Chosen Genre Deconstruction 1 - Indie

Deconstruction of an Indie Music Video

This establishing shot is a wide angle shot. We can instantly see a variety of people/characters within the first image we see, it is very different from conventional pop songs where they don’t have ‘odd’ characters. There is also a long table where they are seemingly having a dinner party; this makes me think of Alice in Wonderland, but in the case an x-rated type of version. This is very humorous to look at, which is something that corresponds nicely with the indie type music, it shows that they do not take themselves seriously and that they are willing to make a fool of themselves. In a way it is as though they are taking the mick out of artists who create genuine music videos like this, as maybe they feel that people who make ‘popular’ music do things like this to get more people to listen to their music when they don’t even make it themselves and so on.

The lighting in this is very bright, which isn't conventional of an indie music video, but it comes across as it is trying to convey a message that sometimes you need to lighten up and not be taken so seriously. The characters themselves can also be seen as a type of symbol that represents indie people, people would instantly look at this video and think it was very ‘odd’, which is what stereo-typically people do of indie people as they don’t understand such things as their clothing.

Next it flickers from the picture I first print screened to this, this shows that no matter how different and ‘weird’ people are, everyone can have fun. This part is definitely more conventional of an indie video, what the characters are doing is very random, the lighting is a lot darker and there is quite a bit of destruction. Again, this type of scene would then make people laugh and take music video a lot lighter. The music has no relevance to what is going on either which is often the case in indie music videos, it is a typical convention of that genre, as is the randomness of whats going on.

This shot shows the rebellion that the indie genre seem to have, the fact they don’t care what people think. It also shows that their target  audience isn’t really young but maybe from the age of 18+, by showcasing drugs in this way are making it seem ‘cool’ and acceptable to do this and is something younger people may want to emulate themselves. The ring on the finger of the person holding it shows wealth too but it is also very different which reiterates the ‘individual’ label they have. The red clothing and the fire could also be a subliminal message that it is quite dangerous and not something teens should be doing, but again it is mainly glamorising drugs in that rebellious way indie videos like to do.

In this screen shot, once again it has gone back to darker colours with minimal lighting, they are using tambourines in this, this is something that will almost nearly every time will appear in an indie music video; someone playing some sort of instrument, because indie music videos are usually just to showcase their music rather than themselves which is why they try and remove the focus from themselves. They are also using candles in this shot as their light source, this is another thing that is conventional with indie music videos, everything is very plain and simple allowing there to be not distraction from the music. Obviously in this music video that is not entirely the case, they have been quite unconventional in some respects, but that is them showing rebellion and also being random which is a definite convention of this genre. The outfits are very indie and the middle man with the balaclava is their random element, This shot is a wide mid-shot and allows us to not be distracted as much from the music, the lighting is really effective in this part and overall I feel like they have done a good job in entertaining their audience both visually and through audio.