Music videos usually become extensions of a song’s genre; elements that make up music videos, namely mise en scene, editing, camera shots/movement, and sound, combine to form the codes and conventions that one may associate with a certain genre.
These music video codes and conventions convey different meanings depending on the genre and style of the music but may also be fluid or not very strictly followed—for example, if an artist aims to portray their creative image as one that is unconventional, constantly evolving, a mix of different niche genres, or something else along those lines. As an initial exploration of different music video genres, I’ll be using this post to briefly analyse the codes and conventions of specifically rock and indie music videos.
Rock Music Videos
A dark or mysterious atmosphere is characteristic of rock music videos, which usually feature low-key lighting, artists in dark clothing, symbols that point towards rebellion, flamboyant or grungy urban settings, and other similar iconography that makes up the mise en scene. In the case of rock bands, there’s often a more prominent focus on the lead singer who in many ways becomes the centre of the group and the attention it gets due to being at the forefront of promotional campaigns, music videos, etc, such as Julian Casablancas of The Strokes and Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys. As the face of their bands, such artists mostly embody a stereotypical rock persona illustrated by their physical appearance and personality as seen in music videos, live performances, interviews, etc. In keeping with the notion that the main figure of a band will probably be the most liked by fans, music videos also highlight them through technical codes like recurring close-up shots. Other technical additions, like the pace of editing, vary from music video to music video depending on the tempo and style of the song, but quick cuts and fast-paced editing are usually associated with rock music videos.
I will now use this as an excuse to yet again talk about Arctic Monkeys which might become a regular occurrence on this blog since my knowledge of rock musicians is limited to a handful of artists even though rock is my third most listened-to genre according to Spotify stats—that’s up there in the top ten mysteries of the universe I must say.
Brianstorm & Arabella
Arctic Monkeys
Anyway, I picked the music videos of Brianstorm and Arabella to examine how the above-mentioned rock codes and conventions are translated in Arctic Monkeys’ work. The two videos were released years apart and belong to two different ‘eras’ of the band with its 2007 and 2013 albums: Favourite Worst Nightmare and AM. Despite the gap in their release dates and the shift in the band’s creative vision over the years, the music videos feature a very similar look and style of imagery, including a dark atmosphere (with low-key lighting and monochrome visuals respectively), fast-paced editing, close-up shots, a focus on Turner, a hint of rebellious ideologies, and a voyeuristic depiction of women which Goodwin deems a prominent convention in his music video theory (and I happen to despise).
Alternative/Indie Music Videos
The element of uniqueness is most prevalent in the indie genre through songwriting and the music itself, and an indie artist’s individualistic qualities will most likely be reflected in their music videos too. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that indie music videos, not bound by mainstream expectations of commercial success per se, might be more thematically complex than, for example, pop music videos.
The implications of not being signed to a major record label also have a profound impact on the codes and conventions that define the genre. For instance, in an indie artist’s early career, one may be able to easily detect the low-budget nature of their music videos; the production quality may be indicated by visual elements like the utilisation of readily available locations instead of fancy ones due to the artists not having the funding of the mainstream record labels.
A brilliant example that fits these conventions of indie music videos is Mitski’s Humpty.
This song and music video are from Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), the second of Miski’s self-released albums which she created as her senior project while studying studio composition at Purchase College's Conservatory of Music. In other words, one of the most fitting examples of indie mvs I could find in my YouTube watch history.
Humpty
Mitski
The lasting impression left by the simplicity of the visuals combined with the symbolic lyrics, dynamic musicality, and primarily hand-held shots that are characteristic of such videos is just one aspect of what ‘indie’ entails as a genre in music videos.
Indie music videos ultimately tend to have varying combinations of symbolic codes and conventions. Depending on whether the artist/band has more of a rock or pop dynamic, their costumes will be different, diversifying the mise en scene associated with the genre and attracting a target audience accordingly. Therefore, the sub-genre (e.g. indie rock, indie-pop) determines whether an artist may be seen wearing dark and casual clothing or a bit more well thought out, bright, and maybe a little unconventional outfit. This is obvious in the case of the South Korean indie band, Se So Neon, the members of which sport inventive clothing, hair, and makeup in videos, performances, and photoshoots which adds to their creative ‘indie look’—a star image which stems from the creative freedom that mainstream/commerically popular artists in Korea, e.g. K-pop idols, do not always have while being signed to major record lables.
The band’s songs and music videos are known to be experimental in nature, epitomising ‘indie’ both auditorily and visually by erasing the boundaries between various music genres and styles of storytelling. This artistic nature of the band manifest’s in its unique music videos by beautifully enhancing the representation of relevant themes and the straightforward yet polysemic lyrics through visuals.
Go Back (집에)
Se So Neon (새소년)
In Humpty and Go Back respectively, the presence of varied editing to match the tempo of the music, basic narrative elements that lend to the themes of the relatable lyrics and more conceptual and symbolic ones that also evoke questions within the audience, simplicity and eccentricity in mise en scene as well as camerawork, monochromatic visuals and vibrant lighting, and other diverse contradictory factors could help us understand the nuanced and fluid nature of indie music videos.
Conclusively, genres of music videos, and the lines between them, are every bit as contingent as those in film, literature, and music itself; therefore, for me, this research primarily serves the purpose of familiarising fully myself with genre codes and conventions in a way that would act as a helpful guideline for making my own music video project meet all relevant requirements and be cohesive (rather than a strict set of rules that might restrict our group's diverse creative visions).
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