIDEO
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  PERFORMANCE: • It isvery common to see an indie or rock music video have a live concert playing (usually being the band). This helps the audience to focus on just their music and lets them see the bands passion with what they love doing. • Most indie and rock music videos also contain a strong narrative which is carried out throughout the whole video. • An example of a music video showing dense passion is Fun’s video “We Are Young” (indie pop) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv6dMFF_yts Live performance- “We Are Young” music video
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  NARRATIVE • Narrative ismainly used in both indie and rock music videos to relate to the lyrics. This is usually done in a way to make sense for the audience so it is easy to follow. However, sometimes music videos are confusing and don’t tell the story until the very end. • Narrative videos keeps an audience attention more as it is more interesting in contrast to a basic performance. Even people who are not a fan of the music itself may be drawn to the narrative. • It is popular with all genres of music as it leaves the audience to think and use their imagination. • An example of a music video which conveys a narrative while linking into the lyrics is Arctic Monkeys song called “Snap Out Of It” (indie rock) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8tLS_NOWLs Arctic Monkeys- Snap out of it screenshot
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  MISE-EN-SCENE AND SETTING Mise-en-scene •Mise-en-scene plays a massive role in all genres of music especially with indie. This is because a lot of indie artists often have a rare sound and look so can create interesting looks through their use of props as well as their own appearance. • Indie and rock artists usally have a particular dress sense such as layering as well as oversize shirts, skinny jeans,grahphic tees etc which will be displayed in their videos. Setting • Setting is also very important as it indicates the era of music as well as the genre. For example, Paloma Faith has a very subtle makeup (part of mise-en-scene) in her music videos which can suggest that her music videos are supposed to be similar to the 50s/60s era.
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  SOUND: • Sound isvery important in a live performance as well as hearing directly from the instruments being played. Different effects can be used to create different feelings for the audience. For example, fading the music at the end of a video can leave sadness if the narrative indicates this as well. Diegetic sounds are also used to help set a scene at either the end of beginning of a video. Examples of music being played at live concerts.
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  CAMERA SHOTS: • Fulllength shots are usually used to show the setting of the video while giving us a clear video of the artists outfits. This is important as most celebrities who are considers “fashion icons” are musical artists. • Crane shots are used in performances as it allows the audience to see artists from many different angles. It also helps to focus on just the band in the video. This looks effective in videos as it is very continuous. • Music videos use a variety of camera shots. However, extreme close-ups are most commonly used as thy introduce the audience to the artists. It may be done to amplify what they are singing or may be to show the motions they are trying to express and out across.
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  EDITING: • A lotof music videos rely on editing. This is because Goodwin’s theory of editing on beats is very commonly used in most music videos today. It tends to make the video more successful and interesting as the audience are expecting to see something right on the beat. • Fast and slow cuts between shots often reflect pace of music. For example, slow motion will be used when the music is slow or building. It may be used just after the beat drops too. It helps to set an atmosphere for the music video and set a specific mood. • Effects are often added on top of videos after editing. This can vary from making them look old to explosions etc. Many music videos use old tapes or black and white in their music videos. This is very common for indie music videos. Rock videos however will use editing ideas such as black and white (also used with indie) • An example of a black and white video is “Changing of the Season” by indie rock band Two Door Cinema Club. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovnCXhogusc