Music Video survey

Codes and conventions of Indie pop

Denis McQuail says ‘The genre may be considered as a practical device for helping any mass medium to produce consistently and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers’, this theory applies to the Indie pop genre.

Representation of Artists and Bands in the Indie Pop genre

Music videos in this specific genre are usually performance or narrative based. They are very simply made, and are mostly covers and remakes of original songs; for example, Boyce Avenue does covers by various artists and yet is on of the most famous indie singers. 

The representation of indie artists and bands is not done as a showing off spree, there is no selling of body image, no aggression, no violence, the videos are very calm and simple. The artists are very casually dressed up- they don't have a heaps of make up on and it's more about how the artist is talking about his own story through the song. 

For example, Boyce Avenue- A great big world

Only a few indie artists/ bands dress up formally for a music video even if the context of it isn't formal. 

For example, FUN- We are young

The lighting for such music videos is mainly low-key but it also depends on what the mood of the song is. The mis-en-scene for most acoustic videos is generally a small self created studio or a big room etc. The hairstyles, clothing is very casually done- there is nothing specific to it while some artists may have their signature style, Ed Sheeran is known to be a red head with wavy hair.
The representation of these artists is very typical to what a normal audience could easily connect to.

Instruments of Indie/ Acoustic Pop

Acoustic/ Indie music primarily uses instruments that produces acoustic music as opposed to electronic/ electric means. 

The very basic yet important instruments used are:

Cajon Box Drum

Bass Guitars

Acoustic Guitar

Percussions

Similar Albums for Indie/ acoustic pop songs

Albums of all indie/ acoustic songs differ, some artists only have a few acoustic songs while the rest of the playlist focuses more on the pop/rock side of music which is more popular among the general audience.

Here are a few indie albums with songs from pop to indie rock, catering to a wider audience. 

Some Indie/ Acoustic Pop Tracks

The genre being indie pop, some great music includes:

Thinking out loud- Ed Sheeran

Lego House- Ed Sheeran

We Are Young- Fun

Say Something -A Great Big World, Christina Aguilera 

Cool Kids- Echosmith

Genre; Similar artists of Acoustic/ Indie pop genre

From the time when acoustic pop genre had nearly died down, it is becoming popular again, slowly but definitely. Artists like Sam Smith have played a great role recently in bringing about this change again with pop artists like Ed Sheeran adding up to help the genre grow.

Acoustic/ Indie/ adult alternative artists are extremely popular with their soft, melodious music. A few of the very popular ones are: 

Selecting the Genre

After doing some research on various genres, the genre my group decided is "Indie pop".  It is a very recent yet one of the most popular genres, it includes unplugged performances, the instruments are not plugged into speakers and only portray their actual sounds, with a few exceptions such as the bass guitar.

Indie pop music is a branch of indie rock but much more mellow, melodious, angst- free and without any ruggedness- it is a kind that most audiences thoroughly enjoy. Examples of indie pop singers being Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Ellie Goulding etc. Sometimes the indie pop genre is up-beat as well with singers like Taylor Swift and Rihanna. 

Understanding Genre

A genre is a way of categorizing a text through style and form. Identification of key elements in a text helps us to categorize and classify the text in the genre. Each different type of media form has its own characteristics and codes and conventions that need to be followed in order for it to be accepted by society as a whole. Films have genres e.g thriller, horror, film noir etc, magazines have genres, entertainment, lifestyle etc and so do music eg. pop, rock, indie pop, etc. These genres often have sub genres and sometimes these sub genres are a combination of two different genres.

The elements of media texts might be referred to as paradigms and range from costumes, music, plot points and even the fonts used, depending on what medium is used. Genre is important for readers and the creators of the text especially since nowadays, the audiences have become Prosumers; they produce and consume media texts. Genre helps both the producers and consumers to make decisions about what they want to see and what they want to make to supply the demand. 

"Genre creates expectations that condition our responses. The familiarity of the genre enables each spectator to anticipate and predict what will appear in them. Genre sets up hopes and promises and brings pleasure if these hopes and promises are fulfilled." - Warren Buckland 

Intertextuality in Music Videos

Voyeurism in Music Videos

Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature. The voyeur does not normally interact directly with the subject of his/her interest, who is often unaware of being observed. The essence of voyeurism is the observing but may also involve the making of a secret photograph or video of the subject during an intimate activity.

Voyeurism in music videos is extremely common, it is exploited to attract target audiences (usually of the opposite sex). For example, female pop singers use close ups of their breasts, and other body parts just for the sake of attraction from their own audiences. Male performers usually show their mid shots, shirtless with six pack abs and crazy tattoos.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory: He argued that a female performer with often be objectified through the camera and editing will be done in a fragmented sequence. This emphasises the sexual image of the star. Male performers are however exploited within a music video to flatter their ego.

Example:

Rihanna- Pour It Up

 http://www.ytpak.com/watch?v=ehcVomMexkY

In this music video Rihanna exploits her body and uses voyeurism for attracting the male audience. Firstly, her body movements highlight the figure a lot. The provocative dance movements on the chair and then the pole dances leaves nothing to the imagination. The mid shots show Rihannas arching back and in return magnifies her bottom. All of these leave the male spectator with a lot of sexual gratification and pleasure.

Star Image

Some research into Andrew Goodwins and Richard Dyers star image theory: I chose Beyonce as the star since her image has changed a lot ever since she started off.