Codes & Conventions

Mise - En - Scene

Mise -En- Scene can be broken down into five elements:
Setting & Props 
Costume, hair & make up
Facial Expressions & Body Language 
Lighting and Colour 
Positioning of character/ objects within a frame

When applying these to the alternative rock/ indie genre we begin to deconstruct the genre. It is common for a music video to alternate between studio shots and outside shots to portray a sense of reality to the audience. It helps bring the artist to the same level as the audience.

The costumes that are typically used are smart- casual or a branded style, to present the ‘right’ image of the band which will allows them to build the reputation that they want to have shadowed onto them. In the sense of costumes it is apparent that there is no obvious stereotype or un-equal relationship between men and women and how they are presented. An article from The Guardian (1)(Fonarow 2010) titled “Are gender stereotypes still present in indie music?” It goes on the express that although the genders are presented as equal in the sense of outfits and expectations in this “equality –based utopia”. However, we see on a regular basis female musicians ignored or discouraged to contribute to audience involvement.

Some videos use CGI in order to create a background that the help either express the feeling of the song or add to the story if the music video is narrative based. It allows the after affects team to help create the emotions or create a whole new environment for the audience.

For example the music video for Hallelujah by Panic! At the disco to present the artist running around a maze like environment, an image of this is shown to the side. Linking this to the same image, music videos typically contain artificial lighting in most if not all shots. This is to help create the escapism element for the audience as they aren’t struggling to see the artist or to see what is happening within the shot. The image above has artificial lighting as it isn’t a real environment so the editor needs to create a clear environment for the audience. The music videos are typically set in an abnormal place, this links back to helping the audiecne escape, this is because if the music video is set in an abnormal place the audience is focused on where the artist is then thinkig of anything outside of the music video. The colours typiucally lend themselves to the enviroment, the colours that help refelct the mood of the song or the colours that establish the contrapuntal enviroment. They typically contain substance abuse, this is mainly due to the stereotype fueled by other genres.

Sound

Music videos of this genre typically don't have other sounds other then the song, however some incidents for example, Centuries Fall Out Boy contain elements from the music video itself, meaning that they have a second layer of audio. This allows the audience to get a feel for the situation that the artist may be in or get an idea of how the artist is feeling in the situation before and after the song, depending on where the audio is. It gives the artist an opportunity to build a personal connection to the audience, allowing the music to have more meaning to the audience.

Editing

The music videos are typically edited on the beat, for example the music video for The City by the 1975 does this well, editing on the beat to create a flowing sequence which allows the audience to know whats going on in a smoother motion other then cutting not on the beat which causes complication when making the video flow. Another key when editing is that the speed of the song is matched by the narrative, this meaning that the story is able to flow similarly to the video itself, for example when there is a high tempo element of the song then this needs to be matched by a dramatic or action packed segment of the narrative, similarly if there is a low tempo element then the narrative needs to match this. 

Camera

The most common angle that is used in alternative/indie music videos are medium shot, this is because most of the videos have a lot of performance elements in along side narrative elements;. The medium shots give the audience the ability to see both the subjects' expression and their body language which helps communicate what is going on within the music video and the emotions that the video is trying to portray. A good example of this is The City by the 1975 which uses medium shots to their advantage. However, the video mostly uses close ups to present the emotions and subject that the director wants the audience to feel. 

High angles are typically used well in situations such as in Centuries by Fall Out Boy which gives the audience a sense of power over the artist, perhaps they know something that the character doesn't or the type of character they are the audience is morally above them and this is presented through the high angled shots. These shots are also used to help the audience establish where the artist is, as high angled shots of iconic landmarks means that the audience quickly understands where the video is located. 

Bibliography

(1)  Fonarow, W. (2010) Ask the indie professor: Are gender stereotypes still present in indie music? Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/sep/01/gender-stereotypes-indie-music (Accessed: 24 January 2017).