Codes and Conventions of the Indie folk Genre!

There are a very wide range of music genres and with that genre there are particular codes and conventions that the music genre follows in their music videos. I have decided to analyse the codes and convention that fit in the genre of Indie Folk. Some Indie Folk artists include: Ellie Goulding Iron and Wine Bon Iver Birdy Ben Howard Mumford and Sons I have decided to choose two music videos from two of the artists mentioned above. I have decided to choose the songs "Shelter" by Birdy and "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons. From these two videos I will summarise what the typical codes and conventions are for the Indie Folk genre.

Below are the two music videos.


The typical codes and conventions for this genre are:

Camerawork:

• Close Ups of the Artists face and there body parts (Hands, face etc.)
•  Long shots of the artists in motion or play instruments
• General shots of artists playing an instrument
• Tilts used often Scenic shots of the location (Forestry, interior design etc.)
• Establishing shots are used to determine the setting
•  Positioning of camera is quite often facing the light so it creates almost a negative of the artist with the background being a positive

Mise-En-Scene:

• Varied lighting shown through either ambient lighting or the use of fairy lights/lanterns
• Depending on mood set by song the lighting matches (Mumford and Sons song is upbeat so the lighting is warm, whereas the Birdy song is sadder and haunting so the lighting is cold)
• Setting is very picturesque and scenic
• Clothing matches the setting nicely can can help the viewer determine the season.
• Clothing is very natural and normal which stand out from other genres such as pop as they normally are all dressed up

Editing:

• Shot duration depends on the pace of the song (Birdy song is slow tempo so shots are longer, whereas the Mumford and Son's song is fast tempo so the shot duration is shorter)
• Soft Focus is used very often mainly on the artists faces, bodies and the setting
• Fade to Black is used at the end of the music videos

 From finding out the above conventions it will make it easier to decide whether making a music video to an Indie Folk song would be easy and also give me a better understanding of what goes into a music video and how similar music videos in the same genre are.