Research into chosen music genres

Research into chosen music genres 

For our own music video, myself and my group have chosen to follow the 'indie genre' with Indie chart topper 'Panic Cord' by Gabrielle Aplin being the platform and inspiration for our video. We decided to choose the indie genre because it covers a wide range of artists and different styles of indie music including indie rock, indie art and indie music on the whole which is defined as being independent from the 'big four' music industries, Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI. Indie music and the genre is also very different from a lot of mainstream pop and rock music therefore it allows us to create something different that stands out and includes lots of narrative and concept elements, something a lot of indie artists tend to include in there videos. The indie genre is also a style of music that has become extremely popular in the modern era of music with lots of pop/rock artists changing the style of some of their songs and following an indie style such as Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, Adele and Ed Sheeran therefore by watching some of these big artists we are able to gather an better understanding as to what is required to make a successful indie music video and the codes and conventions that go with the genre. I am also a fan of these artists music and by  already having a good understanding on their music and personalities, i will be able to create a successful video based on mine and those indie artist interests. It is important to establish a genre before choosing our artist and song as we are able to gather an understanding on the most successful indie videos and what goes in to them in order for us to follow the right codes and conventions. This helps us when creating our own indie music video as we then know what exactly we want to go into it in terms of cinematography, editing techniques and mise en scene elements, as well as particular narratives, concepts or performance aspects we may have in mind and by knowing all of this and the genre before choosing our song, we can find an indie song that is best suited to our ideas. This is what lead us to choosing Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin. 

Gabrielle Aplin is a british singer/songwriter who follows the indie genre with a pop/rock style of music. She is often compared to major a list music artists of the same genre, such as Ed Sheeran and Adele. An example of a similar indie song to Gabrielle Aplin's 'Panic Cord' is Ed Sheerans song 'Give me love'. Ed Sheerans video contains many elements of theories such as goodwins theory, codes and conventions off the indie genre and conventional camera and editing techniques throughout. 

The first conventional element of the indie genre identified in this video is the concept of love and the idea of the girl being a real life cupid. This is seen throughout the video as we see a blonde haired girl dressed in aoll white to represent an 'angel' sitting looking depressed in an unconventional dirty warehouse however we see her obsessions with love. This shows how the video is both unconventional and conventional as although we expect to see a concept and narrative surrounded by the theme of love, we would also expect the angel to be glamorous and happy about the idea of spreading love and happiness. Despite this, it adds to the mysterious and unique behaviour and character of indie artists and the actors in this video. The angel then grows wings from her bag and fly around the city spreading love and happiness to those in need to support the title 'give me love'. It is perceived as a rare concept for a music video and although it is unique, it is identically conventional the indie genre and the substance of Ed Sheeran as an artist. This is because it takes the same concept of an indie music video and adapts many real life, personal situations that people can relate to and those that are expected in indie music videos. This is seen where the angel adapts the concept that all sexual preferences and believes are ok and he makes everyone feel equal allowing him to relate the his audience and spread a positive message through his videos. 

Other codes and conventions that are seen throughout the video and also are included as miss en scene elements are that indie music videos are known the be quite low budget and the main settings of the video are in the studios, cities, parks and tunnels. These and places that can accessed easily can they can create lots of mysteries. These settings are kept simple because it is typical of the indie rock genre and their music videos in order to focus more on the concept or narrative of the video or the artist performing, in this case the concept of love. All of there video is also shot during the night time in order to bring out the best of the setting by having the city lights of london pictured in the background and in order to add a mysterious feeling for the audience on the angel and to help capture her role in the narrative. This is also supported by the angels clothing and iconography in the video where we see her wearing an ordinary outfit to show her as an ordinary, conventional girl that the audience can relate to whereas her wings growing out of her and her bow and arrow makes the audience identify her as 'cupid' and shows the mysterious side to hurt and portrays her obsession with love. 

Music videos and the indie genre in particular tend to use many different camera shots and techniques to not only keep it interesting and productive, but to reflect different emotions and put emphasis on specific things within the frame. These shots include close ups, mid shots and other conventional camera techniques and movements such as pan, track, hand-held and crane. The director for Ed sheerans 'give me love' conventionally makes use of the hand held camera technique where we see the girl waiting for a train, with the night lights of London beaming down on her in the background. We can identify this camera technique as 'handheld' as the shot is slightly shaky and the artist wants the shot to be a point of view perspective as if the audience is there filming the girl themselves and interacting with her in a way by being able to see her emotions what she is getting up to. This shot also helps to deliver the concept of love and supports the narrative of the girl as cupid, travelling around the city spreading love and happiness as the shot makes out she in your ordinary retro looking, girl from next door when in reality she is depressed and makes others happy despite her own struggles and in her own misery. This shot is conventional to the indie genre as it is used to portray the realism and relatable side to indie genre as it makes the audience feel like they are part of the video and it is not shot that is often used in high budget videos and shows signs of low production and simplicity. Another camera technique used in this video is the crane view.

This is used when we see two of the angels (cupid) 'love' victims walking through the streets of London before being shot with the love arrow. This is conventional to the narrative of the video and the indie genre as it shows that lesbians are accepted in todays society and they don't have anything to hide by showing their openness and happiness and how the crane shot is used as the angels perspective before spreading love. We expect to see this technique in indie music videos as they are often used to add substance to videos and hidden messages that indie genres use such as an equal society. It is also a good and easy way of showing someones perspective. 

There is a split tone editing technique and effect throughout the whole video. This is where the colour scheme of the video and a tone is used throughout in oder to express different emotions or shots. The whole video is made in a dark tone in order to support the night time setting and to create cohesion throughout the video and give it a distinct look. These colours also have a symbolic meaning, with the pale blue and indigo type colour and tone giving it a cold, sad feeling signifying the theme of loneliness and sadness from the girl. The purple and red tones also give a feeling and meaning of love and romance, also helping to support the concept of the video. The use of slow motion also matches the pace of the song and in the crescendo parts of the footage speed up. for example, the footage speeds up when the arrow is being shot into the love victims adding to the emphasis and drama of the action. This is supported by the shot lengths of the video with them being quite long and dramatical and the cuts between clips are sped up depending on the part of the narrative of the video playing at the time. This is used in order to add emphasis and effect on the audiences emotions by spreading mixed emotions and relatable shots. It is also conventional to the indie genre as they tend to spread may different emotions have many different hidden messages. 

The audience that Ed Sheeran intends to buy and listen to this song is both girls and boys, aged 16-25 with an interest in the indie genre. The financial statistics for this song shows that most of its profits and views on YouTube, ITunes and other multimedia platforms came from both genders within this age gap however with more girls then boys. This is because most of Ed Sheerans audience is girls within this age gap as they are able to relate to the narratives and concepts he includes in his videos and writes about in his lyrics, particularly the video give 'Give me Love'. Ed Sheeran also has a wide range of fans and mainstream audiences as he is one not only the biggest names in the indie genre but the music industry and his sheer creativity and talent attracts people of all ages to listen to his music, but its the concepts of love and emotion that draw girls aged 16-25 to this particular video.

Goodiwns theory is identified throughout the video in a numb of different elements. This is seen where the lyrics and directly and illustratively conventional to the actions on shot. This is seen where the girl is walking through the streets spreading love and happiness, despite her own misery, the lyrics state 'give me love'. This is directly coherent to the actions on screen as the angels facial expressions as she is stood loping depressed and lonely and wanting to find love and happiness herself as well as spreading love for others. She is almost tired with her own work and wants to find something or someone to love and give motivation to make other happy as seeing others in love and not her adds to there depression element on the narrative and her character. The audience are able to relate to these lyrics and the angel as it brings up a deep and meaningful topic that those who can relate to it and Ed Sheerans music might find happiness or motivation from it and it sends a message out to be happy and find love, adding substance and purpose to the video and Ed Sheerans lyrics. It is also conventional to the indie genre as we often expect indie music videos to have strong topics that are personal to the artist and that can relate to the audience. Goodwins theory is also identified as the artist uses as concept and narrative element throughout the video, as mentioned earlier on in the blog. The concept of love is used throughout the video in order to support the 'cupid', 'love angel' narrative that audiences are hooked on and want to find from Ed Sheerans videos. 

My research into my chosen music genre and artists of the indie genre has helped me and will assist me with planning my own music video as I can now clearly see the similarities of the different indie videos and what is used and included to make it conventional, which I will be able to add into my own video and the idea that indie artists often portray heartbreak as a concept for the video, a key aspect of our planning for our own one. I can also see what camera shots and editing techniques I will need to include In my own video to make it conventional such as a blur filter and long shots. It gives me an idea as to what narratives and concepts to include in my own video and whether performance needs to be included and when it does to make it engaging and conventional. Some of the ideas I will take from these videos and use on to mine or the colour tones of different shot and the blur filter as it creates a good message that the artist is getting rid of a part of their bad experiences and life and the idea of a narrative leading up to a heartbreak or relationship problems. This will be conventional and easy to create. I will also use lots of close ups to show the artists facial expressions by making them look both sad and happy/quirky so the audience can relate to their mixed emotions and understand the concept and narrative of my video. It Is also a good way of portraying my artists personality.