Conventions and Codes for Indie/Folk Music

Conventions and Codes for Indie/Folk Music

As my chosen artist falls under the music genre indie/folk, I have decided to analyse what the conventions are for this category. This is so I can produce an accurate visual for the track which looks professional and realistic. 

Settings:
Indie/folk music videos are usually low budgeted. Settings such as parks, pubs, cities, recording studios etc are used which creates mystery and surprise, yet also fits in the budget. The settings are easy to locate and very effective. Artists such as Ed Sheeran filmed the majority of 'A Team' in a city without a massive finance. 



Performance:
Most of these music videos include a performance. This illustrate the artists to be talented musicians who are passionate about their music. Instead of performing at busy clubs and festivals, they are usually performing somewhere more quiet which shows that they are more passionate about their interest in music than their success.


Narrative:
This genre is famous for it's narrative music videos which links the visual images to the lyrics (Andrew Goodwin's Theory - Amplify). The story line illustrates the track which engages the audience and keeps them entertained through the duration of the track. 

Costume:
The costume and make-up used usually links in with the settings and the story line. Together, the basic costumes help create a realistic character that the audience can relate to.

Sound:
Although the main use of sound is the non diegetic sound of the track, diegetic sound can be used effectively throughout. It is usually at the start of the music video where the artist will explain parts of the story line or during the music video as a distorted or faded sound.

Camera:
In folk/indie music videos, there is a big use of close-ups and extreme close-ups. Due to the narriative performance in the video, the close-ups allows the audience to see the emotion and facial expressions the artists/actors wear to make the visual representation more realistic.
There are also a variety of long shots which establishes the settings and focuses on the artist and their star image. Usually these shots involve the musicians playing an instrument.
Handheld shots are effective for when shooting scene which involve flashbacks or memory scenes.

Edits:
Usually, a filter will be added on top of a clip to make it appear rustic and vintage. This is very common in indie/folk music and helps illustrates the story line and sets emotion.
The shots are edited to the pace of the music. If the music speeds up, the numbers of shots will increase and the quicker they are whereas if the music slows down, the clips tend to last longer.