Indie Folk Mood Board

Genre - Indie Folk

Indie folk is a genre of music that branches off from indie rock and came about in the 1990’s. It came along at the time of the ‘New Weird America’ scene and started with indie rock singers and songwriters that had become heavily influenced by the contemporary folk music scene from the early 1900's like The Almanac Singers and The Weavers. This hybrid began and has been growing ever more popular in recent decades. The pioneers of this genre are artists like Jeff Buckley who got inspiration from Bob Dylan and James Taylor. And now the recent faces of indie folk include artists like Daughter, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bon Iver and Ben Howard.  People are starting to listen to this genre more and more as the music is easy to listen to with a mixture of mellow, acoustic sounds and catchy melodies yet no artist sounds the same. Being ‘indie-individual’ the artists are celebrated for their individual and original voices that don’t fit in with the mainstream pop genre. Indie folk concentrates more on the talent in the voices and instrument playing than the hype around the music industry or making a fashion statement. Listeners of indie folk are listening simply for the enjoyment of the music stripped bare, no auto tune or technology, just instruments and a voice. Although many indie folk artists are unsigned or singed to small independent labels (hence the name ‘indie’) the most well-known indie folk labels in America consist of Hush, Barsuk Records, SubPop Records and Ramseur Records.

Conventions of the genre include:

Live performance: This is used predominantly to promote the artist or band. It also takes away all the frills to modern day music videos, it proved that even stripped down music videos that simply contain the music can be just as effective as ones based on a narrative. Live performance videos are also used to show the passion the artist has and reflects how the audience of this genre prefers to consume the music. However most indie videos now include narrative as well as live performance to keep the audience entertained and to appeal to more audiences. Performance can be seen in the Benjamin Francis Leftwich video for Box Of Stones where he is playing an acoustic guitar, reinforcing that the purpose of the video is to promote the artist and his talents.

Narratives: Most indie videos now use a narrative along side live performance. The narrative can be used to keep the audience entertained and to appeal to a wider audience. The more different it is, the more memorable it will be to the audience and can improve sales. Indie music video narratives often include a person going on a journey or looking back on their life. This often reflects the lyrics that are used a lot in this genre. In Bon Iver's Video for Calgary, there is no performance, simply a narrative running consecutively to the music. This can help reflect the mood and tone of the song.

Mise en scene: Artists often play themselves in the narrative as the song lyrics often reflect themselves and the things they have been through. They often have a retro look, leather jackets and jeans. Girl artists usually wear dresses and boots. However more predominantly in Indie Folk, women are shown as pure and innocent and often wear white dresses and not too much make up and lots of neutral colours are used in both sexes. The location for the videos are usually set in woodland or in open spaces in nature because the bands and artist usually like to keep their videos basic and simplistic like the soft sounds. 'Calgary' includes a huge amount of nature and fairy tale like aspects in the mise en scene which makes it like a mystical fantasy to the audience. This engages them more as they want to see what happens in the end, even though it is usually predictable.

Sound: Indie bands, specifically Indie Folk are based around the acoustic guitar and vocals. There are rarely any other instruments used apart from the occasional percussion instrument like a tambourine or drum. This is because indie artists are against the use of any technical editing to their songs like auto tune or edited instruments and are proud to just display their talent. Their songs are often simplistic so you can feel the full effect of the meaningful lyrics. The music is mostly diegetic when the video consists of live performance, however it can be non-diegetic when the video centers around the narrative but there is usually some diegetic music played. 'Box Of Stones' mainly consists of just a voice and an acoustic guitar, this portrays a soft mood to the audience and makes it more relaxing to listen to. The focus is more on the talent of the singer than of the instruments.

Cinematography: Extreme close ups are the most commonly used in the Indie genre as it shows the identity or character of the artist which is what they are predominantly trying to sell. Lots of close ups are used in the video for 'The Way I Tend To Be' by Frank Turner, to show him singing to remind the audience of the purpose of the video along with entertaining them with the narrative. Long shots and full body shots are also used, especially in live performance to show the use of instruments and also to show the clothes the artists are wearing, as many bands are the source of style inspiration. Pans and tilts are used to show movement and give the impression of a journey. They also show the location to the video to put the video in context and easier to understand to the audience.

Editing: The edits for Indie Folk are usually quite slow and the shots are long, this is usually because the edits match the beat of the song and most Indie Folk songs are relatively slow. The edits speed up when the song speeds up. This also can reflect the mood or tone of the song and changes how the audience perceives this. Sometimes effects are edited in to the video post production like black and white or to make it look like it is from an old tape. This is to give the video an old fashioned rustic look that is popular at the moment. Old styles in media and fashion are perceived to be cool and edgy. This technique is used in 'Calgary', it reflects the tone and mood of the song and makes the video more simplistic and can have a soothing effect on the audience.

Conventions of the form

History of Music Videos

Connotations of 'Youth' / Editing Plan

Initial Ideas

Lyrical Analysis

Daughter - Youth: Lyrical Timings

Youth – Daughter 4:10

0-13: Instrumental

13-18: Shadows settle on the place, that you left.

20-24: Our minds are troubled by the emptiness.

26-30: Destroy the middle, it's a waste of time.

31-35: From the perfect start to the finish line.

38-42: And if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones.

44-49: 'Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs. 

50-54: Setting fire to our insides for fun

56-1:00: Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong 

1:02-1:04: The lovers that went wrong. 

1:05-1:16: Instrumental

1:17-1:21: We are the reckless, We are the wild youth 

1:22-1:25: Chasing visions of our futures 

1:29-1:33: One day we'll reveal the truth 

1:34-1:38: That one will die before he gets there. 

1:41-1:46: And if you're still bleeding, you're the lucky ones. 

1:47-1:53: 'Cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone.

1:53-1:58: We're setting fire to our insides for fun. 

2:00-2:04: Collecting pictures from the flood that wrecked our home, 

2:05-2:08: It was a flood that wrecked this home. 

2:12-2:14: And you caused it, 

2:19-2:21: And you caused it, 

2:25-2:27: And you caused it. 

2:33-2:38: Well I've lost it all, I'm just a silhouette, 

2:39-2:44: A lifeless face that you'll soon forget, 

2:46-2:50: My eyes are damp from the words you left,

2:51-2:57: Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest. 

2:58-3:03: Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest. 

3:04-3:10: And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one, 

3:11-3:15: 'Cause most of us are bitter over someone. 

3:17-3:21: Setting fire to our insides for fun, 

3:23-3:30: To distract our hearts from ever missing them, but I'm forever missing him. 

3:35-3:37: And you caused it, 

3:41-3:44: And you caused it, 

3:48-3:50 and you caused it,

3:51-4:10: Instrumental

Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Box of stones

Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Box of stones

Cinematography	Editing	Sound	Mise en scene
- Extreme close up on guitar - Establishing shot of the countryside - Low angle shots show the importance of the man - Tilts and pans prolong the shot and give it a sense of movement, it shows more of the surroundings - Handheld camera could show confusion or just resemble the human eye to make the audience feel as though they are there. - Extreme long shot to show the surroundings and how small we are in comparison to nature, it also shows a journey - The graphic match on the hands.	- Linear shots - Continuity editing - Slow cuts matching the pace of the song - Slow motion of the flowing river to resemble the mood of the song - Fade to black cut to show an end to that part of the narrative	- Diegetic acoustic guitar - Non diegetic acoustic guitar through the narrative - Non diegetic singing throughout	- Acoustic guitar - Low natural lighting - Set outside in nature - Wild animals to reinforce the idea of nature - Man and woman resembling the traditional heterosexual relationship portrayed in music videos - The man and woman wear woolly jumpers, this could connote warmness and safety - Big hills are shown often to show the journey the man is going on and how it can be difficult but he is overcoming them - A bag prop to signify that the man is travelling - Rain clouds connote hard times ahead but change to blue skies by the end of the video which resembles that he has overcome the journey - Apple falling from the tree could resemble Newton finding the theory of gravity and this man is finding his own theories and ideas from the journey - Partly performance narrative

This music video follows the conventions of media language for its genre and for its form. This video is partly performance and partly narrative, this is conventional in all music genres as it is an opportunity to show off the artist while at the same time keeping the audience engaged with a story to follow. Many extreme close ups are used in this video, especially on the acoustic guitar. This highlights the performance elements in the video while conforming to the indie folk genre which is known for the use of acoustic guitars. The camera is handheld throughout the majority of this video; this could connote confusion or uneasiness or on the other hand could just be trying to recreate the human eye to make the audience feel as though they were in the set.

There is a slow motion edit on the river, this technique is used a lot in the indie genre as it slows the pace of the video and gives a more calm and relaxed impression while maybe being used to also match the pace of the song. Continuity edits are used to simplify the narrative and make the story easy to understand especially if there isn’t an obvious plot to the narrative.

There has been a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in the video. The acoustic guitar playing at the beginning is diegetic to reinforce the performance side and to draw attention to the artist, however after this all the other music in non-diegetic and the focus is drawn to the narrative instead of the performer.

A man and woman feature in the music video, this is very conventional of the form as most videos appeal to the audience through the representation of a traditional heterosexual relationship. The use of both a male and female will sexually appeal to both genders and sexualities and perhaps bring a wider audience and will fit more aspects of the uses and gratification theory. For example, the close ups of the girl's face can be seen as voyeurism to attract a male audience where the target may be more aimed towards women.

  The use of wild animals in the video reinforces the nature aspect and appeal to primal instincts. You see this a lot in the indie genre that focus’ more on the simplicity of nature than material items like cars and money.

Props used include a back pack which would connote that the artist is on a journey. This genre uses the idea of ‘journeys’ a lot as it gives a simple yet affective narrative. In one shot the man is seen dropping an apple, this could resemble newton finding his theory of gravity and could reflect that the man is making his own discoveries on his personal journey. 

The use of a graphic match that show repetitive shots of the artist's hands is also very conventional of the Indie Folk genre. The shot being specifically of his hands throughout the narrative shots, draws the audiences attention back to the performance shots where the artist is playing the guitar. This is done purposely so that the audience notice his talent (his ability to make music not only to sing but to play too). Further more this shows that the artist wants to be known for his talent and not for fancy advertising or promotional videos or even his looks (hence why the face is shown less). This is a common ideology of the Indie Folk genre that they want to be noticed for substance over style, contradicting the post modern idea that appearance is valued over function.