Genre Conventions - Indie Music Videos
GENRE CONVENTIONS
After looking through general conventions of music videos we have decided to go for an indie music video. So, with that we're now narrowing our search by looking at typical conventions of an indie music video.
PERFORMANCE
Its very typical of an indie band/artist to have a live performance as their video, they normally will have varied shots between the artist and the audience reacting to them. They do this as its more important to them as artists to focus on their music and talents rather than drawing attention away from this. For example Foo Fighters' video for their song "All My Life" (Grohl, 2009) was almost completely a performance video with just a few opening establishing shots. (They also seem to use a fisheye lens in some parts of this.)
NARRATIVE
However it has become increasingly more popular to do narrative styles of videos in between the performance, this is because it gives the music video more meaning and helps their audience relate to the song. Usually the narrative links to the lyrics within the song but would also leave room for imagination as this makes the video stand out more. Narrative has become this popular because it holds the audiences attention and also leaves room for an auteurs mark. For example, the list of the Best Top 20 Narrative Videos consist of mainly indie music artists.
BUDGET
As indie bands its a general convention that their music won't be high budget because, as their title depicts, they're Indie. Many examples can be seen, a small band from the Leeds area, Sly Antics, shot their first video on an iPhone! Even seemingly expensive looking/ professional music videos like Pixies - Silver Snail or Mumford and Sons - Believe can still be relatively cheap but still look sharp because of the cinematography of the video.
There are obviously exceptions to this, counter typical examples would be anything with animation in as that tends to be a lot more expensive. Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? (Wilson, 2013) Is a completely animated video made by the company Blinkink this would have been pretty expensive.
SETTING
Following on from budget slightly, the setting of these music videos tends to be cities, parks, tunnels and studios etc. This is because they generally have lower budgets and also it needs to be somewhere that will be accessible and able to create mystery. Again the settings are simple as the indie/rock genre like to keep the attention on the music and the performance rather than the background to it. For example, World Pleasure by Peace is a simple studio video with some interesting lighting and takes throughout.
MISE-EN-SCENE
Mies-en-scene is a big convention of any music video because it has so many aspects underneath its umbrella title like costume, makeup, props and setting.
COSTUME:
Costume plays a huge role in music videos, its there to create verisimilitude for a music video, to show the different identities within a band, it represents an artists image and brand and also there to show individuality in who they are. Daft Punk are an electronic music duo band who use their costume to create their identity as a band, the narrative enigma of not knowing what they look like created their image.
PROPS:
Props are an important factor in a music video as they also provide verisimilitude, if the video is a live performance or a reenactment of a live performance you would expect to see instruments that the band play. Similarly if it was a narrative video about people in love you might expect to see flowers as that is a signifier of love.
CAMERA
Different camera angles and shots are used in music videos to show different things, for example a close up would used to highlight the performers and introduce them as well as using close ups on the instruments to highlight their talent. It can also help to pick out facial expressions from the artists to show their passion and emotion. This can be good for advertising the singers band and brand.
Crane shots are sometimes used when filming live performances to get a good view of the audience in full. These types of shots allow different and interesting angles too. Other types of shots that are used are ones like long/wide shots, this is because they can be used as establishing shots to set up the beginning of a narrative.
EDITING
Editing is an important convention as it helps make the video interesting, special effects can be used like lighting techniques, as I mentioned above about World Pleasure. Another editing technique is fast/slow paced editing, this is where the shots are synched to the music and cut to the beat. Effects are usually added over the top of a video to make them seem old and worn. The black and white effect is a popular one as it give the video a classical and sad feel to it.
SOUND
In live music videos sound has to be enhanced and the audience has to be made quieter so that it doesn't interfere with the sound quality of the song. Also, when doing a narrative video diegetic music may be added to keep with the story of the video. These can be added at the beginning before the vocals begin and at the end after, and in the middle if needed. Sometimes sounds overlap, an example of this would be if the vocals are still playing but the audience can here someone crying too. The volume of the sounds can be adjusted too to create more emotions and feelings.
After looking through general conventions of music videos we have decided to go for an indie music video. So, with that we're now narrowing our search by looking at typical conventions of an indie music video.
PERFORMANCE
Its very typical of an indie band/artist to have a live performance as their video, they normally will have varied shots between the artist and the audience reacting to them. They do this as its more important to them as artists to focus on their music and talents rather than drawing attention away from this. For example Foo Fighters' video for their song "All My Life" (Grohl, 2009) was almost completely a performance video with just a few opening establishing shots. (They also seem to use a fisheye lens in some parts of this.)
NARRATIVE
However it has become increasingly more popular to do narrative styles of videos in between the performance, this is because it gives the music video more meaning and helps their audience relate to the song. Usually the narrative links to the lyrics within the song but would also leave room for imagination as this makes the video stand out more. Narrative has become this popular because it holds the audiences attention and also leaves room for an auteurs mark. For example, the list of the Best Top 20 Narrative Videos consist of mainly indie music artists.
As indie bands its a general convention that their music won't be high budget because, as their title depicts, they're Indie. Many examples can be seen, a small band from the Leeds area, Sly Antics, shot their first video on an iPhone! Even seemingly expensive looking/ professional music videos like Pixies - Silver Snail or Mumford and Sons - Believe can still be relatively cheap but still look sharp because of the cinematography of the video.
There are obviously exceptions to this, counter typical examples would be anything with animation in as that tends to be a lot more expensive. Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? (Wilson, 2013) Is a completely animated video made by the company Blinkink this would have been pretty expensive.SETTING
Following on from budget slightly, the setting of these music videos tends to be cities, parks, tunnels and studios etc. This is because they generally have lower budgets and also it needs to be somewhere that will be accessible and able to create mystery. Again the settings are simple as the indie/rock genre like to keep the attention on the music and the performance rather than the background to it. For example, World Pleasure by Peace is a simple studio video with some interesting lighting and takes throughout. MISE-EN-SCENE
Mies-en-scene is a big convention of any music video because it has so many aspects underneath its umbrella title like costume, makeup, props and setting.
COSTUME:
Costume plays a huge role in music videos, its there to create verisimilitude for a music video, to show the different identities within a band, it represents an artists image and brand and also there to show individuality in who they are. Daft Punk are an electronic music duo band who use their costume to create their identity as a band, the narrative enigma of not knowing what they look like created their image. 
PROPS:
Props are an important factor in a music video as they also provide verisimilitude, if the video is a live performance or a reenactment of a live performance you would expect to see instruments that the band play. Similarly if it was a narrative video about people in love you might expect to see flowers as that is a signifier of love.
CAMERA
Different camera angles and shots are used in music videos to show different things, for example a close up would used to highlight the performers and introduce them as well as using close ups on the instruments to highlight their talent. It can also help to pick out facial expressions from the artists to show their passion and emotion. This can be good for advertising the singers band and brand.
Crane shots are sometimes used when filming live performances to get a good view of the audience in full. These types of shots allow different and interesting angles too. Other types of shots that are used are ones like long/wide shots, this is because they can be used as establishing shots to set up the beginning of a narrative.
EDITING
Editing is an important convention as it helps make the video interesting, special effects can be used like lighting techniques, as I mentioned above about World Pleasure. Another editing technique is fast/slow paced editing, this is where the shots are synched to the music and cut to the beat. Effects are usually added over the top of a video to make them seem old and worn. The black and white effect is a popular one as it give the video a classical and sad feel to it. SOUND
In live music videos sound has to be enhanced and the audience has to be made quieter so that it doesn't interfere with the sound quality of the song. Also, when doing a narrative video diegetic music may be added to keep with the story of the video. These can be added at the beginning before the vocals begin and at the end after, and in the middle if needed. Sometimes sounds overlap, an example of this would be if the vocals are still playing but the audience can here someone crying too. The volume of the sounds can be adjusted too to create more emotions and feelings.
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