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These are just some examples of popular Indie bands
Curiously, you will find that Indie music lead vocalists predominantly tend to be male with no apparent explanation
The advantage of being independent from a a record company is that the artist has complete autonmony when it comes producing their music
The band 'Arctic Monkeys' are one of the greatest and most successful rock bands to come out of England and they are considered an independent
Independent Music or Indie Music as it is often shortened to is when an artist or band 'goes at it on their own'. They produce their own songs without a major commercial record company.
Indie music does not typically have constrictive norms when it comes to the actual song or the music videos
ALTERNATIVE / INDIE
The Origins Of Indie Music
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock.
The First Indie Rock Bands
The BBC documentary Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie pinpoints the birth of indie as the 1977 self-publication of the Spiral Scratch EP by Manchester band 'Buzzcocks'. Although 'Buzzcocks' are often classified as a punk band, it has been argued by the BBC and others. The genre was dominated in the early 1980's by the bands 'R.E.M' and 'The Smiths'
Some of my personal favourites by 'R.E.M' and 'The Smiths' - Take a listen
The Uniqueness Of Indie Music
Independent music gives the freedom that a lot of artists are restricted from when they sign to a record label. As well as this with the advancement of computer technology every home-made recording can be considered an indie recording. Additionally, the development of new technology allows for greater experimentation with sound since the means to do so are made widely available to the general public. The genre is perhaps the most open to fans and artists alike thanks to this reason.
General overview of Indie music videos that would go on to influence our video
Mis-en-scene
When it comes to mis-en-scene in an indie music video there are few tropes or restrictions that need to be followed, as showcased in this music video by 'OK Go'. This video seems to conform absolutely no conventions and is effectively completely random. Throughout the set no prop appears to be there to conform to a convention. It seems to go against the established typical music video, which is what indie music is about, going against the norm.
The video to 'Bittersweet Symphony' starts with a 45 second long tracking shot of the singer and the rest of the video is the same just a tracking shot of the artists as he walks the down the road. The simplicity of the camera movement shows the free flowing and carefree attitude of the song as well as the artist. This conforms to the idea that indie bands and artists are carefree and have an almost nonchalant attitude towards life.
Camera Movement
Editing
The use of a filter on Adele's video to 'Hello' helps to create a sombre tone which emphasises the emotion behind the song. This conforms to Andrew Goodwin's theory that the visuals can illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics, in this case the editor has decided to amplify the emotion in the lyrics. This is not always the norm in indie songs as there is no need to conform to a certain archetype.
Sound
Arctic Monkeys' song 'R u mine?' starts with the diegetic sound of a radio presenter introducing the song, this directly complies to the Andrew Goodwin theory as the images presented on screen are amplified by the lyrics and vice-versa. This element of the music video is quite unique which helps solidify the Arctic Monkeys' individuality, which is crucial to an indie bands success.
Analysis of an Indie music video
Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood
The message
The message behind the song seems to be pretty generic when it comes to Indie songs, in that the singer seems to be lost in love, stating they 'hate the beach' but they would also love to 'have an adventure with the woman he loves'
Camera Work
The wide establishing shot at the start of the video allows the audience to understand the tight relationship the members of the band have, as we see that they are gathered in a rather large communal area yet they seem to prefer to congregate together. With the signer standing in the middle of the shot suggesting that he is the leader of the group.
Camera Work
This point of view shot makes the video feel more welcoming and the band seem more likeable as it seems as you are part of the band and the journey that they take in the music video, thus making the whole video more immersive and potentially more successful. We may include this in our music video.
Camera Work
In this scene of the music video the camera take on an inverted view of the band, this is relatively unique and conforms to the idea there popular restrictions on Indie music videos. This creates band individuality as well which may be something the band could use throughout their videos to create a band identity.
Camera Work
In this tracking shot we the audience are put side by side with artists for a full 16 seconds, furthering reinforcing the idea that the band are relatable and that we are taking this journey with the band as the song progresses. We hope to adapt this relatability to our final piece.
Costume and iconography
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Summary
When it comes to describing the type of clothing that Indie bands wear, it can often be described as rather out there and perhaps almost hipster like. They majority of bands seem to conform to the general rule of clothing being relatively dark, however they all seem to pull off the look in their own unique way. An element of punk/rock seems to always be present and this conforms to the idea that most Indie bands are 'Rebels' or 'Outcasts'. This can be seen in this music video and also on the actual band in the picture in the middle of the honeycomb of the right.
Setting
The video seems to be set in a busy city which you find to be the norm when it comes to shooting an Indie music video as it tends to be a lot cheaper and often you do not require the written permission to film thus make the whole filming process easier.
The almost industrial are in this shot seems to connote the idea that Indie music is made by normal everyday people and allows the audience to further relate to the song and band as it not an 'out there' video, it seems to be more engaging because of this, we plan to implement this into our piece hoping it will have the same effect.
In this shot we can see that the setting is by the beach, a place that we leads us to infer the situation is calming and that the song is currently rather slow, which is true. The location in this scene conveys the slow pace of the song at this moment in time.
Relationship between lyrics and visuals
We hear the lyrics 'All I am is a man' as we see the whole band pilled into one car, suggesting a collective identity when it comes to how the band members see themselves. It also suggests that the band are extremely close and that they may represent the journey that the singer takes, as a band not as individuals.
As the lyrics 'Let's have an adventure' are sung we see a close up of a couple holding hands. This conforms to Andre Goodwin's theory that the visuals can illustrate the lyrics, this is made clear by the fact that he takes her hand as a sign of solidarity and to show that he will be ther for her on this 'adventure'
Upon the delivery of the line 'You in those little high waisted shorts, oh', we see this shot of a band member in his thoughts, and his face suggests he is remembering the lyric that is being sung. This is another case of the visuals illustrating the lyrics.