Research into Chosen music genre

Indie is a short-form of "independence" or "independent" and is a genre in the music industry. Indie music originated in the 80's with bands including The Smiths and Joy Division. Indie bands then turned into Indie solo artists which became increasingly popular in more recent years.    The genre Indie is almost a hybrid of Pop and Rock music in terms of the appearance and the music that these musicians play. The style of  music you tend to hear in Indie can differ from some artists sounding very clear and using there voice in a more conserved manner, such as pop, and it can also be fairly loud and wild, such a rock. The appearance of the artists is also very unique as well and can link in with both how pop and rock are viewed. The artists tend to look very clean cut like those found in pop music but also very unique and different like those found in rock. However the convention that tends set them apart from both rock and pop is their performance. Unlike rock, the don't perform very wild and rebellious in their music videos and unlike in pop, they don't perform like they're having the time of their life, but instead they give off a very conservative approach in their performances as if they are just their to sell their music rather than trying to sell themselves.

       The Kooks, Nina Nesbitt, Ed Sheeran, Arctic Monkeys, Passenger, Laura Marling, Alt-J, Bastille, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Lumineers, The Vaccines, The Courtneers, Lana Del Ray, Florence and The Machine, Imagine Dragons, The Killers, Mumford & Sons, Kate Nash, Noah and The Whale, Of Monsters and Men, Just Jack, Jack Pente, Daminen Rice, Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats.

TThe general sound is melodic with the use of simple yet textured and effective instruments which traditionally includes acoustic guitar and the artists voice alone. Instruments which have recently been introduced into the Indie genre include a simple drum beat, keyboard, violin, banjo and ukelele. Lyrics which construct Indie songs often develop a strong emotion without sounding mainstream, a play on words and are often very original. 

Live Performance
It is very common for artists in the Indie genre to do a live performance for their music video. This way the main focus is on them as performers doing what they love to do. It also keeps the focus on the actual music itself and the talent that the artists have.

This is very typical in the Indie genre as the genre itself it was never about success but more the music and the passion that people have to perform and play.
A modern twist is now often put on this with a narrative included in between to break up the music video and give it a story for the reader. Also there is more room to play around with the video if a narrative is included so many artists tend to use this tehcnique a lot. It also helps them to compete with other artists of other genres who do narrative videos that are heavily based around a story to make it more memorable.

Live performances also promote the artist as people will release how natural they are and that they can actually sing well and sound the same when live. It takes a lot of charisma to be able to play an instrument and still perform so the live performance option highlights artists talents in a good way and can therefore attract an audience.

Narrative
It is very common for artists in the Indie genre itself was never about success but more about the music and the passion thatb people have to perform and play.


A narrative video is used to tell a story throughout the video by using a sequence of images and videos that relate to the song. This is done in such a way that if makes sense to the audience so they can follow and link it to the lyrics.


This is very popular with all genres as it leaves room for the imagination. There are so many different variations of this used and theres a lot of room for creativity which can leave a video very memorable to an audience.
This is a great way of making a music video stand out from the crowd and making it popular. This is because there are many variations so you can make it as different and wacky as you like.

Narrative videos also hold peoples attention better in comparison to a live performance as what you are seeing is constantly changing and keeps people entertained at all times. Even people who are not necessiarly a fan of the artist may still enjoy the video so this method often helps people gain success and status.


Mise en scene
Mise en scene now plays a large role in a lot of music videos and especially the Indie genre. This is because Indie artists often have a retro look and this can be created through the sets they use props, and also their own appearence.

Props can change the look of a video completely for example in Lana Del Ray's national anthem her surroundings are a very expensive house which shows the character she is playing is very well off, wealthy and well respected.

Costumes give people their identity and set them apart from the rest. A good example is Lady Gaga whose known for her elaborate choice in clothing. In the video telephone we know she wears a hat with a build in telephone and this reinforces the message thats in her video. As this was a memorable look, people now remember that video because of her appearance.

Make up is also important as it can give us an indication as to which era the video is meant to be set in. For example Paloma Faith has very subtle make up in her videos with a pale face and red lipstick. This highlights her unique profile.







Ellie Goulding- Anything can happen
Anything Could Happen is a song by Ellie Goulding, released as the lead single from her second studio album Halcyon (2012). Written and produced by Goulding and Jim Elliot, the song recieved positive reviews from music critics. The music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi and filmed in Malibu, California. The video dipicts Ellie Goulding and her on screen boyfriend getting into a car accident.

The music video setting is a futuristic beach which may connote the accident to seem surreal to the artist and that she cannot quite fathom what has happened. This relates to her calm facial expression as blood drips from her nose. Blood signifies danger, however the music video seems to take hold of the magical and spiritual aspect of death and tragedy.
She is very laid back and this is very conventional of the Indie genre compared to that of Pop where there is a enthusiastic atmosphere or in Rock when the artist is generally quite angry. The video is very disjointed and tells many different aspects of the story in a non-chronological way

Lumineers- Ho Hey

Ho Hey is an indie folk song by an American folk rock band. The song reached 8th spot in the UK's singles chart and the song has been used in many british adverts and Tv shows. The music video for Ho Hey was directed by Ben Fee and shows the band walking around a light bulb lit building, playing instruments and singing until they enter a room full of other people who are dancing and having fun. The corridor in which the band walk down, is dull and includes brown and neutral colours showing the simplistic setting in which many indie music videos adopt. The corridor is also dressed with pink flowers showing a natural and peaceful element to the song.

The soft lighting of the video matched the genre and feel of the song as it coincides with the genre and feel of the song as it is warm and welcoming. This music video lacks narrative as it is predominately performance based.

The props used help set the theme to the song such as the hats that the characters wear however still there isn't a definite narrative going on.

 

The sound Ho Hey has  a gentle feel to it as it is acoustic but also has a crowd participation element to it with the 'Ho Hey' and the floor stomps. It sounds very folk and sounds like it would be played around a camp fire which would also have a warm glow like the light bulbs used.

 

There is a lot of long length shots that track and pan. The first shot is a sideways track of light bulbs hanging from a wall for the camera to the artist walking towards the camera in which the camera at that moment tracks backwards. There are a lo t of close ups that show people smiling and then when the focus of the camera is on someone, the lights in the background have a broken effect.

The main editing techniques used in this video are cuts on the beat and a flash effect used as transition into the next shot. The length of each shot are quite long. The first two shots are aout 20 seconds each. There is a slow motion shot when the front man stomps onto the light bulb. The shots of when there are more people that have joined the group are also in a slow motion to match the tempo of the song.

The main props for the video are the warm lighting created by many light bulbs. This enhances the warm feeling to the song and this prop is always shown until the front man of the band smashes one of the bulbs. The main prop is then roses on the ceiling then multi-coloured confetti to show a celebration. The stained glass windows match the colours of the confetti but also look like they are in a church  as that is where stained glass windows are usually soft.

 

By researching into the Indie genre I have gained a deeper understanding into the genre and now know what to include within our own music video. We know now that it needs to be independent and different from other genres and videos.