Genre Conventions- Indie Rock

Genre Conventions 

Indie Rock is the genre that I have chosen to look into more depth, as it is the genre that i'm planning on working on for my final production. Due to this, I've now focused on doing research which will mainly be focused around the 'Indie Rock' genre and target specific conventions towards it.

Performance

In most 'Indie Rock' genre music videos the performance is based upon the artist/ band (typically a band) having a live performance to an audience as that links into the Rock aspect of the genre, since typically in Rock genre music videos, the band/artists is presented through the visuals performing the song to an audience. Onwards, targeting more the 'Indie' aspect of it, the word indie itself is known as: independent. The way in which the performance is independent is that they're often Performance music videos this is one of three broad music video typologies identified by Firth 1988, as the band is not only lipsynching the song and playing an instrument, but they are also performing a story through dancing and direct address whenever they are trying to make a direct point to the audience. The way in which this makes the An example for this would be: Greek Tragedy by The Wombats , as there is a variation between the visuals of both a live performance to an audience and a more narrative based performance in order to relate to the lyrics.

Narrative

A typical convention for 'Indie Rock' Narratives is that they are linear because it will literally tell you the story of the song through the visuals, however these narratives are very abstract, as at first we would not necessarily associate the visuals presented on the screen with the lyrics being heard (this allows the audience to use their imagination and make try to make links between both the visuals + the lyrics), yet as it develops the audience is able to make the connection between both of these elements due to the fact that it is a linear narrative meaning that it's got a beginning, middle and an end. Furthermore, most indie rock videos present both a mixture between live performance and a story in order to keep the audience interested in the song and also to portray this persona of being unique and independent. In addition to this, the camera elements help with this idea of mixing the performance because some of the shots are done as a home video and others shot professionally to reinforce this idea of independence that relates to the name 'Indie' itself.  

 

Setting

Most indie music videos take place in two different locations. 1. being the stage in which the band is presented performing the song and 2. either an abstract environment (a sub-closed environment such as the one presented in the music for Diane Young- Vampire weekend, a clear/ white room with very little prop or decoration within it) or a location in which they'd typically be found at (a park/ city/ home). However, the setting could sometimes change depending on whether the song is telling a story or not. An example of this would be in the music video for 'The Killers- Mr. Brightside' because the setting is a ballroom to reinforce the idea that they are back in the 18th century as the props also help with this idea. Overall, most indie music videos choose to go for traditional and settings that are more familiar to the audience as it is cheaper, and the main focus they want the audience to have is on the performance and the music rather than the location.

Mise-en-scene

For the mise-en-scene most indie rock genre music videos focus on the costume as this helps reinforce the person that they are trying to come across as to the audience. Furthermore, most indie rock bands wear a similar trend of clothing to create Verisimilitude within the band members. However, bands from the similar genre although they have similar clothing conventions, share their differences so that people are able to identify them as a unique/ create individuality. 

Camera

Camera is another elements, which plays a major role in any genre of music video. In indie rock genre, the most notable shots seen throughout are mainly close-ups of the artists whilst performing to a live audience, as Goodwin would state, to act as a promotion for the artists and increase the profile sales for them. Furthermore, other notable shots would be long shots and medium-close ups in which the audience is able to see the artists in their environment and be able to relate/ associate themselves with it.

Editing

Most indie rock genre music videos tend to use a lot of filters to create this artistic music video to make it more interesting for the audience. Furthermore, lighting is another focus throughout indie rock music videos, as they tend to use low-key lighting since their songs just like rock genre songs have a background meaning to them to them. The lighting helps reinforce/ create this seriousness that the artists is trying to put across with the lyrics to the audience.

Sound

Diegetic sound is used when the music video is narrative based, however when the band is presented performing the song to a live audience, non- diegetic sound is used as we are able to see where the sound source is coming from on the screen. In addition to this, the audience seen at the performance is lowered down in sound so that the main focus stays on the band and its performance rather than the cheering loud crowed. An example for diegetic sound would be seen in the video for the Kooks- bad habit as it is just narrative based and the band in never seen throughout the music video performing the song, whereas in the music video for: Kodaline- One day, it is non-diegetic sound as we are able to see the band performing to a live audience.