Post 22: Forms and Conventions

FORMS AND CONVENTIONS

The forms and conventions of a professional music video include many different aspects of video making which we'll try to conform to, but also challenge in some areas. In terms of camera angles, professionally made music videos tend to use a range of different shots such as close-ups, long-shots and mid-shots which all help create emphasis on the singer or band, the location they are in and the emotions their song is trying to bring across. Camera movements such as tilts, pans, tracking an crane shots all help follow and trace the artist. Most music videos have the performance of the artist as the main part of the video, sometimes a story is added to the performance, either enacted by an actor or the artist themselves. The transition between storyline and the performance of the artist is often created through the use of jump cuts or fade and dissolve effects, which allow sudden changes from one scene to another. Besides the filming and editing techniques, miss-en scene is a huge part in creating the right atmosphere and setting in a professional music video. Many music video have artificial lighting with bright neon colours, often seen in pop music videos. Some videos tend to combine the use of light and colour and create a black and white effect to emphasise a particularly sad song or demonstrate throwbacks as part of the storyline. The sound of a professional music video is mainly the vocals of the artist which links with the use of lip-syncing and is used in the majority of most music videos. Sometimes, the video starts or ends with a dialogue or other diegetic sounds which transforms it into a mixture between music video and short film. The use of props is vital in aiding to add to the scene and create significance on particular objects or people. This, as well as costumes, reflects the genre and influence the artist will have on the viewers personal style.

Conventions Of Music Videos and The Indie Genre
Indie music videos are usually quite low budget due to the artists not having the funding of the mainstream record labels. For this reason, the videos tend to be simplistic. An example of a very simplistic but effective video from this genre is Jarvis Cocker's video for 'Further Complications':

Performance vs Narrative: 

It is common for an Indie music video to include an element of live performance within the video. This is because it keeps the focus on the music rather than any complex visual elements, which would go against the ideology of the Indie genre. It also allows the artist/band to do what they love, which is create and perform music. However, they often still incorporate a narrative into music videos, as this adds more of a contemporary twist to it. It allows the artist to have more creative freedom with their music and express themselves through visual means as well as in their music. The use of a narrative is also an effective way to make a music video stand out and be more memorable to the audience. Narratives in Indie videos also tend to have a deeper, underlying meaning to them, giving out a specific message which may relate to the song, and help the audience understand the song better. An example of an Indie artist/band that includes both performance and narrative is Noah and the Whale in their video for 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.': HERE.

Mise-en-scene:

Mise-en-scene is commonly a main element in Indie music videos, as certain locations, costume, props, etc. can all be very reflective of the Indie genre. Depending on whether the artist/band has more of a rock or pop dynamic, the costume chosen will be different. Indie rock bands tend to wear dark, very casual clothing, such as skinny jeans and a plain t-shirt. On the other hand, if it is an indie pop artist, their outfit might be a bit more well thought out, bright and weird. This is especially the case in female indie artists, such as Kate Nash (e.g in her video of 'Mouthwash'), who often wear more inventive clothing, hair and makeup, as this adds to their creative, 'indie' look.

Locations:

Locations in indie videos are usually very simple and easy to access. This is because the videos are on a lower budget in comparison to those from the pop genre, whose record labels have large funding. Therefore, typical locations are studios, inner cities, parks, a forest, etc.

Props:

Props are also used a lot in indie videos. The props can range from musical instruments to completely random everyday objects, it just depends on the concept the artist wants to present in their video. Examples of videos that heavily rely on mise-en-scene and manipulate whatever they have around them are Ok Go's video for 'The Writing's One The Wall' and Red Hot Chili Pepper's video for 'Can't Stop' (both these videos are abstract). 

Cinematography:

The cinematography included in indie music videos are similar to the conventional shot types, movements and angles of music videos on a whole. The use of close-ups and extreme close-ups are very popular, as they focus on the artist, introducing them to the audience. Close-ups also tend to take place when the artist/band is performing or lip-syncing, so it keeps focus on the music and the lyrics. This is important in indie music videos, as indie artists care more about the music rather than the visual elements. Long shots and wide shots are often used as establishing shots, so the location and full frame is revealed to the audience. During performance sequences in videos, crane shots and tracks are popular, as it shows the artist/band from a wide variety of angles, keeps the focus on them, and maintains a smooth and professional look. However, hand-held camera is also used in some indie music videos, as it gives a more fresh and raw feel to the video, which fits the ideology of the indie genre. An example of a music video that uses a really interesting and wide range of cinematography, whilst conforming to the conventions is Kings Of Leon's video for 'Use Somebody'.

Editing:

Similarly to music videos of any other genre, indie videos are edited to the beat of the song. This therefore makes cuts and transitions between shots either fast or slow paced depending on the pace of the song. Effects are commonly added over the video to reflect the style or mood of the video. Popular effects used over videos in the indie genre are the sepia or black and white effect, as they add a raw and moody look to the video. If the video is abstract or mainly performance based, editing may be heavily relied on, and special effects will be used throughout. An example of a video which uses a wide range of editing techniques and special effects is MGMT's video for 'Time To Pretend'. It creates a psychedelic feel, which matches the style of the song and the band's image/persona.

These are the forms and conventions for indie/alternative bands and artists explaining a correlation between many of this genre's music videos. Following from this, we have both challenged and conformed to the conventions, as well as developing them into our music video and ancillary tasks. 

How are you trying to conform/develop/challenge to forms and conventions?

For our music video, we have chosen to conform, challenge, and develop different forms and conventions of existing stereotypical music videos. Firstly, we have taken into consideration that the song we have chosen 'I'll Try Anything Once' by The Strokes doesn't have a music video published by the band. So, already we have no influence or effect from an official video meaning we don't have to think about any similarities we may have wanted or to distance ourselves from it with lots of differences. Furthermore, we have decided that we want to have a narrative and, in turn want to conform and develop this convention so that we portray a story much like many music videos, especially by indie/alternative artists. However, we will have no performance element of any sort, and therefore are challenging a large form and convention seeing as we think lip-syncing  or some band shows can (particularly in student made music videos) come across as cheesy and fake. We also think it's obvious when the performer in a music video is not the actual band because if you're an audience member/fan watching a music video, you like and know the band/artist. Hopefully, as we're challenging this, our music video will still hold its own and the narrative will be enough to still keep viewers interested and watching. Thinking about the cinematography and editing, we want lots of slow, long shots that fit with the tempo of the song because if it were hard editing or upbeat, the music video would look disjointed in comparison with the music. This is developing forms and conventions because it is likely to expect in music videos lots of short shots and hard editing but in indie/alternative there are a few examples of slow-editing and longer shots. Therefore, we want to take this further to see how this could highlight the story and our characters. Additionally, we will be using a variation of different camera angles such as close-ups, mid shots and longer shots to create an emphasis on the strong emotions of our characters and the locations which link with the lyrics of the song. If this goes to plan, we will be conforming to the mass production of music videos as a variation of camera shots and angles is commonly used. Even though this conforms to the forms and conventions of music videos, we'll try and develop these conventions to create our own filming style in terms of the use of camera angles and movement which can be recognisable and fits the atmosphere of the song. In terms of mine-en scene, we decided to challenge the use of natural lighting and only rely on artificial light sources such as petrol station lights for any of the night scenes we are planning to film. We liked the idea of including a dialogue at the beginning of our music video, but decided to conform to the sound convention and only use the original song in our video. The props in our music video won't play an important role and again this is an aspect where were it varies from music video to music video if we are conforming or challenging. In some, they are the centre and key to understanding the concept whereas in others they help to portray the story but aren't typically noticeable. Our costumes will probably be conforming the forms and conventions, as we will be using modern outfits which to the audience, can seem relatable and contemporary. 

What has inspired you to make your short film or music video?

When researching, planning, deliberating ideas, mind mapping, or discussing cinematography, mise-en-scene, props, costumes, and locations, to prove a point we would always look for a music video that we had in mind. Because all three of us watch music videos regularly, it was very easy to find what we liked, what we wanted to do, what we didn't like and what we weren't going to do throughout the process. There are a few specific elements of many music videos we have seen that inspired us to make the music video we want to make. 

No.1 = the main admiration is a music video called 'Sleep on the Floor' by The Lumineers.

this video is about a couple that run away to travel America together with no destination in mind but to spend lots of time with each other. this gave us the basic idea of perhaps our characters travelling, but most importantly having no constraints or plans and just wanting to spend as much time as they can with each other. 

No. 2 = Thelma and Louise.

This film is a classic film about two best friends fed up with their boring lives so go on an adventure to have some fun. we thought that this reflected the travelling as well as the Lumineers music video but also added a female dynamic that seemed fitting. We developed this into casting our characters into sisters instead because we thought the bond would be as strong if not stronger than best friends. 

No. 3 = Feel So Close - Calvin Harris 

This music video is memorable to all three of us. We love the colours used and the tone that accompanies it, along with the loose happiness it portrays with the people doing what they love without constraints. This fits in quite nicely with the travelling idea. We would like to incorporate this kind of unique feel into our music video.

LR