Audience profiling

Checklist for the locations

Check List Overview For Each Location from Beshirk

Props for our music video

Props For Our Music Video from SamMullerMedia

Costumes and make-up for our music video

Questioning people on James Bay

Feedback on our music video idea

Layout of music video narrative

Characters in our music video

Media products with similar ideas to our music video

Photoshoot of the locations for our music video

The star image of our artist

The Star Image of Our Artist from SamMullerMedia

The star image of George Ezra

The star image of Paolo Nutini

The star image of Tom Odell

The star image of Hozier

'Best Fake Smile' lyric analysis

Research and development of our idea

Research And Development Of Our Music Video Idea from Bianca Shirk

Analysis of indie artist album cover - Jake Bugg 'Shangri La'

Analysis of indie artist album cover - Vance Joy 'Dream Your Life Away'

Analysis of indie artist album cover - Passenger 'Whispers'

Indie music video analysis - 'Budapest' by George Ezra

The music video for ‘Budapest’ by George Ezra conforms to the conventions of indie music videos as most of the video is performance based where he sings and plays his guitar. This means that the video also follows Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory as it clearly demonstrates the characteristics of the indie genre.

There is an obvious relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as George Ezra is seen lip-syncing the song for a lot of the video which amplifies this relationship. Furthermore, some of the specific lyrics match what we see on screen, like when he sings ‘my many artefacts’ and it shows a man carrying an antique urn. This again emphasises the relationship and so conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

There is also a link between the music and the visuals since the whole music video is cut to the beat. This link is further shown with George Ezra’s guitar strumming matching the beat of the song and also with people’s movements being in time with the music such as a man’s sneeze and everyone turning their heads towards him. In addition, the mood of the music is reflected in the visuals as the happy feeling of the song is indicated in the colourful video. All of this shows that the video follows Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

Additionally, the video also conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory because it meets with the demands of the record label by having various close-up shots of George Ezra. This helps him gain promotion as he can become more recognised in the music industry.

There are a few quick shots of a woman wearing a crop top and so uses the notion of looking to sexualise people, subverting Andrew Goodwin’s theory as it says that this feature is likely to be used by synthetic artists, whereas George Ezra is organic. However, it is only a tiny number of very quick shots that show this and she is still mostly clothes, and therefore doesn't subvert the theory to the full extend, with most of the video conforming to it since the rest are fully dressed and non-sexualised.

Indie music video analysis - 'Scars' by James Bay

The entire music video for ‘Scars’ by James Bay is performance based where he is singing and playing his guitar. By the end, a band have joined him on different instruments and therefore the video conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory as it conforms to the conventions of an indie music video.

There are links between the lyrics of the song and the visuals as James Bay is lip-syncing the song for the whole video. In addition, when James sings ‘I can’t make the truth of this work out for you and me’, he shakes his head, which emphasises this link further.

There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals. Since the song starts of slowly and with a sad mood, it is reflected in the dark, desaturated tone of the video. However, as the music becomes livelier, the editing kicks in and colour is added to reflect this change. Also, throughout the video, James’ guitar playing matches the beat of the music as do the flashes of light and the zooming in and out of the camera, before the editing kicks in at the end the video which is also cut to beat along with the band. This therefore conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory as the video amplifies the music’s relationship to the visuals in many ways.

The demands of the record label are met within this music video as even before the editing, the camera constantly zooms in to James’ face to form close-up shots which promote him as an indie artist to fans of the genre.

There is no voyeurism in the music video as it not necessary as James Bay is selling himself on his music, not anyone being sexualised. Therefore the video matches the conventions of indie music videos.

Indie music video analysis - 'Hold Me' by Tom Odell

In the music video for ‘Hold Me’ by Tom Odell, the entire duration is taken up by the performance element of him singing and playing the piano. This conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory as it demonstrates the indie genre of the artist, especially with the addition of the band in the background.

There is a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as Tom Odell is lip-syncing throughout the music video. Furthermore, this relationship is amplified with more specific examples  such as when he keeps on singing ‘hold me’ as he moves around wildly and falls, and also when he sings ‘suddenly I’m standing’ after he gets up.

There is also a link between the music and the visuals. This is seen clearly as the entire video is cut to the beat of the song, conforming to the conventions of an indie music video and Andrew Goodwin’s theory. The piano playing and the band playing in the background is also in time with the music which emphasises this relationship.

This video also conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory as it meets the demands of the record label by including many close-ups of the artists’ face to promote him. Although he is an indie artist and image shouldn’t matter so much, it still matches indie conventions as indie artists need to be recognisable in order to compete in the industry.

There is no notion of looking in the music video to sexualise any characters. However, Andrew Goodwin’s theory states that this is mainly used for synthetic artists anyway and, as we can see, Tom Odell is clearly an organic indie artist who's video conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory.

Conventions of an indie music video