Recycled Styles - This video contradicts Michael Shore's criticism because there is no intertextuality which suggests no individuality and there are no obvious recycled styles from other music videos. However she does recycle her own styles because other recent music videos from Florence and the Machine have a similar amplified style.
Surface without Substance - This idea is mostly linked to mainstream pop which provide plenty of upbeat sounds and dance sequences however lack a narrative or substantial depth in the lyrics meaning. This is not the case with the Florence and the Machine video since the lyrics have such a strong meaning while the music video itself uses amplification to strengthen the lyrics meaning. For example, in many shots there are two Florence's which suggests bipolar disorder and one Florence is calm and trying to make sense of the situation while the other is constantly pulling her away or upsetting the situation further with confusion. This creates the idea that Florence has two mind sets, one being that she wants a relationship with the man and the other being self destructive finding it impossible to keep the relationship consistent. This links to the question in the song, "did I build this ship to wreck?" - The ship being a metaphor for her relationship. This all suggests that there is a lot of substance to Florence's music as their is with many indie music videos because they commonly write about their own experiences making the videos meaningful and trying to make the audience understand their story. The screen shot below shows the destructive Florence in the front trying to disrupt her relationship:
Information Overload - A lot of rap, pop or hip hop videos contain a lot of information such as images and sound and variations of these creating an overwhelming product. This may be done to make sure the audience constantly has some sort of stimulation, making the product interesting at all times. Indie music videos are different from this because they are narrative and are commonly a product of the artists experience. These are not always suppose to be enjoyable narratives because they are true therefore can be dark and depressive or pleasurable meaning that they do not need all the information which pop or hip hop videos need. Any artist wants their music to be successful and the Florence and the Machine video is filmed in a way which can be confusing as the shots move constantly and pan to follow Florence moving from room to room and this makes the viewer constantly awake and watching.
Image and Style Scavengers - This is very true for artists from all genres. To create music videos many artists take inspiration from many different sources from points in history and these can be music videos, fashion icons etc. and especially indie artists are know for using past fashion styles to make themselves look unique compared to other mainstream artists. For example, Florence and the Machine's fashion strongly identifies with the 40s era:
However in the 'Ship to Wreck' music video, although clothing is not a key feature of the video, she wears quite modern clothes. Notably a waistcoat which suggests the more modern movement of androgynous clothing:
Decadence - The 'Ship to Wreck' music video greatly contradicts this part of the theory because the music video is about Florence having a destructive side to her personality which ruins her relationships with people. It could equally show her having to keep her anger inside while she acts normally. E.g. pouring wine while her emotions are on the table attacking the party guests, shown by the dinner table shots:
This suggests that indie music videos do not show decadence as much as a pop, hiphop or rap video would because they are normally narrating a personal experience rather than displaying 'the high life' as mainstream music often does. The 'Ship to Wreck' video also shows Florence knocked out by sleeping pills at the end of the video, completely the opposite of displaying decadence:
Immediate gratification/Adolescent Male Fantasies/Speed, power, girls and wealth - Indie videos generally contradict this part of the theory because the style of music is less about pleasing the audience with images of amazing products and parties and are more about having depth and meaning and making the audience think about something. Sometimes the indie videos about experiences show the negative effects of immediate gratification while adolescent male fantasies are rarely explored and are more present in pop or hip hop videos which show women in skimpy clothing, fast/expensive cars and parties on boats and exotic beaches.
Cliched imagery - Indie music is known for being unique with the artists being very distinctive compared to many mainstream artists. This makes cliched imagery very uncommon because the artists strive for individuality and this is shown by Florence's unique video 'Ship to Wreck' which interesting shots and angles.
Soft-core pornography - Indie music does not adhere to this theory as it is common in hip hop or rap videos with scantily clad women dancing with the male artist. Indie music is more emotive and uses experiences which are relatable to middle class or working class people.
Narrative theory - "narrative is rarely complete and often fragmentary" ... "therefore complete meanings/narratives don't exist"
This is a very true theory for any music video. Usually there is a climax point in the short narrative however we never usually find out how the characters got in that position or what happens to them afterwards and this can make the video more relatable to an audience. The music video for 'Ship to Wreck' by Florence and the Machine adheres to this theory because it gives a fragment of a narrative which is also interpretational. This being that Florence has either a split personality or is keeping her feelings inside and the video is a creative output for those feelings in the form of two Florence's with contrasting emotions. There is very little narrative in the video and it is more amplification of the lyrics however the audience can interpret what is happening in different ways and create a narrative.
Binary Opposition
The theory by Strauss is definitely adhered to in the 'Ship to Wreck' video with the two different versions of Florence greatly contrasting each other. One is calm and trying to make sense of the situation however the other one is trying to worsen the situation and is not in control of her feelings. This opposition is conceptual (control and panic) because of the emotions expressed by each Florence's face and what they are trying to do while and visual opposition is also explored through the violent movement and stillness of the two Florence's.
General Theories
1. Laura Mulvey's theory
Florence & the Machine
The male gaze theory suggests that we are viewing the video through a mans eyes and the shots of female characters are there to please men. It also states that women are portrayed as either a "virgin or a whore". This is adhered to in the 'Ship to Wreck' video as Florence is shown in the beginning wearing only a bra and jeans with a man in her bed suggesting that she has slept with the man. The clothing and situation suggests that she is more towards the "whore" side of the scale of Laura Mulvey's theory however these images are not there to please the viewer in a sexual way because the images portray her as confused and upset. There are also drugs all over the floor and she is not styled to look sexual in the stereotypical way, suggesting that the video does not completely adhere to the theory. This may be a modern concept proving that the theory is outdated as even in popular music, the female singers are strong characters and are not shown through a male gaze. This being said, hip hop or rap music still strongly adheres to the 'male gaze' because it displays images of sexualised women from the view of males.
50 Cent - 'Just A Lil Bit'
2. Steve Archer's theory
This theory states that there is a clear relationship between narrative and performance and the video will cut between the two. It also states that a carefully choreographed dance or an extra aspect of the video designed the aid visualisation will be present and add the 'repeatability' factor. The Florence and the Machine video does adhere to this genre because although there is little narrative and more amplification of lyrics happening in the video, it does alternate between performance and amplification. It also has an visualisation aid which is Florence herself playing the two contrasting characters and this is repeated through out the video as a motif.
Our chosen song is 'Gem' by Natalie Lungley and I annotated the lyrics to the song using our groups initial ideas. Some of these ideas are taken from our Production Meeting in which we noted down our ideas for the narrative, performance and style and some of the annotations are connotations of words in the lyrics. Since our group already had strong ideas from our Production Meeting, one being that the lyrics depict a woman breaking up with an abusive boyfriend, these annotations link the ideas to the lyrics and are largely focussed on developing our idea and finding imagery in the lyrics which match this narrative.
Our group first contacted the artist through email asking for permission to use the song 'Candles' in our promotional music video. The screen shot below shows this:
After receiving no response from the email sent we decided that it would be better to try and contact her through Facebook which is a platform she often uses to promote her new music. Below is the message sent asking if we could use her song 'Candles':
After not receiving any response from this message also, we have decided to continue to use her music anyway. After these messages were sent we decided that we liked her song 'Gem' more than the song 'Candles' because it had lyrics which we could interpret different meanings for and we also loved the style of her music and had already created some interesting possible narratives and ideas which matched the lyrics. We decided it was not necessary to try to contact the artist again after the song change because it seemed unlikely that the artist would respond to further messages. Rather than having the artist send us the MP3 for the song as there was no communication, I purchased it on iTunes ready to use it later for our music video.
I deconstructed the lyrics of the song and marked where the song started and began. This allows us to create ideas for the song which matched the narrative of the lyrics and will also be very useful while we edit our promotional video. Although the overall length of the song is 5 minutes and 30 seconds, the first 27 seconds is an instrumental drum beat and the last 20 seconds is fading music and silence which we may edit out or use to create a monologue at the end of the song during our editing phase.
1. What basic qualities do you enjoy in a music video?
Becky Boyfield - "I enjoy narrative and performance"
Jessica Shea - "Seeing what stories they come up with"
Mrs Conley - "I like to see a lot of performance, particularly if it's flamboyant"
Georgina Stevens - "It has to be really good recording with proper equipment, so you get a clear image"
Callum Thompson - "If it's entertaining and keeps me wanting to watch it"
Miss Yemc - "Something a bit different...something that I've not seen before...interesting story, interesting visuals"
Kuziva Mutisi - "Something that grabs my attention and is memorable"
Aaron Bailey - "Something that's eye catching and keeps your attention all the way through"
From the responses to question one it is clear that most people want a music video which is going to keep them entertained and is eye catching. A common answer was also that narrative is an important factor which would contribute to how entertaining the video is while the quality and how clear the shots are is also very important. To achieve this my music video will have aspects of both narrative and performance and also have very interesting visuals while also making sure the shots are still of a high quality.
2. What style of music video do you like, narrative or performance?
Becky Boyfield - "Both"
Jessica Shea - "I like both but I think I prefer narrative"
Mrs Conley - "Performance, I don't like it when they have a film in the front with all the talking. I can't stand anything with cartoons in"
Georgina Stevens - "Narrative because I think you can get more into a music video when it's telling a story"
Callum Thompson - "Narrative"
Miss Yemc - "Narrative but possibly a mixture of both. A purely performance one wouldn't interest me"
Kuziva Mutisi - "Performance"
Aaron Bailey - "Narrative
The most common answer to this question was narrative however many people also responded that having both narrative and performance in a music video is very effective. Although two people preferred only performance based videos, the conclusion can be drawn that a music video with both performance and narrative caters to everyones taste and can be very effective.
3. When you think of the indie genre, what comes to mind?
Becky Boyfield - "Acoustic guitars and a country side, homely location"
Jessica Shea - "Quite laid back and relaxing"
Mrs Conley - "The Stone Roses"
Georgina Stevens - "Small scale bands, so things like 'The Little Comets' and 'The Foals' that progress into a more mainstream style"
Callum Thompson - "Alternative rock and stuff people don't normally listen to"
Miss Yemc - "Something a bit different, so an interesting visual style, something memorable, something that I've not seen before"
Kuziva Mutisi - "A lot of guitars, very bright and creative"
Aaron Bailey - "More casual than most genres, lots of guitars"
From the responses to question three it is clear that people believe the indie genre is very unique and different compared to other niche genres. Many answers were that indie is a humble genre in which the artists have a link to their upbringing or past while also being relatable and accessible to a range of people, indicated by words such as 'homely location', 'small scale bands' and 'laid back and relaxing'. Acoustic instruments were also a favourable answer, particularly guitars. It is clear from the range of answers that the indie genre means something different to different people as there are so many sub-genres and hybrid genres within it. To use this information in my music video I will use a variation of aspects from the different answers to touch on different forms of the indie genre.
4. How do you usually discover your music, print or web?
Becky Boyfield - "The web, on YouTube"
Jessica Shea - "Usually on the web, so on Youtube"
Mrs Conley - "Never print...there's a really good website called 'Bandcamp where you can explore new music videos and artists and music festivals"
Georgina Stevens - "Mostly the web"
Callum Thompson - "Online"
Miss Yemc - "Definitely the web"
Kuziva Mutisi - "Web"
Aaron Bailey - "Web"
It is quite clear from the answers that the most favourable method of discovering music is the web and most notably YouTube. With this in mind, the digipak we create will be digitally based while the music video will be uploaded to YouTube.
5. What's your favourite music genre?
Becky Boyfield - "Indie or Alternative"
Jessica Shea - "Mostly pop, a bit of rock as well"
Mrs Conley - "Rock and a bit pop"
Georgina Stevens - "Indie"
Callum Thompson - "Classic Rock"
Miss Yemc - "Dance Music, electronic and indie a little bit"
Kuziva Mutisi - "R&B"
Aaron Bailey - "Indie"
The range of answers highlights the variety of people questioned by us however the indie genre was mentioned by three different people suggesting its growth in interest in recent times.
The artist we have chosen to use for our promotional music video is Natalie Lungley, whosemusical style is indie or alternative. Genre is defined by the conventions of the music such as rhythm and tone as well as the songs themes and lyrics. There are many musical sub-genres such as for Rock music e.g. punk rock and alternative rock. However there are also hybrid genres which combine two existing genres together such as indie rock.
The band Nirvana, an inspiration for Natalie Lungley
in her formative years
The genre of indie music covers a wide range of styles and concepts because it is 'independent music'. This means that the main reason for an artist being considered 'indie' is because their music is very unique and unusual making it difficult to place into regular niche category (such as 'Pop'/'Rock'/'Hip-Hop' etc).
The term 'indie' traditionally refers to independent art (music/film/literature or anything that fits under the broad banner of culture) created outside of the mainstream and without corporate financing. Generally indie music artists are inspired by folk music or singer/songwriters and many have been inspired by the likes of Elvis Presley and The Beatles who began to not conform to the normalities of the 50s and 60s and became more independent artists. In terms of more modern artists, many indie artists are inspired by the likes of Nirvana, The Kooks and Florence & The Machine. Lana Del Rey is an alternative artist who has drawn inspiration from artists such as Amy Winehouse as well as having a fascination with old Hollywood which has moulded her unique style with elements comparable to Marilyn Monroe. For example the image below shows Marilyn Monroe during her famous beach photoshoot and one of Lana Del Rey's music videos 'Blue Jeans':
The selling point of an indie artist is their individuality. If their songs are easily recognisable as one of their own because it is distinctive and has unusual content then they are a successful indie artist. The alternative and indie genre has emerged recently as a combination of many different musical styles and genres and has rapidly grown in popularity in the last few years. The target audience for indie artists is usually very particular and includes people who prefer not to listen to mainstream and chart music because it can be thought to all be very similar and not have deeper meanings. This is a key concept for indie/alternative music because the lyrics are usually formed from personal experience and contain ambiguous meanings or metaphors as well as strong emotive lyrics. This creates an artist who an audience feels they can understand and attracts an audience who is different from that of mainstream music as these artists tend to be seen as 'untouchable' and their music generic. Indie rock & indie pop artist St. Vincent believes that artists should 'forget the idea of making money out of albums' and concentrate on the messages and quality of the music they are creating.
Indie rock & indie pop artist St. Vincent
The audience age for indie music is usually mid-teens and above because they relate to the unique looks indie artists have and take inspiration from them while also relating to the way indie artists have strong opinions and generally rebel against higher powers. The target audience gender for indie music is usually both genders depending on the artist. For example Arctic Monkeys and The Beatles have an audience who are equally male and female stereotypically males being fans for the music and females more for the members of the band. However indie/alternative artists such as Florence & The Machine and Lana Del Rey have an audience of more females because of the themes of their music and their fashion influences. The background and class of indie music listeners tend to be of a lower class and a humble background due to the themes and lyrics being from the personal experience of the artist who is usually of low class themselves as they are signed independently and not with a major record label. The video below is of the indie artist Birdy performing the song 'Wings':
Indie music generally uses acoustic instruments and are more slow and meaningful in their sound. The sound evokes strong emotion, sometimes being nostalgic for the audience. It can create a sense of synaesthesia when the sound of the music creates a mental image. Alternative music is similar however the instruments used are more varied and has a sound relating to rock music using instruments such as an electric guitar. Lana Del Rey is an example of an alternative artist who uses a variation of alternative pop and alternative rock music too.
A key indie/alternative artist from the last decade is Nirvana. Usually indie and alternative music does not amass much popularity on mainstream radio or TV because the songs do not appeal the masses compared to how mainstream pop music and R&B does. Nirvana is an exception of this with their breakthrough album 'Nevermind' soaring to the top of the charts in the 90s with arguably their most well known songs 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Come As You Are'. This created a turning point for alternative music and allowed many more artists to be recognised by the mainstream scene which resulted in greater popularity. From then onwards, indie music expanded to cover a range of different music styles from dance to folk with every artist maintaining individuality and a certain unusual edge to their music.
Florence & The Machine is an example of an indie artist with sub-genres tied into some of her music such as indie pop and indie rock. She debuted in 2007 and has remained a popular indie artist since. Her music is a perfect example of how indie artists use metaphors and ambiguity in their lyrics. The song 'Ship To Wreck' which opens her 2015 album 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful' begins with the lines 'Don't touch the sleeping pills, they mess with my head' which many believe is Florence explaining that in this new album she is pure and adulterated much like how many perceive the indie genre compared to mainstream music. All of her songs contain intricate lyrics which express her emotions and they are very open which is a key convention for indie music. Natalie Lungley is very similar to Florence in this way and falls into the indie genre through her emotional and metaphorical lyrics and her unique melancholic sound.
Florence & The Machine - Ship To Wreck (Music video)
The appearance of an indie artist varies greatly due to one of the conventions of an indie artist being that they have something unique which separates them visually and aurally from other artists. Usually indie artists dress in a casual way and without any costumes or extravagant makeup as associated with the pop or rock genre. Some indie artists may follow the latest fashions or choose a decade as the influence for their style as that would just be their preference because in modern terms an indie artist in an artist who is producing music independently from major record labels because they are quirky or unique in some way. Below are examples of indie artists album covers and styles:
Arctic Monkeys:
Arctic monkeys are an English rock band whose much style alternates between indie rock and psychadelic rock. Their band style as whole is influenced by the 50s decade which visually makes them unique. The album cover on the right hand side is their first album titled 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'. This album cover represents their musics 'grittiness' and imperfect nature as the black and white filter makes the image less clear while the man on the front of the album is smoking a cigarette which seems quite casual and careless. A Scottish health official said the photo 'reinforces the idea that smoking is okay' to which the bands product manager replied, "You can see from the image smoking is not doing him the world of good". This and the bands title shows that the band is rebelling against those of a higher power and has their own opinion which is a convention of traditional indie artists.
Regina Spektor:
Regina Spektor is an American singer-songwriter and pianist and her music alternates between indie folk and indie pop. Her style is influenced by the 60s and 70s which is what makes her a visually memorable indie artist. The look of an indie artist is very important as not being signed by a major record label company means they need to make themselves noticed and memorable to the audience. Regina Spektor's album cover is very impressionable and the hat she is wearing is a fashion piece inspired by 1960s pillbox hats and army hat detailing. The albums title 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats' also relates to the conventions of indie music because it rejects the mainstream artist stereotype of being untouchable and instead relates to the audience due to the word 'cheap' indicating that she could not afford good seats for a show.
The above examples suggest that indie music artists are heavily influenced by past fashions and music styles and use intertextuality in their work often.
Below is a 'Prezi' analysing indie artist Lana Del Rey's promotional music video 'Summertime Sadness' and linking it to the indie genre:
