Conventions - Genre

Indie pop genre 

From researching the conventions of music videos I have a broad range of understanding and awareness of how these conventions are interpreted in various genres of music videos. For example in rock music videos typical conventions used are band performance or live footage, equally within pop videos the audience expect to see bright colours, lip-syncing, choreography and performance. For my own music video the genre in which I want it to be associated with is indie-pop because that is the typical genre my artist is recognized for. I have looked at both the indie and pop genre separately to see how conventions from both genres overlap to create the cross over genre ‘indie-pop’. I have researched both genres as a whole; by looking at various other media outlets such as fashion, magazines, film and music videos it has helped me to gain a wider knowledge on how to apply these conventions to my own video to appeal to a indie-pop audience.

From my research these are the codes and conventions I have found for the indie-pop genre; 

• Performance is often expected within this genre of music video, however if the genre is interlinked with another genre such as ‘indie-rock’ it is very common for artists to do a live performance for their music video. This way the main focus is on the artists and it keeps the spotlight on the actual music and talent of the artist.

• Indie pop music videos are known to be low budget due to the fact that the artists are signed to independent record labels. The main settings used are in; studios, cities, parks and woods all are which are available with a low budget. These locations create mysteries which makes the audience focus more on the performance and actual music.
• A narrative is used to tell a story by using sequence of images and videos related to the song; this enables the audience to the meaning behind the song, as technology has advanced, directors are able to create a variation of storytelling created by special effects making the video a lot more interesting for the audience, this helps the artist gain recognition and status from a memorable video.  
• Indie pop music videos are generally simple. Props, costumes, make up, etc. are usually modest and natural linking to the verisimilitude that is usually created. A prop can complete a scene as audiences can physically see what the character/artist is doing within in the scene. Costume and make up create the character within the video. It indicated their age, wealth, status, era of the music video and stability. For example in Taylor Swifts ‘Blank Space’ the use of the costume and make up helps the audience understand her wealth and status in the video.
• With sound in indie pop music videos dialogue is often used within the video either at the beginning or the end to tell or conclude a story. It is also sometimes used to distort, fade, increase or decrease the tempo to express a character or artists emotions. Obviously the soundtrack to the song is put with the video, often actions within scenes match the lyrics to the song.
• In terms of cinematography the most common shots used are extreme, close ups and medium close ups this introduces the artist or the protagonist character to the audience and also is used to show expression of emotions. Long shots and establishing shots are used to show the setting of the video. Tilts and pans are used to either move along the scene or cut to another scene. Typically in indie pop music videos there is use of both handheld and Steadicam to create various effects to fit the narrative.
• In terms of editing filters are typically used over the top of clips or the entire video to give the video a specific feel and idea to the audience, such as a memory, age to the video or show the video in a positive or negative light. Fast and slow cuts throughout the video are used to match the pace of the song creating the atmosphere of the music video.