Indie music video analysis

1. Indie-pop music genre
• Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock. Indie pop
music follows most pop conventions and has a similar
structure to the pop genre itself, however Indie pop
uses a wider range of instruments such as rock
instrumentation or electronics.
• Although Indie-pop started out in the UK it eventually
expanded in the 90’s. Around the 1990s, Indie Pop
began to gain a following in the USA. Key Indie Pop
bands popped up thanks to this, including Beat
Happening and Tiger Trap, and labels specializing in
Indie Pop such as K Records also began to appear.

2. Example 1- Lana del Rey (Young and Beautiful)
The song ‘young and beautiful’ was made for the film, the great Gatsby,
and can be seen as reflective of the main female character, Daisy.
Daisy’s beauty gains her plenty of male attention, however, she is a
narcissist, and ultimately only cared for herself. In the chorus of the
song Lana wonders if men would still care and pay attention to a
woman when she is ‘no longer young and beautiful’. The song itself has
a melancholic tone and is slow in its pace, this is reflected through the
style the music video has been edited and also the two teardrops drawn
on Lana’s face.
There are several close up shots of Lana's face, the viewer is forced to
pay attention to only her expressions as the background surrounding
her is plain and black. This links to Laura Mulveys theory on the make
gaze, despite no direct focus on sexualised areas such as her breasts
and thighs, the artist’s appearance has been made to be sexually
appealing through the use of makeup and costume. In the video she is
wearing a bold, red lipstick bringing the attention to her full lips, and
the dress she wears is long but tight so the shape of her body is clear,
more focus is put on her body when the camera follows her silhouette
clearly showing her figure. In the background her image has been
repeated multiple times forcing the viewers to focus on the back of her
body.
When not on Lana the music video maintains the dark and fuzzy effects
including several silhouettes of an orchestra. The video is largely
performance based therefore, like many indie videos, the visuals have
little relation to the lyrics.

3. Example 2: Marina and the Diamonds – Primadonna girl
The song ‘primadonna girl’ describes how marina wishes for a lavish lifestyle
and wants to be spoilt by her man asking him to ‘buy a big diamond ring’ for
her and stating that she has him ‘wrapped around her finger’ meaning that
he does as she pleases. These lyrics are reflected in the video trough the use
of costume and props. Most of the shots feature what appears to be the
interior of a lavish mansion showing off a large piano and several strange
props such as a toy dog, this is reflective of the indie genre as indie videos
are known to be strange or include shots and mise en scene which is
seemingly random. Marina dresses in fur coats and and a pink sparkling dress
with her blonde dyed hair in short curls similar to those of Marilyn Monroe,
her clothes are also similar to those Hollywood stars are known to wear
further reinforcing the kind of high life she wishes to live.
This video is mainly performance based as most shots include the artist and
she is usually lip syncing to the lyrics. There is also relation between the
visuals and music through the pace of the music video, as the beat speeds up
so do the cuts between each shot, rapidly changing between close up shots
of her face to her dancing around the mansion.
Marina follows the conventions of an indie pop music video and does not
dress overly provocative or sexual, the outfits she chooses are modest,
however in some scenes she is seen posing in flirtatious ways such as playing
with her hair. However this can be seen as marina simply bringing across her
own, girly style into the music video, rather than having the intentions to
attract male audiences.

4. Example 3: Halsey – New Americana (Subversion)
Halsey’s song ‘New Americana’ focuses on oppression and has a very strong
dystopian feel, the music video can be likened to films such as the hunger
games and divergent as it shows a group of young people and their struggle
against the corrupt authority. For an indie-pop music video this is a unique
concept to explore, especially when comparing to the two previous videos I
have analysed which focus on either love or money, they also both included
glamorous imagery, whereas Halsey does not wear her hair in Hollywood
curls but in a short, boyish pixie cut.
The costume chosen is also far from glamorous but instead gives her the
appearance of a warrior, she is challenging the stereotypes of meek or
flirtatious females as Halsey appears to be the leader of the group and fights
against the armed, male soldiers.
Compared with the previous two videos, Halseys video follows the lyrics
closely, all scenes and prop shown are relevant to what is being said and the
message being sent by the lyrics, whereas most indie videos seem to include
random props and scenes with little relation to the lyrics of the song.
Furthermore little hazy and fuzzy effects are used to give the video a vintage
feel making it not have that typical indie music feel. This may appeal to
teenage and younger audiences who may be going through their rebellious
phase and can relate to the lyrics or due to them being fans of the dystopian
movies hunger games and divergent which this video is very similar to.