This document provides summaries of three indie rock music videos:
1) "6 Feet" by Scarlxrd uses dark imagery and costumes to portray themes of mental instability. Unique editing and cinematography make the video impactful.
2) "Naive" by The Kooks tells a narrative embedded in performance scenes and uses typical indie rock styles. Simple editing focuses on the artist's expressions.
3) "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons blends narrative scenes of teddy bear fighting with performance sections of the band. Casual clothing reflects the indie genre.
3. âą The genre of the music video is image/concept with some performance. This can be
seen in the way the majority of the video focuses on him and the camera is always
focused on him. Also the video contains a lot of imagery linking with concept the
song suggests. He is also seen performing throughout the video. Such as the the
setting of the junkyard and the way he lays dead at the beginning of the video.
Although this song is indie rock the song blends elements of rap and rock together.
It does a good job of showing the genre in its m-e-s with the costume and setting
being very dark and edgy. His costume mainly being black linking with the dark
tone of the music.
4. CINEMATOGRAPHY
âą The video uses lots of interesting shots and angles in the video to make the video
seem interesting to the viewers. For example the tracking mid shot of Scarlxrd
performing and walking fits with the flow of the music giving the video a good flow
to it. Also the mixture close long and mid shots which are switched to abruptly
through the editing adds a sense of unpredictability to the video.
5. EDITING
âą Several editing techniques are used in the video to reflect the artists style. The video
uses a lot of smash cuts to add a unpredictable feeling to video also linking with the
theme of instability that is shown in the video. They also a lot of special effects such
as the moments when it randomly cuts to a inverted colour scheme when the beat
gets more intense. Also they way they add a TV static effect on the screen.
6. M-E-S
âą This video does a really good job of using m-e-s to show the genre of the music and
the themes with in the song. For example the outfit Scarlxrd is wearing does good
job of showing image he trying to give off of being mentally unstable and a bit
insane, with the dark clothing and the chained head band. Also the mask and the
rinnegan contact lenses all help to give of this image of insanity. The junkyard
setting also helps to show this as the junkyard setting could represent many things
such as the fact that he feels awful almost like trash and the idea that everything is
crushed and destroyed around him. Also the rinnegan contact lenses add a bit of
intertextuality to the video as they are reference to the rinnegan eyes in the anime
Naruto shippuden
7. NARRATIVE THEORY
âą The music video doesnât use any narrative theories as there is no narrative in the
video as it is mostly performance.
8. WHY IS IT CREATIVE?
âą I personally love this music video and feel it is very creative as it perfectly portrays
the themes behind the song. I especially love the use of m-e-s with the costume as
itâs very different and unique while also having the artist own signature on it with
the mask and chain head band which he wears in almost all his videos. Also the
editing used makes the video feel a lot more impactful and really makes you feel
how he wants you to feel.
10. âą The genre of the music video is narrative. This is clear to see by the clear narrative
embedded within the music video. The video has many aspects within it that show
that it is of the indie rock genre. Such as the clothing being very stereotypical of the
indie rock genre with the leather jacket and the choice in hair styles. Also narrative
music videos with small bits of performance tend to be very popular with the indie
rock genre.
11. CINEMATOGRAPHY
âą The video uses a lot of close ups on the main artist in any of the club scenes
focusing on his face and his expressions. While also making you focus on the words
he is singing. The video also uses a lot of handheld camera in those scenes to give
the scene a sense of movement while he is walking around the club. For the
narrative scenes it uses various different shots to tell the narrative such as long
shots.
12. EDITING
âą The editing in the video is very simple and doesnât use any particularly exciting
editing techniques. It mainly consists of average cuts to each scene along with some
jump cuts to different points in the narrative. Also flashbacks as the narrative seems
to be past events that have occurred in the main character in this case the artists
life.
13. M-E-S
The m-e-s in the video is very stereotypical of the indie rock genre. The main artist wears
very casual clothing. His hair style is also stereotypical of the indie rock genre as it is not a
common hairstyle but still looks very laid back. Also the lighting of the video is very bland
and grey and dull. This links with the feel and the themes the song is trying to get across.
14. NARRATIVE THEORY
âą The narrative theory this video follows is Todorovs theory as it follows a very simple
narrative of things being fine at the beginning (equilibrium) and then throughout
the video things get worse.(disruption) Although the narrative doesnât really have a
resolution as it ends off on a rather bad note which makes the video a little bit
different in the way it follows the theory making it somewhat unique.
16. The genre of the music video is a mixture of both narrative and performance. This can
be seen in the video with the narrative of the teddy bears fighting for sport. Also you
can see the band in sections performing the song. For example the sections where
you see the lead singer hitting the drum as he sings the song. Its also indie rock
which can be seen through the clothing the band where's which very stereotypical of
a indie band and very casual.
17. CINEMATOGRAPHY
âą They use various camera angles and shots within the video to help tell the narrative
in the video while also showing the bands image. In the narrative scenes they use a
lot of handheld camera to fit with the chaos of the scenes. They also use a lot of mid
and long shots on the band to help show their image and expressions.