Genre

My Chosen genre is indie rock. I am going to focus on one band in particular (The 1975) as well as looking at others such as Radiohead and The Arctic Monkeys. I have chosen this genre as it is very popular with the teenage audiences at the current times as the interest in festival bands is increasing. I will be looking into the codes and conventions of this genre of music to understand what the audience will be expecting from our final product.

Indie Rock is the sub-genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980's which is where its retro feel comes from. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres. Originally used to describe record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. Indie rock then became a separate movement when bands such as Nirvana broke into mainstream music taking the 'alternative' label with them. Many musicians were disappointed with this label as it became too conventional and mainstream which seemed inappropriate to name these small independent bands who have no relations and no desire to become part of the mainstream movement. This is when the bands slowly began to separate from the label of alternative rock and create these sub-genres to keep in touch with the roots of its movement.

Settings
Indie music videos are typically known to be very natural and done on a low budget. The main settings used includes small home made studios, cities, parks and in remote unknown locations. These are places that can be accessed easily and create mystery as they are urban and rural. We will keep our settings simple as this is typical of an indie rock music video to keep the focus on the artist and their performance.

Mise en scene
This is a critical factor to the indie rock genre as it helps tell the narrative. The people that are featured in the videos are typically retro through the use of costumes and makeup. There are also sometimes additional actors playing the main part in the narrative of the video to enforce the meanings behind the music. Props also play a large role as they ensure that the music video looks realistic. For an indie rock genre this could include instruments such as guitars and drum kits.

Performance
A convention of the indie rock genre music videos is often to include live performances as it shows them doing what they enjoy. It is typical in this genre to focus on the talents of the artist to help promote them. However over recent years its become popular to include a narrative performance in between clips to give the video more meaning as it helps the audience relate personally to the lyrics of the song. Facial expressions tend to be minimal, keeping them plain and quite serious at times. You rarely see the performers smiling in their videos as this is not a normal convention for this genre we don't expect it.

Narrative
As i previously mentioned showing a narrative to the lyrics has recently become increasingly popular in the indie rock genre. This helps the audience to relate to the lyrics making the video more personal. Narrative has become popular because it captures peoples attention better compared to just shots of a band making it easier to relate to and empathise with. This gives you room to be able to expand shot verity and the range of effects used.

Camera
The most typical camera shot used in this genre of music are close up shots of instruments and their emotions then also crane shots to get a full view of performances. Long and wide shots are also common as they are used as establishing shots to set the scene of the narrative in the music video. Typically the lead singer is positioned in the centre and towards the front of the frame, this is because this is who the audience will recognise the most. Most people in the indie rock genre concentrate on the whole band working closely together to promote their group not just the individuals.

Editing
The editing is one of the if not the most important parts of the music video as it creates the correct vibes and emotions for the music. Most indie genres have special effects to make the video run smoothly. To do this shots are sully cut either fact or slow to reflect the pace of the music. Effects are usually added over the the top of the video to create an old worn look to it. The black and white effect in particular is very popular as it appears very old fashioned giving it a classical and grudge feel to it.