The
brief was to create an original. Innovative music video ranging from 3-5
minutes using an original soundtrack from an unsigned artist utiling the
technical tools of camera, sound, mise en scene and editing. The reason for my
choice in this indie pop genre is that I researched many music videos, and
Indie pop stuck out, as many of the videos were low budget productions, which
matched my circumstance. For example many of Ed Sheeran’s music videos are low
budget productions for example Lego house music video. His music videos fit’s
the type of genre as you can tell this by looking at his appearance, clothing
and the style of editing. The editing of these videos are slow paced, other
examples of artist using this type of genre are Jake Bugg and Two door cinema
club.
By
researching this genre I was able to establish that my music video was an indie
pop video, using the UN signed artist Chris Johnson’s song ‘never made time’.
The video focuses on a man lamenting the breakdown of his relationship with his
girlfriend and mentioning the pain and sorrow that is engulfing him. This is
shown through moments of solitude and being alone with his thoughts and
emotions.
The
genre of this music video could be identified as indie pop; this can be shown
through the artist’s appearance by their clothing, which consists of casual
clothing, including dark skinny jeans and jumpers. Another element of
identifying the genre is through the camera angles and the positioning of the
artist, many indie pop videos include the band and they all perform closely
together and the main singer is positioned in the centre of the lens. My video
goes against this convention, as it doesn’t film the band it only films the
main artist. David Buckingham would say,
“genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is a constant process of
negotiation and change”. Even though it is important to stay within the
conventions of my genre, it is also important to recognise that things change
through time as you have to stay on top with the constant change in technology
and the audience needs.
These
elements of mise en scene show how the genre is meant to be
perceived in the fan base of that genre. Another way you can tell my video is
an indie pop genre is that most indie pop genres are low budget videos, so the
main settings take place in public areas such as parks and woodland spaces.
These locations create mysteries, which make the audience focus more on the
performance. By using all these iconic
styles of the indie pop genre, I am making it easier for the audience to
identify with my music video and its genre.
The
techniques I used to establish to make sure that I stayed with my chosen genre
was the editing style, for example when editing I made sure that the video pace
matched the audio pace, also I wanted it to be at a slow pace, as this is often
used in indie pop music videos. Also I matched the transitions when there was a
change in beat in the music. I used establishing shots to show the nature in the
film, which my genre matches, as they are low budget films so tend to be filmed
in public locations and are hand held style shots. The chorus shots were repeated,
for example the opening of eyes at an extreme close up shot and the mid shot of
the artist singing.
I used
this repeatability to help the audience relate and remember the song lyrics and
the artist. There was many fade in and
outs in my music video, to show the memories he was remembering. For example
when the artist is standing on the bridge and there is another shot above it
with a low opacity to get both shots in the same lens, this shows the
connection with the two characters on screen.
The
overall success of my music video and its genre is that the lyrics matched the
visuals, so it was easy to understand what was going on which helped the
audience relate and widen there cultural experience, as it showed elements of
dance, so it wasn’t constricted to one audience.
