Research into Chosen Music Genre- Miss Georgiou

The music genre which my group and I have chosen to do is indie. We have decided to do this genre as we believe that we can include conventions in our video to make a successful video. We were inspired to do this genre when we were researching into the different genre of music when my group and I believed that indie was the best choice for us. What interested us into doing this genre is the diverse range of iconography and editing styles in which we noticed within different music videos which we believed we could use and adapt in our own video. We have decided to do Ellie Goulding, Burn for our production. Two similar music artists that are in the same genre as Ellie Goulding are Nina Nesbit and Kate Nash. They're music videos are similar to the music video that we want to produce and have therefore become very inspirational to our group and to myself, especially. 


Nina Nesbit, is an extremely indie artist and her video 'Stay Out' was one I looked at and it gave me many ideas to include in our production. The typical conventions included within this video are seen throughout, for example, the guitar that she is playing. This is conventional of the indie genre as the guitar is a highly conventional instrument that is played by indie artists. When she plays the guitar it gives the audience an indication of the genre. The clothing that she is wearing is also a convention of the music genre. A studded leather jacket, blue shirt, jeans, and boots represent a relaxed nature which portrays the the nature of the genre. Mise-en-scene is also key within this video. The iconography that is used is a guitar which is evident throughout most of the video as she is playing it the majority of the time. This is key in this music video as it is a key indication of the indie-pop genre. It is also important as it portrays the artist is multi talented as she can sing and play the guitar. Setting is another element to mise-en-scene, the setting in which this music video takes place is at night time in bars and clubs. This goes against genre characteristics as clubs and bars are not conventional of the genre. This again portrays the artist in a different manner, as it allows for the audience to be more related to her and can relate to her as the audience have been in the same sitauations and can find the video more interesting and enjoyable. At the beginning of the video we are shown several different close up shots of her getting ready with her friends. This enables for the audience to be introduced to who she is and for the audience to know whom she is out of her group of friends. Another main cinematography element is the use of a long shot, these are seen throughout the video in several different scenarios. These shots allow for audience to watch her live her life and go out with her friends, this ultimately makes the audience and artist relationship stronger ans the audience realize that they are alike that she lives the same life as everyone else. The key main editing style used in this video is quick editing. This is used to reflect the lifetsyle in which she leads and the actions in which she is doing with her friends. The target audience for this video is teenage girls. This is evident from what is shown to us within the video. For example, the video is based around a group of girls on a night out in which many girls can relate to. It can make younger girls look up to her and want to lead her lifestyle and make them look forward to what they have to come as they grow up. But, I believe that the target audience is 16-21 year old teenage girls as they can fully relate to the video. The artist within the video is represented as a fun outgoing character whom is very talented. This is shown through her playing her guitar as well as her being with her friends. Her clothing also portray her to be a relaxed, she is in everyday clothing which can portray her to be a down to earth and humble girl. The video has a mixture of concept and performance based aspects to it. The concept of the video is her going out with her friends having a good night yet at some stages within the video she is shown performing to the camera with her guitar . The mixture between the two breaks up the concept and allows for the audience to feel a connection towards the artist as it feels as if she is singing to the audience as she is directly looking into the camera. Within this video there is evident use of Goodwin's theory. For example, the constant use of close ups. This is a point within Goodwin's theory and it states that the record label will ask the need for close ups in order to sell the artist to the audience. This is clearly used within this video as there are several close ups seen throughout the video, especially at the beginning of the video as she is getting ready. The next element of Goodwin's theory is the use of the notion of looking. The artist does this several times within the video specifically when she is singing into the camera and she is surrounded by her friends.

The next music video I looked at was the song 3AM performed by the artist Kate Nash. When watching the music video there were many codes and conventions that are evident to the indie pop genre. For example the first convention that I saw was the use of the clothing that she wears. The headband that she wears on her head and the makeup that she is wearing is extremely diverse which goes against typical conventions. However, because of the style of her music and the way in which she portrays herself, it is conventional to the artist herself. The next convention within this video is the use of the setting. At several points within the video the setting refers back to the artist sitting in her bedroom. The bedroom is seen to be extremely vintage and retro which is highly conventional of the indie genre. Mise-en-scene is used highly in this video in order to make it a conventional video. The first element of mise-en-scene is iconography. At many points throughout the video she is seen to be holding photos of her and her boyfriend/ex. This reinforces the relationship within the video and the audience can sympathize and feel her pain and feel what she is going through. Without the use of these pictures the audience wouldn't be able to see her side of the story and see what she is going through and ultiamtely who the song is about. The next mise-en-scene element used is the lighting. There are two uses of lighting within the video which are high key and low key lighting. When she is by herself the lighting is low key, this is seen when she is in her bedroom. The high key lighting used is seen when she is with her boyfriend. This reinhances how happy she is when she is with him and that she is in love with him. Contrastingly, the use of the low key lighting is shown when she is by herself in her room looking at the pictures of her and her partner.

This portrays the sadness and upset she is feeling when she is away from him and that she wants to be with him always. The editing is rather slow within this video and there isn't much use of fast editing. This is to portray that time goes slowly when she is without her boyfriend and its going to be a long time until they see each other again. The target audience are primarilly teenage girls. This is because the scenario in which happens in the video many girls can relate to and can understand how the artist is feeling and can therefore enhance and build the artist and audience relationship. The music video is nearly all concept with occasional points of performance. This breaks up the concept and allows for the audience to see her singing and how she feels and what is going on in her mind. This allows for her also to perform her song and show the audience how talented she is. Goodwin's theory is somewhat evident in ths video, however, not too much. One element of his theory that is evident is the fact that at somepoints there are closeups of her and her boyfriend. This makes the audience see them both fully and can see how they feel towards eachother.

Overall, researching into my chosen music genre helps me with planning my own production as I have had insight into what can be included in an indie video to make it successful and conventional. Nina Nesbit's video of Stay Out has assisted me in my own music video as the elements that are included make the video successful and enjoyable to watch and what is what i want my video to be like also.