1. Indie pop is a sub-genre of indie or alternative music which originated in the 80’s. Indie pop
in comparison to indie rock is often found to be more tuneful and less grungy in tone and the
sounds used.
Conventions of Indie pop/folk music and video
Setting
Low budget, real life locations used to give it a sense of realism. Most indie pop videos are
set in the dark so your attention is on the artist or performance. Common locations that
feature are: Parks, cities, forests, rundown areas, studios.
Performance
Indie performances are usually about their love and passion for music rather than their fame
or money. Their performances are usually live which allows the audience to build a
relationship with the artist. Also in almost all indie music videos the artist features and
performs in them further promoting themselves and the song.
There is usually a narrative so the video accompanies the music making it more entertaining.
Narrative
Images and sequences are used to convey the song, this allows the audience to understand
the meaning of the song which conforms with Andrew Goodwin's theory of illustration and
amplification.
Mise-en-scene
The costumes covey the artist and usually reflect their personality. They are usually quite
simplistic and aren’t overly complex in terms of settings and props. Standard props in indie
music videos are instruments (guitars, pianos, trumpets, ukulele, and drums). Costume is
often rustic and alternative however, it is not overly eccentric.
Sound
Although not constant, Indie videos sometimes feature dialogue either at the start or end of
the video and sometimes introduce diegetic sound somewhere in the video.
Camera
Close-ups are heavily used throughout as they strengthen the image of the artist; this also
helps establish the emotion in the scene. Longs shots give the audience a sense of setting
and better highlight the narrative.
Editing
The technological increase in editing has seen filters become a common feature in music
videos of the indie genre, which is seen throughout Jake Bugg’s ‘Lightning Bolt” this helps
convey a positive or negative attitude. Cuts and pans can effect eh pace and mood of the
song.
