Indie/Alternative Bands Documentary

Jasmin, Amy, Nicole

Genre codes and conventionsWe complied all of our findings into a mind map so that we could refer to this when making our own music video. We thought of bands within the indie/alternative genre, the type of music performed and the video conventions. Within the videos that we looked at, almost all (or if not all, some) were followed by each one.

Music video researchAs part of our research into the indie/alternative genre, we watched music videos from different bands within this genre in order to collect a range of genre conventions that we found we common within these videos that would help us to create our own video. We looked at a range of videos from different bands and where some aspects were the same, some were different. For example, 7 – Catfish and the Bottlemen was a video that we looked at. It was a performance video, with a main colour scheme of black and white and it included different shots of the band with their instruments, with a scene at the end of the band performing on stage. (insert video) The video was similar to other videos such as Girls – The 1975, which has a black and white colour scheme, which is to represent how this genre is different to the pop genre, the rock genre and so on. By researching different videos and looking at the codes and conventions and analyzing them in detail, it helped us to see what to include or what not to include, in order to adhere to or challenge the genre convention and whether to make a stereotypical or challenging music video. The videos that we looked at adhered to most of Andrew Goodwin's theories, such as a lot of the videos that involved the band had close ups so we got to feel as if we knew the band on a personal level and it shows us their appearance which links to costume, a way that is used to express the band's identity. Also, the videos we studied did not include voyeuristic views, something Goodwin says is evident in a lot of music videos, so the indie/alternative genre somewhat challenge this theory, making us think that they want to focus on the music and not how people see them through scandalous music videos.

These are some examples of close ups and medium close ups from three of the videos that we studied. The idea that Goodwin says that close ups are used to sell the artist is true, in our opinion, because we feel like we can study the band members when we are close to them.

Another of Goodwin's theories is that music videos can contain intertextual references and we found that intertextual reference was only recognisable within one video (The Sound – The 1975). This told us that indie/alternative bands would possibly rather create their own image without the help of other influences, or they would rather not show their influences so that the audiences can focus on the band itself. We found a lot of the songs to be either a form of amplify or disjuncture. A lot of the videos that we looked at illustrated the lyrics and had deep meanings in them, and the videos amplyfied the lyrics, for example The Sound video by The 1975 and When The Sun Goes Down video by the Arctic Monkeys. However, some videos had no relation to the lyrics, such as the video 7 by Catfish and The Bottlemen. Indie/alternative bands could be amplyfying the lyrics with matching visuals in order to send across deep messages about hard hitting topics but they could also not represent the lyrics through their videos in order to create the image of being different, both genre conventions linked to these bands. As well as adhering of course to some of Andrew Goodwin's theories on music videos, some showed us that they challenged his ideas, something that could show the indie/alternative bands wanted to do so that they could portray the image of being different and try to corrupt the stereotypes associated with them already.

Mise en scene:The mise en scene throughout the videos was quite similar, linking the videos and bands to each other, even if they were trying to be different. It was interesting to see that even though these bands want to be different from other bands of other genres, they are all quite similar to each other (obviously). In the music videos that we looked at, these were things that we noticed -

●Dark colour schemes, sometimes black and white.

●Quite low key lighting or sometimes very bright, unusual lighting which created the originality and surprising effect of being different.

●Scruffy, monotone coloured outfits, messy hair, quite an unkempt/careless appearance.

●Settings were different but tended to be places like empty rooms, stages/arenas, places that are 'well known' to us (we know what they look like, they aren't exciting) which could show that by trying to be simple and realistic, indie/alternative bands are actually being quite complex and unique.

●Props were often instruments, showing the passion for music from the band.

Digipak researchAs well as creating a video, we have to create a digipak, the CD cover that comes with the album. To understand what things to include we researched some digipaks too, looking at key elements such as mise en scene, typography and other information included on the digipak. As with the music videos, we found that each digipak held some similarities and some differences to each other but all had genre conventions.

We found that the digipak for the Arctic Monkey’s album and the digipak for The 1975’s album were similar in the fact that they were both quite simple but had the same monotone colour scheme and simplistic looks however the images (or lack of) represent more compelx messages about the music on the album and the band’s identity, something that indie/alternative bands like to do in order to get audiences to listen to their music.

The Nirvana album digipak was interesting to study because the bright colours and unique images mean it isn’t as stereotypical to the genre as the other digipaks, which suggests that the band want to be different from other indie/alternative bands as well as other bands in general.

The ALT – J digipak is futuristic, signifying that this genre of music is beyond any other, and will continue to be great into the future. It, too, was different from the other digipaks, as it was simple but the vivid splashes of colours and the original font made it interesting.

The digipaks, like the music videos and adverts all followed a similar theme of 'being different', with characteristics expected of the indie/alternative genre. We thought that on the whole, although the digipaks look different from each other, with different mise en scenes and themes, these elements created an overall identity of 'being different', something a lot of these bands want to achieve. The digipaks each had individual identities that represent the band and each hold their own originality, whilst also being linked together through the same genre and themes. The unusually unexpected colour schemes for some of the digipaks and the plain schemes for others showed that these bands are just trying to be different in their own ways and having an individual identity matters a lot because they can be identified easier by fans and having a unique identity possibly proves that they are different and this is something a lot of the bands try to achieve.

Poster/advert researchAs well as creating the actual music video and digipak, an advert in the form of a print poster is necessary to spread the word about the album and band. We looked at numerous different posters and again, found that they were all similar in some way and that they mostly adhered to the genre conventions.

Each poster has its own unique look with colour schemes, fonts, images. The Arctic Monkeys poster was the most genre conventional, with no images, simple black and white colour scheme and the band name, creating the atmosphere of complexity within simplicity and enigma, ‘what kind of music is this band?’, ‘what’s the tone of their music?’

The Oasis poster was the most unconventional, with the vivid colours possibly signifyignt hat the music is more light hearted and happy being a main factor. The image is unique, which is what the indie/alternative genre is all about and the title of the band was in the iconic font and colours of the band, black and white, which could be considered to be typical of the indie/alternative genre as the band have their own motif in order to be remembered by and it is in typical colours we’d associate with the genre.

The idea that the poster for The Killers is that they don't have one identity, they have many, shown through the face central in the poster that shows more than one face and is made up of several, one not even human which could suggest that their music and image is of 'another world' or is extremely different and edgy.

The posters, similar to the digipaks, all follow the theme of 'being different', even though they all look different. Each is unique to its band, with different compositions and colour schemes and fonts but these elements have things in common that link to the genre, such as the colours, with the exception of one poster may not all be dark greys and blacks, what is expected of the indie/alternative genre, but they all create moods and tones that we'd associate with the genre, for example cool tones and relaxed, carefree moods. The images used on a lot of the posters are quite enigmatic, creating questions for the audiences that make them want to listen to the band in order to find out the answers to their questions. “Are the bands as simple as they seem through their posters?” or “Are the band actually rather complex?”

To conduct and aid our research into the audience that we are targeting, we created a survey with questions to do with the genre. We asked around eight or nine people, boys and girls, in order to get a range of responses. We chose to give different types of questions, such as drop down menus and normal answer boxes to give variety also. We asked general questions to find out more about our audience, such as ‘how old are you?’ and more in depth question, such as ‘what colour scheme would you associate with an indie music video?’. We compiled all of the answers and collected the data which made it easier to read.

Audience surveys

Focus groupsThe focus groups allowed us to find out more about our audiences and we got to talk to them personally and by asking them questions on the spot we got their immediate response on what they thought about the indie/alternative genre. We asked three people five questions, two girls and one boy, of the age range we are aiming our product at, which of course is most helpful. The questions that we asked were based on a ‘whole package’ from the Arctic Monkeys, the Arabella music video, the Arctic Monkeys digipak and the AM album poster advert.

• What idea/ image do you get of the band?• How do the Arctic Monkeys represent the indie alternative genre? Is it effective?• What image is created from the advert?• Do you think the whole package represents the indie genre well?• Would you buy this album?

These are the questions that we asked, all relating to the Arctic Monkeys package that we researched.