Research: Genre

This is my research into the genre my group is choosing, which is Indie Pop. 

2 Big Research

1. Light On - Maggie Rogers (2019)

Produced by: Maggie Rogers and Greg Kurstin 

Distributed by: Capitol Records

Genre / sub genre: 

Indie Pop

What conventions does it conform to?

It takes place in outdoor locations where this can be found in majority of indie pop music videos as natural imageries to give the audiences not only the visual effects, but also the deep emotions that the artist is trying to convey that is connected to how the location is portrayed as well. In this case, several of the scenes taking place in the middle of a barren road and a river were taken in long shot camera angles so they appear wider and more loose, giving a sense of freedom and carefreeness. In addition to that, they also used visual performances that are incorporated with the artist's different emotions throughout the song such as close-up shots of her facial expressions when she screamed in tears and when she was dancing. 

What conventions does it subvert? 

Unlike most indie pop songs, this one does not include a narrative. Instead, it focuses on the artist's visual performances and emotions to direct the audiences on what the song is about. Furthermore, it subverts to the use of dramatic costumes and props that are used to support a narrative in the music video where the artist is seen to only be using normal clothing throughout the entire song, taking into account that there is no narrative included. 

What representations are there? (people / places / events)

As throughout the entire music video, Maggie was seen to be alone such as when she was eating out and through the road trip as well, where this may represent psychographics of those in the society who values individuality and personal growth. To support this, the places in the video are mostly long shot camera angles of fields, river, and forests, which may represent continuous process of healthy growth since nature gives relation to health and how it never stops developing. 

What technical elements are used to give meaning to the representations? 

Camera:

The music video has several scenes of long shot camera angles, showing Maggie's performances in addition to the view of the landscapes such as the fields, river, and forests that as mentioned, the long shot that helps create a look of open space in the nature, where this may help represent her psychographic emotions such as a healthy sense of carefreeness and freedom. There are also times where the camera changes to close-up shots of her during her performances, where this may divert the audience's attention now mainly towards her facial expressions which are used to convey the the deep emotions of Maggie towards the  audiences. 

Mise-en-scene: 

Her simple clothing as the costume makes everything feel raw, natural, and genuine where it also helps maintain the focus of the audiences towards her visual performances instead of being distracted and attracted by the playful costumes usually used in indie pop music videos, according to their genre conventions. 

Sound:

The entire song consists of only non-diegetic sound of Maggie's song with the absence of any possible diegetic sound such as dialogues or sounds from the river or the forest. This makes the audience really focus towards the lyric of the song and the meaning behind it. 

Editing:

There are minimal amount of cuts, thus it makes the duration of each scene feel longer and allows things to flow and feel more natural. This gives the audience the chance to understand the emotions that Maggie is trying to convey in her song. 

2. Lost in Yesterday - Tame Impala (2020)

Produced by: Kevin Parker

Distributed by: Modular Recordings and Island Records

Genre / sub genre: 

Indie Pop

What conventions does it conform to?

It conforms to the genre conventions of Indie Pop music videos including a narrative that aids the audiences to the meaning of the song and the use of playful costumes that supports it as a visual effect as well. This music video includes a narrative of a couple's wedding day that is presented cinematically like a memory recording with the dreamy filtered look and overall earth tone color palette. 

What conventions does it subvert? 

While Indie Pop music videos generally follows a theme related to the meaning of the song, despite Lost in Yesterday narrated as a song about how people distorts or change the memory of their past in accordance to how they want it to be which can be considered a heavy topic to some audiences as it may involve complex emotions such as confusion and disorientations, the music video instead uses quite a bright color palette where this generally connotes to positivity, opposite to the actual decoded meaning behind the video. 

What representations are there? (people / places / events)

The scenes repeating over and over again with subtle changes each time represents the psychographic issue experienced by some people where they change how they remember a memory to how they want it to be in order to romanticize it. The wedding reception is the main event in the music video that represents a special memory that can be seen to change and have different versions with the same storyline with the desire of it to be perfect and idealistic. 

What technical elements are used to give meaning to the representations? 

Camera:

Long shot camera angle and slow continuous panning through the individuals in the event where since this keeps on getting repeated, it creates a dreamy atmosphere and a sense of disorientation towards the audiences as there is also no dramatic cuts to break it off to give the audiences time to process what they just saw aside from the performance cue in between. 

Mise-en-scene:

The focus lens focusing on the different individuals in the event helps the audiences notice the small differences when compared to the previous scenes, where it gives the audiences an idea on what is desired to be changed such as their expressions and their actions from negative to positive, all to support their idea of a perfect event. 

Sound:

The music video only includes non-diegetic sound which is Impala's song where this will allow the audiences to focus on the lyrics and be absorbed and enjoy the cinematics as such of an event generally accompanied by music. 

Editing:

During the repetitions of the scenes, they also use smooth cuts thus it gives the audiences an idea of a continuous memory playing and in addition to the repeated same editing where there are subtle changes each time, this would give the audiences a sense of disorientation as everything may seem the same but different at the same time. 

6 Small Research 

1. Catch Me In The Air - Rina Sawayama (2022)

Genre / sub-genre:

Indie Pop

Target audience and how they are appealed to:

Demographic of young female adults aged 16-25 with psychographics such as interest in emotional storytelling regarding growth and young dreams they may, where this is decoded from the lyrics Rina sung mentioning "little girl, don't you wanna see the world" and "dreams", which are generally topics thought by this age group as they are still early into discovering what they truly want to do and experiencing adult life. The music video allows the audience to focus on this as it's mostly just clips of Rina singing where there is no narrative to follow. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I like the reference to outdoor landscapes though it was only pictures of them in the music video as to me, the clips of nature enlightens the song and gives implied meaning of personal freedom and release in the midst of the struggles. Since my music video would also be conveying personal growth and freedom or peace within struggles, I would like for natural elements to be used surrounding the artist. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this? 

Since it focuses mainly on the artist's performances, it was quite difficult to connect to the emotions or the meaning that the song is trying to convey when compared to decoding it from a plot of a narrative that typically directly reflects the lyrics of the song. I would like my audiences to really connect with the song they're listening to, thus this type of music video might not work out. 

2. Harness Your Hopes - Pavement (2022)

Genre / sub-genre:

Indie Pop and Rock

Target audience and how they are appealed to:

Demographic of young adults that has psychographic interests in retro and quirky aesthetics as the camera filter and ratio gives that kind of style where it is based on cool tone, has that blurry effect, and random camera movements as well. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I don't really like how the narrative is unclear and how many things added are random, thus I won't use anything from this music video in my own. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this? 

The music video complies several random different scenes unrelated to each other, making the plot confusing as there is no clear flow or structure. I would like to avoid this outcome as I prefer my audiences to easily understand what is being portrayed and conveyed. 

3. girl in red - rue (2020)

Genre / sub-genre:

Indie Pop 

Target audience and how they are appealed to:

Demographic of teenagers to young adults aged 13-25 with psychographics where they may have problems related to mental health and personal struggles which tends to be experienced by this age group. They may be appealed by the cool toned, dark and gloomy mise-en-scene as such from the lighting and the type of clothing used as it may connote negative emotions such as sadness and misery, reflecting their own emotions. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

The use of mise-en-scene such as lighting and attire that matches with the theme and the message of the song as when they support each other, it avoids confusion and unbalanced settings that may distort the meaning of the song that is trying to be conveyed to the audiences. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this? 

Nothing really as most of the elements used connotes the same type of atmosphere or emotions, therefore it blends in well together and creates a constant and balanced narrative in that aspect. 

4. Be Sweet - Japanese Breakfast (2021)

Genre / sub-genre:

Indie Pop

Target audience and how they are appealed to:

Demographic of young adults from early to late 20s in correlation towards the mise-en-scene used such as their attires where they are seen to be wearing suits connoting professionalism and props such as computers and a brainstorming board that is related to their careers, where those in this age group may be appealed to as they find relations in their occupation. In addition to that, this may appeal to psychographics of those who are interested in retro and sci-fi aesthetics since the color grading and filter used in the video are cool toned and have high clarity, giving the retro vibes, as well as the usage of playful, unique, and science related props for their mise-en-scene. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

Though not exactly retro, watching this music video inspired me to play with the use of filters and color tones for my own music video where I would like to use warm tones and vintage filters to create a sense of softness and pity on the audience's emotions with the aim of a deep connection. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this? 

The use of playful props that are connected towards a specific genre as such from the use of the scientific equipment. This would limit the type of audiences that would be interested in the music video as they would generally watch something that would suit their personal preferences and having scientific equipment may remove it from being a general indie pop music video to being a more niche genre one. 

5. Sunny Day - Beabadoobee (2022)

Genre / sub-genre:

Indie Pop

Target audience and how they are appealed to:

Demographic of young female teenagers to young female adults aged 13-30 and psychographics of those interested in cottage core aesthetics symbolized by the artist surrounded by nature and mushrooms as well as her soft fashion style that may resonate with that certain demographic. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

The use of warm tone colors and nature surrounding her as it supports the theme of personal growth and freedom that my music video is going for. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this? 

The use of mainly a performance from the artist and the absence of a narrative where it creates a light and simple atmosphere whereas I want my music video to have a deep connection with the audiences through a narrative as it may portray shared and related experiences. 

6. Care - Beabadoobee

Genre / sub-genre:

Indie Pop and Rock

Target audience and how they are appealed to:

Demographic of young adult aged 16-25 with psychographics of being interested in rough rock music style and content in addition to liking retro aesthetics as it is displayed in this music video with the repeated blue and purple tones mixed with the warm vintage tones in certain scenes, all in high clarity resolution. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

The warm vintage tone for the color grading of the music video.

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this? 

How the music video doesn't have a clear structured narrative as it's more to the artist's performance. 

Reflection: Though doing this research was really time-consuming and tiring, it was interesting to see the different genre conventions each music video conformed to though they are within the same genre. In addition to that, I get to take out several features that I liked to be used in my own music video and how to match them with the preferences of our target audience as accordance to my statement of intent.