Indie Codes and Conventions

Most indie/alternative artists use many of the following in their music videos:

Live performances are often used 
However, sometimes the artist doesn't feature in video
Normally use a narrative
They are normally very creative and symbolic 
They use a lot of instruments and these can be seen in the video, these include: guitars, drums etc.
Often wear black and white casual clothes.

There a lot more narratives in these videos than in rock videos.

There is less playing of live music than rock music, but there is still some.

Band members dressed in conventional indie clothing, skinny jeans, pumps, t shirts, vest tops, denim (also usually have long-ish hair).

Usually quite casual videos, with the band members doing casual things.

Slightly longer shots, not as fast paced music as rock so no need for quick shot changes.

A lot of bright colours and lights.

Summery places to be, eg beach etc.

Above are a few of the conventions of Indie music videos. A good example video for showing these conventions is Bombay Bicycle Club’s newest music video for the song “Shuffle”. The first thing you notice is the location is very bright, and as are most of the different locations. It seems a very casual video, which it also does for other indie videos, with band members seeming to be on holiday or something similar. This particular video seems to lack recording quality as if it had been recorded on a poor camera, which is showing that they are very carefree and not too bothered about the quality of video. This is stereotypical of the indie genre as they seem to be carefree themselves. The band members are also wearing very conventional clothing for the indie genre, such as patterned shirts, t shirts and wool jumpers at some points. There are also live clips of them playing the song; close ups of Jack Steadman (lead singer) singing into the microphone and playing guitar with flashing lights, but the shots are very long because it is not very heavy, fast paced music which relates to quick shot changes. The video is casual all the way through, with band members sat around tables eating, and drinking, having parties etc. It shows as well how carefree the indie genre stereotypically is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oDuif301F-8

Another good example of indie videos, but in a slightly way, is the video for Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”. Rather than a music video filmed particularly for the video, it is a live performance. This backs up indie being a carefree genre as they didn’t specifically make a video for the song. They are dressed typically as well, to relate to the song, in t shirts, skinny jeans, and polo shirts. This song represents the slightly heavier side of indie music, closer to punk. The video quality is also quite poor, which shows lack of ambition in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pK7egZaT3hs



http://heathenmedia.co.uk/weapon/2011/11/03/features-of-rock-music-videos/