Music Video Conventions

Conventions Of My Music Video

Overview

I decided to look at conventions of music videos within the indie folk genre, specifically relating and linking it back to my own music video. I will look at three of the four micro elements, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and also reference conventions of the genre and talk about the links of themes within my narrative.

Mise-en-scene

The conventions of an indie folk music video, in reference to mise-en-scene vary to quite a large extent. I feel I succeeded in following the conventions of mise-en-scene, including props, lighting, costume and location. I created a unique music video to L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N by Noah and the Whale, which is visually entertaining and links to the genre.

Mise-en-scene- Costume – Music Video

My artist had three different costumes, two for the music video and one for the ancillary texts. All three outfits were very similar, as to stick to conventions and not making him look too different to the chosen genre. In the music video he wore black jeans, a stripy shirt, a bow tie, a jacket dark jacket and red doc martens. I felt this linked to the indie folk genre and followed the typical conventions of costumes used within this genre, as it’s quite an alternative choice of outfit. I think the bow tie really brought the outfit together and added to the quirkiness and uniqueness of the music video, which is often intended within indie folk music videos. His outfit changed slightly for the

performance aspect at the end of the music video. Here he wore very similar clothes, but he wore blue jeans, a different shirt and a blazer instead. The removal of the bow tie represented how he had grown as a person.

Mise-en-scene- Costume – Ancillary Texts

The outfit used in the ancillary texts was very similar to the music video outfits, because I wanted to stick to conventions and make sure my products all linked and looked like they belonged together.

I used the same image for the front cover of my digipak and the magazine advert, because that’s a typical convention and makes sure an audience knows the products are combined. The costume used for the ancillary texts was a patterned shirt and a grey blazer, similar to what was worn for the performance aspect of my music video. I made these links so that conventions of the genre were followed, therefore resulting in an effective product.

Links To Original Music Video

I didn’t make any intentional links to the original music video, in reference to costume, but I just followed the typical conventions of the genre and that resulted in similar costumes. Smart clothing, such as blazers and ties/bow ties, are often worn by males within the indie folk genre, so going on my research and by watching other music videos within this genre, I decided to create the costumes I did.

Mise-en-scene- Props

Props weren’t majorly used within my music video and I don’t think they’re necessarily a huge convention within indie folk. One aspect I wish I could have interpreted into my own music video would be a guitar, as I feel they’re a big convention in indie folk. I felt adding a guitar would have a negative input on my narrative, as the puppet was the main prop and I wanted the focus to be on him. Adding a guitar to the narrative would have effected the narrative and would have changed it completely, as the performance aspect was the puppet show.

Mise-en-scene - Location

Location is a main element within my music video and I feel is very conventional towards indie folk. I used a variety of location because I wanted it to be a reflection of the journey that the artist was on to become fulfilled and feel happiness. The main locations used were Queen’s Gardens, outside the Maritime Museum, and Hull Marina. These locations are well-known in Hull and therefore the puppeteer went there to find an audience. There aren’t really conventional locations used within indie folk and so it was completely open to interpretation, but an earthy theme is often used, as well as dark rooms for performances.

Mise-en-scene – Location –Existing Music Video

Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons also shows the conventional use of a dark room and the performance aspect with various instrumental props. My personal interpretation of this was done at the end of my music video with the puppet, in the dimly lit room.

Youth by Daughter shows a performance in a dark room, which is conventional and effective. It also shows the conventional use of the guitar

Mise-en-scene - Lighting

The lighting varies throughout my music video. The majority of it is natural lighting, as a large amount is filmed outside. From research, the most conventional sequence in my music video would be the performance aspect at the end. Lights were put into the theatre, to create quite an intimate feeling for the audience. This is really conventional and unconventional, as in a typical indie folk music video the artist would be performing with a guitar, but to make it unique, I turned the performance into a puppet show. I felt this both followed and broke conventions and created quite an exciting concept to the music video.

The Lumineers: Ho Hey (right)

Cinematography

Long shots, medium close-ups and close-ups are really typical and conventional of the indie folk genre. Close-ups of props (like guitars) are often used to show what the artist is doing and to give a clear view of how the audience is expected to react to the performance. This also relates to close-ups of the artist’s face, as an audience is intended to see the emotion.

I used a variety of shots in my music video, varying from long shots, to close ups. I felt these kind of shots were really effective and relatable to the genre, as I was able to show the audience what I wanted them to see and therefore evoke specific emotion.

Making an audience feel involved in something helps when making them want to consume it and so using close-up shots helps do this.

Editing

Editing within all music videos is typically done to the beat and usually has cuts on the beat. As this is the main convention, I did it throughout my whole music video. One aspect of my video where editing is done to the beat is where I took various shots of the puppet on stairs and moved him up and down in time to the beat, via the use of Final Cut Pro. I felt this was very conventional towards editing and created quite an exciting/playful aspect to my music video.

Indie Folk Genre

I feel I have been both conventional and unconventional in creative ways when linking back to the indie folk genre. Using a unique narrative, that reflects the genre and emotional themes, as well as the lyrics has been done in my music video and I think it links back to the genre. The most unconventional thing done was change the use of a guitar to a puppet and create an ironic sense, by still have a performance aspect, but putting it within the narrative, to create something deeper and more emotional. From feedback I found that audiences really liked the use of the puppet and it was the most popular aspect of my music video.

Indie Folk Genre – Cont.

Conventional costumes used within the indie folk genre are often very natural and earthy, as it’s a reflection of the music, that it often played by acoustic guitars, and various other instruments. Formal clothing is often used within indie folk music videos, and is a main convention. I feel I followed this convention, with the outfits I used, such as smart shirts and blazers. I feel I was successful in creating an indie folk music video, that matched up to the chosen song and both followed and broke conventions, to a certain extent.