Analysis of 5 indie music videos

Bloc Party-Banquet The video for banquet is predominantly a performance video as it shows the band throughout the

whole video and it shows them performing in front of a small crowd which is trying to sell the band as a live act that people will want to pay to see. The video is amplified from the lyrics as the crowd in the video will represent the ‘Banquet’ as there is a lot of people, just as there would be at a banquet. The video also sells the image of the band well as it has prolonged medium camera shots involving each individual band member in it so that the audience can establish who the band members are, and what they do in the band. It also allows the audience to see what they are wearing as indie audiences are interested in fashion as well as the music. It also uses contrasting colours in the background to make the video more interesting and so that there is not just one colour throughout the whole of the performance aspect of the video.

Kooks-Naïve The video for naïve is a combination of narrative and performance, however both involve the lead

singer. It shows a big insight to indie culture as it is predominantly shot in a club. It is also filmed in a flat that shows insight into their lives as it shows the way they live and what they do in their spare time which will appeal to their target audience as they want to know as much about the band as possible and be able to see what happens within the ‘indie culture’ . Also having the lead singer in the majority of the video promotes the image of the band which is very important for their target audience.The music video follows the story of the lyrics which is also important for the audience as it gives them an insight to what the lead singer feels and what he is affected by. The music video is there to put those thoughts into action.

Arctic Monkeys-When The Sun Goes DownThis video goes against many indie conventions as it is solely a narrative video. This means that the image of the band is not advertised at all and could be going against the record label’s demands and their audience’s expectations. However, this could work in their favour. As this video is for their debut single, it will make people curious about the band and in turn make them more interested, it will also make them more interested because it is very rare to see an indie video that is purely narrative. On the other hand, it supports Goodwin’s theory of the notion of looking. It appears in the video that you are looking in to the life of the two main characters from someone else’s perspective as there are some shots where the characters look directly in to the camera as if they are having a conversation with someone. It also supports the theory that there is a relationship between the narrative and the lyrics, you can see this because at certain points in the video the narrative follows the lyrics illustratively, for example when the song says ‘She's in the stance ready to get picked up’, the female character walks up to a man in a car and appears to be offering herself to him.

The Libertines-Cant Stand Me Now The video for the song ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ could be considered as a complete opposite to the

Arctic monkeys’ video for ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ as it is purely a performance video. This would heavily meet the demands of the record label because it is showing the band and how they perform for the entire video. This video will also advertise the band as a live act as the entire video is from the filming of one of their live performances which will appeal to both their record label (because it could potentially sell more tickets for concerts) and their fans as live music is an important factor for the indie audience.

As it is purely a performance video, it does not contain such things as the notion of looking and a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals compared to many other indie videos which are usually a mixture of both performance and narrative. However, it can show more of the band’s personality which will also appeal to their target audience as their fans will want to be as part of the band’s culture as possible.

Two Door Cinema Club-Something Good Can Happen

This video, just like the Libertines’ video is a pure performance video. However, this video is not based on a live show, it is set within a studio. This could be done in order to make the video more visually interesting as there are different colours flashing on and off in the background as it does in the video for ‘Banquet’ by Bloc Party which would also keep the viewer’s attention due to the fact that it is very similar to the video from a far more popular band. This style of video also allows the band to be introduced to the audience and for their image to be shown for a long period of time.

This video goes against Goodwin’s theory of lyrics and music corresponding to the visuals of the video due to the fact that it is purely performance based. However it would meet the demands of the record label because it shows many close-ups of the band and it would sell the band as a live act which would in tern sell more tickets for their shows.