2. Research on Artist – ‘Low Roar’
• “Low Roar” is the stage name for singer/musician
Ryan Karazija
• After relocating himself from California to Iceland in
2010, the creation of his self-titled debut album "Low
Roar" was Karazija’s way of coping with the
challenges of acclimating to a foreign land, finding
work, and supporting his family.
• His music is mostly about the internal struggles one
faces in life. Karazija himself claims to have lived
everything he has sung about.
• “I’ll Keep Coming” is featured as the fourth track in
Low Roars second album “O”
3. Song – “I’ll Keep Coming”
• I’ll keep coming is the fourth track
in Low Roar’s second album titled
“O”
• It by far remains as Low Roar’s
most popular song racking up 5
million views on YouTube
4. Record Label - Tonequake
Records
Tonequake Records, is a Los Angeles indie
label owned by studio engineer Andrew
Scheps.
Artists consist of Audrye Sessions, Favez,
Heidi Happy, Low Roar, Killing Bees and
Poor Bailey
7. Genre Conventions - The Setting
• Most indie music videos have a low
budget setting that mostly features
one or two locations. Settings
would consist of studios, parks,
cities, tunnels and fields. This is
because they are easier to access
and pose more of a focus on the
artist which in this case works as a
benefit.
8. Genre Conventions – Mise-en-scene
• Indie artists commonly have a retro
look to them predominantly
holding props such as Instruments
e.g. guitars, drum kit etc. This
shows that the artists are more than
just singers but musicians who
produce, write and sing their songs.
• .
9. Genre Conventions – Performance
• It is common for most indie rock
music videos to simply be a live
performance of the artist as this
focuses on their talents and benefits
their star image.
• Performance would consist of
them simply singing or potentially
featuring a dance number.
10. Genre Conventions – Narrative
• In recent years a narrative would be
enwoven into the video along with a
live performance to either elevate the
meaning behind the lyrics or tell a
narrative that compliments the lyrics.
In some cases the video would be
purely narrative as a narrative video
would maintain a viewers attention
more than a live performance would
since it contains a variety of shots.
11. Genre Conventions – Sound
• A narrative might have diegetic sounds to make it more realistic.
• This diegetic sound would be heard most likely in the beginning and the end
to avoid overlapping the vocals.
• Effects such as a fade out and in for the beginning and end as well as a raise
in volume for upbeat moments to convey emotions are also used.
12. Genre Conventions – Camera
• The most common shot would be
the close up shots to highlight the
artists passion, emotion and talent
when singing as well as helping to
boost their star sign. Long, wide
and establishing shot are common
in narrative videos to either
introduce a location or character
13. Genre Conventions – Editing
• Shots are cut either fast or slow
according to the beat. It is common
for indie music videos to include
effects such as filters like black and
white to give a classical or sad
feeling.
14. Target Audience –
Activists/Creatives
• Activists are passionate about inequality and
social change, so are taking to the streets and
social media to protest, campaign, squat and
sit-in. Especially relevant in 2015 with the
General Election looming, Activists are
aspirational across the map and admired for
their passion and dedication to the cause – be
that racial equality, housing, feminism, the
environment.
• Creative are tech savvy self-starters that bring
culture to life for Tribes today – they produce
music, promote club nights, start indie brands
and create festival stages.
15. Initial Ideas
• A combination of both narrative and performance
• Open with my artist singing in a dimly lit room
• Whenever a pitch increase or a ‘roar’ we will then cut to the
narrative
• The narrative will focus on a young mans journey as we
recount his life story from infancy to adulthood
• The narrative will focus on the mans hardship and personal
experience as it tells a story of self endurance and persistence,
fitting in with the lyrics being sung
• The story will be structure according to Todorovs narrative
theory to keep it concise and easy to follow
• Within the song there are prolonged sections of music
followed by equal amounts of lyrics. Most of the time we will
see our live performance for the sections that include lyrics
• Once the climax hits and the guitar is introduced we will see
our artist playing a guitar corresponding with the music
(Goodwin)
• Near the last act of the narrative once the young man grows
into adulthood he will grow up to become our artist. This is his
debut song and it begins with his life story. This will blend the
narrative with the performance making it almost postmodern
where you question whether the performance is apart of the
narrative.
16. Story Board
Our performance section
slowly lights up to reveal a
stage 9or something similar
and plausible)
When verse 2 comes the
location for the performance
section blends in with the
narrative
The boy is kneeling but when
the lyric “I’ll keep coming are
uttered the boy gets up and
starts running
The shot pans around the boy,
ill make a quick edit that shows
the boy has grown up. ( This
will be a different actor)
The boy is thrown into his
room with papers flying out of
his bag . A one shot will move
the camera to a piece of paper
on the floor showing an F
The boy walks around the
streets to find a music shop he
then finds a guitar that he
holds in a heroic like stance
Our camera slowly zooms into
a man in a pitch black room
with a single ray of light
shining on his face
After the lyrics are sung we
then cut to a shot of a young
boy of the age 10-12 running
alone in a field away from
bullies as connoted through his
marks
When the lines I’ll keep
coming are uttered for the first
time the shot is a close up of
the artist lip syncing it.
When the lines “Wipe those
tears off” the artist is singing
that behind the main character
in the narrative with the main
character crying and wiping the
tears off .
When the beat increases the
camera does another pan to
reveal this boy is actually our
artist
It cuts between past and
present until only our
performance section is there
18. Guidelines
• 1. What's the narrative? What representations
(age, gender, social class or group, ethnicity,
location...) are constructed? What are my key
(encoded) messages?
• 2. How will I communicate these messages?
• 3 What would Butler, Van Zoonen, hooks,
Gauntlett, Gilroy, Hall, Baudrillard and
others say about those messages?
• Generally, you need to think more carefully
about the representation you are
constructing, the messages you are
embedding.
• What conventions you are adhering to and
WHICH CONVENTIONS YOU ARE
SUBVERTING
• We need a bit less predictability and a bit more
originality.
• MAGINE THAT YOUR VIDEO IS BEING
ANALYSED IN THE WAY WE ANALYSE
'RIPTIDE' AND 'FORMATION'. What would
the key encoded messages be?
• What would a negotiated reading of your video
be?
• What would the theorists say about your
constructed meanings?
