The document discusses conventions in indie music videos. It notes that typical conventions include acoustic soul/hip-hop influences, relatable lyrics, close-ups of instruments, smooth transitions between performance and narrative elements, low-key lighting, distinctive clothes, and settings in houses or on the street. The author researched conventions to inform their own music video for an indie artist, which includes a narrative section showing a relationship develop and a performance element with live footage of the artist, drawing from conventions in other music videos. The music video follows conventions in its song choice, camerawork, editing, and mise-en-scene elements.

2. After watching, what felt like, hundreds of Indie music videos, the
conventions became pretty clear and I was able to come up with a list
of typical conventions to be found;
Acoustic soul with hip-hop influences
Relatable lyrics
Close up of the instrument
Smooth transitions
Transitions between performance and narrative
Fairly ominous, low key lighting with some high key lighting
Distinctive clothes
Instruments
Set in a house or on the street

3. CONCEPT
After deciding on my chosen song, I carried out further research into the
artist and the conventions of the genre. Researching the conventions
helped me to establish that I wanted to create a music video with a
narrative and a performance element. Aside from taking a shine to the
Mumford and Sons Ben Howard ‘Only Love’
use of two different elements, it is becoming quite conventional and I ‘I Will Wait’
wanted to promote this idea. I wanted to create a bridge between the
lyrics of the song, using the performance section, and the story I wanted
to tell, using the narrative section. The idea of having a link between the
two is reinforced by Andrew Goodwin’s theory of music videos.
The narrative section within my music video is highly conventional, as it
shows the audience the development of the couple’s relationship, taking My music video
them on a journey and making them feel a part of it, therefore being
realistic and relatable. This idea is also portrayed in Daniel Powter’s
‘Cupid’. Additionally, the performance element is conventional. The
music videos for Aiden Grimshaw’s ‘Curtain Call’ and The Scripts’ ‘For the
First Time’ have the performance element coming from live footage of
the artist(s). I felt this would work really well with our song and was
something I was personally a fan of, as I wanted to develop upon an Daniel Powter Aiden Grimshaw
‘Cupid’ ‘Curtain Call’
idea that is growing in popularity, rather than something which has been
seen done previously. This was due to the fact that I was creating a music
video for an Indie artist who is already breaking away from traditional
music stereotypes, so wanted to convey this new and upcoming sense
within the concept of the music video. In the music video for Mumford
and Son’s ‘I Will Wait’ there is also an element of live footage as well as
Ben Howard’s ‘Only Love’. My music video

4. SOUND
Some Indie artists break away from convention and write songs which would
not be typically associated with the Indie genre. I feel I followed the true My chosen song
Indie genre by choosing a song that had conventional meaning for the Indie
sub-group, as it talks about how little the couple have. In order to represent
this in a conventional way, the scenes within my music video link very closely
to the lyrics in the song. Thus telling the audience a story that is believable
and relatable. Once we had chosen the song that conveyed this idea, there
wasn’t much else we needed to focus on to follow convention, as we had Ed Sheeran ‘The A Team’
ensured the song itself was a typical Indie song.
(click album icon to hear the song)
Daniel Powter ‘Cupid’
Aiden Grimshaw
‘Curtain Call’
Ben Howard ‘Only Love’

5. CAMERAWORK
The opening shot of my music video is an extreme close up of the male talent playing the
guitar. The idea of the close up follows convention as it used in numerous Indie music videos;
they generally a close up of the main instrument used to construct the music. The music
video for The Script’s ‘Hall of Fame’ uses a close up of the piano, which is the main The Script
instrument within the song. However, despite this being a conventional shot I feel we ‘Hall of Fame’
developed it by choosing it as the first shot of the whole video because it gives the
audience a real insight into the artist. The acoustic guitar is associated with really raw and
real music, which is the message of the music video- to convey to the audience a
believable and relatable story through the bridge between the narrative and performance.
I think this is successful as it engages the audience who can then immediately connect the
narrative to the song.
My music video
Throughout the music video I use a number of long shots, followed by close ups. I chose to
do this in order to show the location and the setting, then the characters therefore allowing
the audience to place themselves in the shoes of the actors and to create a relationship
with them, to make it realistic and relatable. This is conventional of music videos, as seen in Aiden Grimshaw
Aiden Grimshaw’s ‘Curtain Call’. I chose to use long shots more often because I felt it was ‘Curtain Call’
vital for the audience to familiarise themselves with the characters, the settings and what
they were doing in order to express the narrative in a true and relevant manner.
I decided to film the live footage from the ‘front row’ of the audience, not only to follow
convention as seen in The Script’s ‘Fall of Fame’, but to create a bond between the
audience of the music video and the artist, therefore allowing them to connect with the My music video
song.
Another camera angle which I used that followed convention was a slight high angle shot of
the couple when they’re sat in the empty room. I wanted to convey the lack of money,
which I felt was best interpreted through the use of a high angle as it shows they are smaller
and therefore not as powerful, in purely money terms. However I didn’t want to use an
extreme high angle as it may have made them look vulnerable or weak as a couple. So with
this shot there is only a small high angle so the audience feel sympathy for the lack of money
but do not feel pity for their relationship. My music video
I chose to use straightforward camera angles as opposed to tilts as they represent a strong
and focused sense, therefore promoting how strong the love between the couple is.

6. EDITING
Similarly to numerous Indie music videos, I cut each clip in time with the music in order
to keep the music video sequential and to ensure that it flowed, therefore enabling
the audience to follow the narrative smoothly.
My music video
I chose to keep the editing very simple resembling most Indie music videos, due to the
fact that if there is too much going on it distracts away from the message of the music
video and can become confusing for the audience. I chose to use only one type of
transition, ‘cross dissolve’, from the narrative to performance and performance to
narrative. I feel I developed this as a convention because usually in Indie music videos
there is a just a simple cut between narrative and performance. The main reason I
chose to include a transition was due to the change from black and white to colour,
without a transition I felt it looked messy and unsystematic. I feel it merges the two
different elements really well and highlights the reasoning between the choices in
including both narrative and performance.
Furthermore, another editing choice I made was the use of black and white for the The Script
narrative and colour for the performance. This is an editing technique that is ‘For the First Time’
becoming more conventional to Indie music videos and so I chose to use it in order to
convey the ‘independent’ idea behind Indie music- I didn’t want to use conventions
that had been seen over and over again. The change between black and white to
colour is a convention used in The Script’s ‘For the First Time’. The black and white
effect on my music video is very conventional to the Indie genre as videos such as Ed
Sheeran’s ‘The A Team’ use this composition. I believe this effect is simple yet very
effective in conveying a traditional relationship that every person desires for, therefore
enabling the audience to place themselves in the music video, making it realistic. My music video

7. MISE-EN-SCENE
Mise-en-scene played a significant part in my music video because when watching
other music videos it is the mise-en-scene that allows the audience to connect with
the actors and believe what is happening. The locations, the costumes and the
Ed Sheeran
props are what make a music video look realistic and convey the genre in a true ‘The A Team’
manner. Nonetheless, it is difficult to judge how conventional a location or certain
props are because it depends on the meaning behind the song and what the artist is
trying to convey.
I specifically chose to film my music video in the Autumn/Winter time due to the low My music video
sunlight and stereotypical romantic Winter whether. I wanted the sun to be low in the
sky in order to shine onto the couple, I felt this was a stereotypical romantic feature
which would convey to the audience the warm glow couples get when in love.
Autumn/Winter seemed like a conventional season for my Indie music video to be
filmed due to numerous music videos for Ed Sheeran and Aiden Grimshaw being set
on quite dull and cloudy days. I liked the romantic mood that both of these music Typical Indie clothes
videos created so wanted to follow convention and use this myself.
The costumes I chose for the actors were extremely significant, as they were a key
prop in order to portray the Indie genre truthfully. Additionally, as I was representing a
developing relationship, it was vital that I ensured the actors were wearing different
costumes in each scenario, representing a different day. Furthermore, I had to ensure
the costumes were within the demographic of the target audience in order for a My music video
costumes
connection to be made between the narrative and the audience, consequently
making it believable and realistic. I believe this was successful as the female
character wore quite typical Indie clothes and the male character did the same.

8. There was only one element of my music video that can be deemed as
unconventional for Indie music videos; I chose to create a music video which
had minimal lip synching. It is clear from watching music videos, not just Indie,
that lip synching is a fairly common factor. However, I wanted the narrative
and performance to be completely separate in order to create the idea that My music video
the artist was singing in the present but the song was about the past, and the performance with lip
narrative takes the audience on that journey to the past. There are very few, synching
but still some, Indie music videos which have previously broken this convention,
such as Ed Sheeran’s ‘The A Team’. This has no lip synching throughout, just
tells a narrative which I particularly warmed to when I watched it, therefore I
felt it was a very effective element to include.
In my opinion challenging conventions is a vital part of creating a music video
or in fact any media text, because it is this that makes the music video
individual to each artist. Especially taking into consideration the fact that I
created an Indie music video, the idea that it supposed to be represented is
that the artist is ‘individual’ and doesn’t want to follow other artists.
Nonetheless, I am aware, as a fan of music videos myself, that people like
familiarity. There is an element of knowing what is going to happen that
people have a connection with. In this respect, I believe that the convention I
challenged was successful and did not, or will not, completely throw the
audience from what they’re used to as challenging one convention in a video
is useful. This is because if conventions weren’t challenged then every music My music video
narrative
video, or other media text, would just be the same and never adapt to
changing circumstances, it is the small but effective changes that bring
variety and diversity to a music video, keeping the audience interested.

9. Overall, comparing my music video to already existing ones I feel the
conventions I used, developed and challenged were all extremely successful. I
believe they created a conventional Indie music video which still remained
individual to the artist whilst conveying the message I had intended.