The document discusses conventions in indie pop music videos. It notes that performance is key, with most shots focusing on close-ups and group shots of bands performing with high energy. Narratives are also common and can be linked to song lyrics. Specific to indie pop, lip syncing, dance performances, using actors instead of artists, and storylines are discussed as conventions. Cinematography employs various shots and camera movements. Editing typically matches song pace but some use abstract techniques. Mise-en-scene tends to be simplistic with accessible locations and costumes enhancing the music rather than aesthetics. Examples are provided to illustrate conventions.

1. INDIE-POP CODES
AND
CONVENTIONS

2. From my previous posts I have shown my research into conventions and form; however
I have also researched the indie pop genre because even with the form of a music
video different genres contain different conventions that make them recognisable to a
certain genre. Some examples of this are say for instance within rock/indie music
videos thy rely heavily on performance, typical shots are usually of band performance
and they give a high energy element within their performance to attract an audience to
their live shows.
For example Catfish and the Bottlemen’s ‘Kathleen’ video shows how these certain
conventions are used in rock/indie music videos as completely the video is performance
of the band. Here are some screen shots taken from the video;
The majority of the shot
types with rock/indie
music videos are
medium close ups,
close ups and wide
group shots of the
band. If the video is not
based solely on the
performance element,
narrative is usually key
as they tend to be deep
compared to pop music
videos because of the
meaning behind the
lyrics.

3. PERFORMANCE
 As I have shown in the previous slide on how performance is used in
certain ‘indie’ genres, I have looked at how performance is used in
‘indie-pop’ because this is the genre in which my artist is linked to
and my video will aim to appeal to this audience.
 Lip syncing is a key convention used within indie pop music videos
here are some examples from existing artists associated with this
genre.
These screen shots are taken from Charli XCX ft Rita Ora’s – ‘Doing
It’, there is clear use of lip syncing throughout the video, especially in
the first screen shot they emphasise the use of lip syncing by singing
into karaoke microphones.

4. PERFORMANCE
 Dance performance can be used within indie-pop music videos, here
is an example of how dance performance is used in Ellie Goulding’s
‘Love me like you do’, the dance element in this video is towards the
end of the video when the actual artist does a choreographed routine
of a contemporary sequence.
Here is another
example of how
dance performance
is used in Ed
Sheeran’s ‘Thinking
out loud’.

5. PERFORMANCE
 Using actors instead of the real artists is often a key feature
used in indie-pop music videos as it creates a real narrative
that is linkable to the lyrics of the song. An example of this is
used in Ed Sheerans ‘Give me love’ when the main
protagonist is actually a female actress rather than Ed
Sheeran himself. Here are some screen shots take from the
video of the main protagonist;

6. NARRATIVE
 Predominately in indie-pop music there is often a storyline followed throughout the
narrative, however some indie-pop artists have abstract videos. Here are some examples
of different indie-pop artists and how they apply narrative to their music videos.
In Hurts’ ‘Better than love’ there is a clear narrative to the
video, the video is easy to follow through the use of the
narrative. The video is a dramatic affair set in an highly
unglamorous dance studio that’s filled, with uber-glamorous
people. There is a clear link between the narrative and the
lyrics of the song. For example from the lyrics shown on the
left the line ‘A decade in the dark taking part in a dream’ links
to the narrative as it is clear that the dancers have to go
through a gruelling what feels like a decade of training to
reach their dream of being a professional dancer, here are
some screen shots take from the video that link to the lyrics.

7. CINEMATOGRAPHY
 For my music video I am using Ed Sheeran’s song ‘I’m a mess’, so I
have researched his existing music videos and looked at how
cinematography has been used.
 Here are examples taken from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Don’t’;
As shown above a variety of different shots are used throughout indie-pop music
videos. More often close ups are used to show performance of the artists, emotion
or emphasise specific features within the mise en scene. Also camera movement is
important wihtin music videos, specific movements are used such as zooms, tilts,
pans and use a variety of angles as shown in my screen shots.

8. EDITING
 Conventionally in indie pop music videos the editing is rhythmic and
matches the pace of the song, especially if the narrative follows a
specific storyline. However as mentioned before some artists within
this genre like to create abstract videos, they use various editing
techniques to create the abstract look for example, distortion editing,
dissolves, pixilation and overlapping shots.
 Here is an example of how pop Indie-artist Lily Allen uses specific
editing techniques in her abstract music video ‘URL Badman

9. MISE EN SCENE
The mise en scene in indie pop music videos tends to be very simplistic
however can be unique and individual. Locations are usually easily
accessible as the videos are typically low budget, and other aspects
within the mise en scene such as costume, props and lighting follow this
simplistic theme. Here are some examples of existing music videos
within the indie pop genre that have a simple and individual mise en
scene;
The 1975 – ‘Chocolate’ this video is a
prime example of how mise en scene
is used within indie pop music videos.
The main location and setting is set in
a moving car as this is easily
accessible to the band, also in terms
of costume, it is very simplistic and
the main colour worn is black this
makes the audience focus more on
the music rather than the aesthetics
of the video.

10. MISE EN SCENE
Sky Ferreira – ‘Everything is
Embarrassing’
Arctic Monkey – ‘Snap out of it
These two videos are from well known indie-pop artists, I have
chosen both these videos of examples of how mise en scene is
used within existing music videos because both are complete
contrasts in terms of ideology and representing the artists however
they both share similar conventions because they are of the same
genre but portray different ideologies.