Indie Music: Sub-genre conventions

Bands and videos used

• Coldplay: A sky full of stars- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI

• The Nationale: Conversation 16- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5geyUlU4Y

• Libertines: Gunga Din- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEf27xuYcw4

Type of video

These videos are a greatly varied mixture of Performance and narrative-based. A sky full of stars is rather unique in that it shows a long, one-take shot of a street performance. Here, the ‘narrative’ present in the other two videos is almost absent, with the story limited to a rather impressive street performance. In contrast, Conversation 16 is the exact opposite, being exclusively narrative-based with no sign of the performers visible. Gunga Din is in the middle, and the closest to a conventional pop music video, as it is recognizably split evenly between narrative and performance-based shots.

Meaning through technical elements

A sky full of stars and Gunga Din both begin not with the music, but with a long establishing shot of the location. However, whereas Gunga Din cuts away, though, A sky full of stars is all done in one long take, similar to the video for ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ by the Verve. These beginnings, particularly in Gunga Din, allow the scene to be set for the narrative of the videos, helping to illustrate and amplify the meaning of the lyrics.

Coversation 16, interestingly, never shows the singer or other band members performing. It is purely narrative-based. The soundtrack is therefor comprised solely of non-diegetic sound in the form of the music track. A sky full of stars is similar in this approach. However, Gunga Din begins with a sequence of shots entirely separate to the music track. Here the soundtrack is made up of diegetic background noise, which helps to create an atmosphere for the narrative that does not rely on the music or lyrics.

Mise-en-scene• Gunga Din is clearly set in a busy town. the background of many shots is filled with

bright sign lights and crowds of people going about their business. This helps to amplify the meaning of the lyrics.

• The performers in both Gunga Din and A sky full of stars are not presented as being particularly smart or professional. In the former, the potentially smart outfit is undermined by being worn incorrectly. In the Latter, all the performers are dressed as ‘one-man-bands’. This suggests that they are more casual people than most music stars, seemingly unconcerned with their image.

From looking at the three videos, it seems that Indie music videos often have at least some narrative to them to accompany the lyrics of the song. The performer’s outfits are not necessarily very elaborate or smart, often connoting the image of the performers being relaxed, laidback individuals.