Conventions Within a Music Video of the

Indie Folk Genre

Daughter - Still

Sauzanne Micael

Daughter - StillDaughter formed as a band in 2010, after drummer Remi Aguillella and guitarist IgorHaefeli joined Elena Tonra as the singer. Since this initial formation, the group havesince went on to release two EPs and one full album. They are very familiar with theLondon scene, performing numerous gigs in their start up and going on to tour withartists such as Ben Howard. Their fresh take on the Indie Folk genre is very innovativeand relates to their target audience. As a personal fan of their music, I decided to lookinto a music video of theirs so that I could explain why I found my self targeted as partof an audience.

Mise-en-Scene

The lighting used throughout the music video is all artificial lighting. This is due to theaction taking place at night. Lighting is mainly used in the foreground of the shots tohighlight the females facial features and expression. This enables audience to relate tothe young female as they can identify with her young youthful appearance. The range ofcolours remain consistent in a dim theme, which combines nicely with the melancholymotif.

Lighting

Facial Expressions & Body Language

Both the male and female characters bodylanguage is tense and stiff. The audience canattach this aspect of the video to the title ofthe song and lyrics ‘still’. At one point, thefemale character curls up into the foetalposition. This action generally connotes a sadstate of mind as people usually revert to itwhen they are feeling stressed, depressed etc.The audience is engaged in response to this asthey question what could have made her feelthat way.

EditingThe video manipulates the use of cuts toexplain the narrative in a sequence of shots.This allows the audience to understand thestoryline quite easily. From the use ofediting, the audience is able toacknowledge that this is a narrative basedmusic video. Besides this use of editing, thesimple editing techniques means thoseviewing the video are solely focused on thecontent of what they are watching and notextra added aspects that could potentiallydistract from the synopsis. Also, the pace ofthe music combined with the editingconnects well. However, the artist is seen inall the televisions shown with the use ofediting and a pre-recorded shot as she singsthe song. This is a physical link between thesong and the music video.

Transitions

SoundThe introduction of the music video begins without anysupporting score, besides the diegetic sounds of the younggirl climbing the stairs. This also includes ambient sounds ofthe environment and the keys in her hand jiggling together.This process allows the build up of suspense to occur as theaudience is made to wait to listen and be aware there is anarrative to follow. The general sound of the music isstrongly conventional to the contemporary sound of indiefolk music. Indie folk is the combination of indie rockmelodies with the acoustical sounds of contemporary folkmusic. Daughters gentle and whispery like sound ispersonified in the music video as the setting and time of dayis night therefore the whispering effect of the score isrelevant to entirety of the conception. The volume of thetrack stays consistent throughout the music video andoverall has a melancholy motif. Therefore, as a response, theaudience is made to feel sympathetic in a sense towards thecharacters within the music video.

A combination of shots are used to express and highlight the dark nature of the lyrics. Thisincludes the use of close up shots that truly depict the young females unhappy state by focusingon the intensity behind her eyes. Several close up shots are also used, combined with the sharpcuts in editing to represent the sequence of the girl undressing. From these shots, the audience isable to sexualise the girl as they witness close – up shots of very feminine parts of female bodysuch as the shoulders and lower torso.

According to the male gaze theory, this allows males to observe the female in a different state aswell as allowing females to view themselves differently. The wide angled shot is demonstrated inthe overview of the bedroom, enabling the audience to consume more detail as they can see thelayout of the bedroom, picking up on different props such as the television in which we can seethe band Daughter performing the song. Very little camera movement is used within this musicvideo as it is all based around the static shots of the camera. This is interesting as this is quitedifferent to most videos, especially in a narrative based structure. This could be done to reflectthe standstill nature of their lives, combining well with the theme of the songs.

Camera (Angles/Shots/Movement)

Lyric Break DownI'll wrap up my bones

And leave themOut of this homeOut on the road

Two feet standing on a principleTwo hands longing for each others warmthCold smoke seeping out of colder throats

Darkness falling, leaves nowhere to go

It's spiraling downBiting words like a wolf howling

Hate is spitting out each others mouthsBut we're still sleeping like we're lovers

Still with feet touchingStill with eyes meetingStill our hands match

Still with hearts beating X3

Two feet standing on a principleTwo hands digging in each others woundsCold smoke seeping out of colder throatsDarkness falling, leaves nowhere to move

It's spiraling downBiting words like a wolf howling

Hate is spitting out each others mouthsBut we're still sleeping like we're lovers

Still with feet touchingStill with eyes meetingStill our hands match

Still with hearts beatingx3

I'll wrap up my bonesAnd leave them

Out of this homeOut on the road

Two feet standing on a principleTwo hands longing for each others

warmthCold smoke seeping out of colder throats

Darkness falling, leaves nowhere to go

After analysing the lyrics, it is made obvious that they explain a story of troubled love.Therefore, an audience would expect to see a couple within the narrative of the musicvideo and clear signs that either of them are unhappy within the relationship. This isrepresented by the imagery of the words and also with the personification of the words

used, shown by the highlighted sections.

Conventions Used Within the Music Video

• Slow movement

• Dim lighting

• Simple Editing

• Narrative

• A narrative based on two main characters