In order to answer this question we had to first identify the conventions of Indie Rock videos which we discovered in our research through watching videos on Youtube and reading about theorists such as Andrew Goodwin.
We discovered typical indie rock music video conventions to be:
Using Visuals to either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics and the music (Andrew Goodwin)
Once we had chosen our song our next step was to interpret our lyrics and create a narrative that would effectively illustrate them. We printed off the lyrics and annotated certain words that created a certain meaning in our minds whilst listening to the track. As a trend commonly found in Indie Rock music, the lyrics did not tell a coherent story but could be ambiguous in interpretation. Our group interpreted the music as follows;
As a general Idea the title "Shadowplay" inspired our idea of using shadows and alongside the lyrics we felt there was an element of being unable control of all of your actions:
"In the shadowplay acting out your own death, knowing no more"
The general mood of the lyrics and the atmosphere the music created seemed to create quite an eerie, creepy image. This led us to the idea of the puppet and a sense of being trapped in a nightmare which we felt successfully illustrated the bleak lyrics and uneasy music.
"To the centre of the city where all roads meet, waiting for you"
We created a motif for this re-occurring section which is the time lapse. From our first images where Harry is trapped inside, suddenly to a busy city creates a good effect and adds to the disjointed story of our video. The fact that he is still whilst the whole world seems to be moving at lightening speed around him signifies his isolation and sense of being trapped in this nightmare which prevents him interacting with the outside world.
Genres have their own iconography and style
Our genre is Indie Rock and through our research we discovered that styling and mise en scene in videos was often closely linked to the style of the target audience. With this in mind we styled Harry in a way that would make him appealing and relatable to our target audience, which he ultimately represents in his age, gender and our song we have used.
The places we chose to shoot our video also fit in to this relatable style and add a sense of realsim to our video. At the same time they are also quite bleak successfully illustrating the lyrics and mood of our music and narrative, tying the visuals, lyrics and music all together.
Camera Shots and Angles
A key convention in all music videos is to create and enhance star iconography. This is predominantly achieve through the camera and the way in which the "star" of the video is filmed. Framing and Close-ups are essential for this. By centring the star in the middle of almost all of the frames a video should successfully promote and sell the star. The close-ups not only add to this sense of promotion but also add intimacy between the viewer and actor/singer in the video.
Another convention we conformed to in terms of camera shots and angles was the use of hand-held shots. This technique if often used to involve the viewer, making them feel like they or part of the visuals or create a sense of being followed.
Lighting
In our research of Indie Rock music videos we discovered that lighting was of paramount importance in creating the atmosphere for a video. By using mostly low key lighting through out our video we portrayed the bleak and eerie tone the music created. The use of candles and flames created concentrated and defined lighting and cast effective pools of lights and shadows, which was important to our video.
Coloured lighting is used to convey emotion. In contrast to the pale, low key lighting we used through out most of our video, we felt the change to red lighting would successfully convey the change in mood and Harry's anger. Experimenting with lighting from different angles also helped achieve the contrast and once again cast effective shadows.
Effects
The most popular form of transition for Indie Rock music is the Jump Cut. This generally fits with the style of music, which is often moderately fast pace with a strong bass line making jump cuts effective on the beat. We used jump cuts through out most of our video as it worked well with our music and fit into the disjointed style of our narrative. However variety is also needed and in places where the music changed, or slowed down we used Fades, and Cross Dissolves. This made the transition slower and gave a blurred effect. This is another convention typical of music videos that we have conformed to.
Over lays are another popular effect used in Indie Rock music Videos. They are used to create effect, add professionalism and sometimes convey a certain feeling. In our video we used them to convey the sense of Harry's entrapment by the puppet and his nightmare.
Lip Syncing
Despite the style of a narrative almost all music videos have some element of performance, whether it's a whole band performance or lip syncing. This establishes the idea of the song belonging to or being sung by the artist in the video.
