Synopsis

Story

The audience follows the lead singer’s journey through her past love life:

Amy is being used by the boy she has fallen in love with for sex. He is already together with Jade his girlfriend of 3 years who is totally convinced that Anthony would do nothing to hurt her and therefore when things happen such as late night disappearances weird texts and strange receipts she remains clueless. Amy spends the time reflecting on her affair with Anthony and recalls on all the bad experiences in her life.

Generic Conventions

Stock Characters in the band

Main lead female singer (plays guitar) – shown as an edgy powerful woman that is the main focus of the narrative

Boy drummer - has a solo showing his equal importance and also emphasizing the importance of their musical instruments.

Boy keyboard player – an old-school unconventional musical instrument that gives the band a quirky side. 

Boy electric guitarist - typical musical instrument associate with the genre

Stock characters in the narrative

Girl next door – loved by all and is often the person victimized in the indie genre due to the fact that they are average      

The Other Girl – this is the person related to in the indie genre because they are often a quirky unique individual that breaks the rules of a social acceptability, however they often learn from it and pay the price of their demise.  

Boy – laidback and self-assured individual that can often be a trouble maker

Indie bands tend to focus on a small number of band members or cast because they have a more niche audience and are less mainstream in their genre.

Stock Settings

Empty shed/room etc… - this is a room where the band will be situated and perform to focus all the attention on them.

Outside/park – most indie bands perform outside to show and express their freedom in the music they write we are going to shoot parts of our music video in a park to highlight that it is the youthful past that the singer is looking back on.

Bedroom – bedroom scenes are used so that the audience can understand the characters on a deeper level due to the bedroom being a private place meaning that the audience will gain the inner most thoughts of the character.

How will you conform or challenge convention?

We will conform to the conventions in terms of setting and costume etc… and we have also kept the changes between performance and narrative throughout the video. Are band consists of 4 members however the lead is a girl which goes against the stereotypical male dominated indie band. We are also going against the typical rock look and opting for a more indie vibe from the music video however the emphasis will still remain on the musical instruments.

What narrative devices are you going to use in your music video?
For our music video we are influenced by Propp’s theory of certain characters, we are using hero and villain because we believe that this will show significant information for the audience to understand our story, and will communicate a story which is told in the eyes of one person. We are using flashbacks in our music video, because this can make our audience feel as though they are witnessing something secret, and this will also help the audience to understand the story line of our music video.

Are you going to challenge or conform to narrative conventions?
With our music video we are challenging Todorov’s theory because we are using flashbacks, this challenges the narrative conventions because Toderov uses the idea of equilibrium and disruption whereas our narrative does not start with equilibrium, due to the fact that the main event in our music video has happened prior to the beginning of our music video. We decided to challenge narrative conventions because we thought it may be another way in which we can interest our target audience. However, we have conformed to Propp’s theory by using characters which are portrayed as a hero and a villain; we have done this because Propp’s theory has a way of making a storyline more interesting for an audience, leaving the audience with something to think about, which will help us to interest our target audience. 

How are you going to appeal to audience?

The main way in which we are appealing to the audience is through the use of generic codes and conventions that they will be able to recognise and associate with the genre of indie. This means that our target audience – who are fans of indie music – will be able to relate to the storyline and enjoy the music video as it will be similar to many in the indie genre. Furthermore the fact that this is an indie band means that the audience may have to seek out more information about the band as they are not a mainstream type of music. This arguably appeals to many audiences as they can use the media for their own fulfilment.

How will you engage with the audience?

The message/lesson behind the music video is essentially about mistakes that people often make when they are young – being young and naïve in love. According to Bulmer and Katz personal identity is a primary factor in engaging the audience with a media text. This means that the audience can find out something about themselves and because of the meaning behind our music video it may be something that the audience can relate to from personal experience for example. Also the narrative in the video may also be a source of entertainment for the audience as it follows the memories of the singer’s first experiences of a relationship and the mistakes that came with it.

Could your music video be criticised in any way?

It has less focus on providing an escape from real life – it’s not really a relaxing and light entertainment since it carries a slightly heavier message. However it is more of a reflection of her past rather than something fresh and recent – by this point in our video the singer has gotten over the past.

Band Profile

Name:

Band members:

Leah Jefferies (vocals, lead guitar)

Jamie Williams (electric guitar, vocals)

Alex Jones (keyboard)

Christopher Smith (drums)

Formed in 2006 the four friends from Britain are known for their unique sound and killer lyrics. Lead singer Leah has already made a name for herself as a songwriter, but she always wanted to write and sing her own songs, therefore, she decided to start her own band. Along with some college friends, Jamie, Chris and Alex, the band started to write their own music.

Currently unsigned, the band has written their own album and is now planning a tour.

A Guide to the Music Industry

MAJOR/MINOR

Major Institutions; There are four major institutions that dominate the music industry, these include – Warner/Universal/Sony/EMI. This means that they may have lots of smaller institutions which are dependent on one of the four major institutions. These institutions are concerned with profits and appealing to a mass audience therefore you would find that most chart music can be traced back to one of these institutions.

Minor Institutions; These are smaller and are likely to have a smaller budget and therefore cannot take as many risks with new artists. They are much more independent companies which also mean that they receive no extra funding since they are not dependant on receiving funding from major institutions. Furthermore they are more likely to appeal to a niche audience.

DROWNED IN SOUND

What media/companies does it own? Is this significant?

Drowned in Sound (DiS) do not own any of its own media/companies. This is significant because it means that it is a minor institution. This means that artists are more likely to start out in institutions like this and grow if they begin to appeal to a mass audience. Also if the company is independent then it can be much more focused towards the audience that it wants to target. This may perhaps indicate that they are a better equipped institution for dealing with artists of a specific genre that appeal to a more niche audience.

Does it have a production and distribution element?

The history behind DiS shows that it began as an internet website that involved getting people to interact with anything to do with music. For example what their views are on an interview or getting discussions going. Therefore the means of distributing the music and promoting artists seems to be through the use of the internet. This is significant because through being a popular well known website (was rated 9^th out of 25 music websites) means that the younger generations who are more familiar with the internet are exposed to these new artists. Also the marketing of this is effective because the age group it appeals to is teens – and many like to consider themselves indie and make a statement by moving away from the more mainstream music and artists.

What artists are signed by them?

 Kaiser Chiefs/The Stills/Bat for Lashes/Metric

Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby - Music Video

Metric - Eclipse (All Yours) - Music Video

 The Stills

Bat For Lashes



As shown by some of the examples of artists above they have all been marketed in different ways. The Kaiser Chiefs music, as shown in the music video is more indie rock and was able to reach the charts especially with the song Ruby. 

The marketing for Metric was cleverly done by DiS, they used the song in the music video in the third Twlight Film Eclipse - they also did this with one of Bat for Lashes songs. With the mass appeal that the Twilight Saga has especially amongst teenagers, by getting this music on the soundtrack both introduced masses of people to the music indirectly. Plus since the music was on the soundtrack it was promoted and more likely to be sought out by the Twilight fans. The use of clips from the film throughout the video keep the link between the endorsement of Twilight and the music.

The Stills seem to be a much more typical indie band. They are not particularly well known and appeal to a much more niche audience.

What do you notice about the genre of music?

The genre of music that DiS embraces seems to be more of the indie genre – yet it ranges from more indie rock to more electronic sounds. This is a popular genre for people who are moving away from the mainstream music as it often provides a much fresher and different type of music.

Would they be a suitable organisation to work with for this project?

I feel that DiS would be very suitable in all of the aspects that we need to consider. Or chosen genre is indie, leaning towards indie rock and as shown by bands like the Kaiser Chiefs they sign successful indie rock bands. Therefore the label is much more reliable because it has experience with indie music and the company know what they are doing.  Furthermore the distribution and promotion of the bands through the internet/website is interactive and engaging for an audience. And this is important for us as our target audience also should have a level of passion for this music that goes outside of mainstream chart options. Plus by utilising the internet we are instantly bridging the gap much more easily between the artists/music and the target audience, especially as the internet is everywhere and is now accessible anytime due to mobile phones for example.