Indie acts

Some of the archetypes you might want to look into...

serious, sombre, dark themes

that serious tone extends to performance

B+W not uncommon
auteurs like A. Corbijn (Joy Div etc)
quirkiness though
some use of longer takes
colour correction (Joy Div eg), can be colourful (The Cure) or more likely bleak, nihilistic (JoyDiv). D Mode's early vids often featured the red Mute logo against B+W footage
Bleak, rundown settings

JoyDiv

Performance for credibility as musicians
- BUT look at johnmoule.com - the trend is moving away from this...because of falling budgets; its simply more expensive to gather a band as well as do a narrative (narrative can be done anywhere)
- John McMuria's research highlights that the big 3 conglomerates still dominate the new media outlets like YouTube
- Anita Elberse found the same, making mincemeat of the long tail theory

Shoegaze is a specific mode of Indie performance; bands like Jesus + Mary Chain played with heads down ... gazing at their shoes, not the audience. 6min doc; other shoegaze docs. Key bands My Bloody Valentine,

JMary

Low key lighting is the norm, but this low-budget aesthetic can also be seen with overexposure too:

Mary Chain

Gritty, rundown mise-en-scene

Mary Chain again

Layering is of course common

JMary

 This Cure vid shows layering, low key and overexposure (naturalistic), quirkiness...

Again, while goth as much as Indie, the dark clothing, dark tone, gritty (even post-apocalyptic) mise-en-scene...

More goths - Siouxsie and the Banshees with layering, darkness, some griminess (and the glamour of the purple curtain, like her painted face, deconstructed)...

Vid

Glamour and male gaze with the red lips...deconstructed and countered through the pale make-up and extreme colouring around the eyes

Vid

Indie self-acclaimed itself as right-on, its image being of liberal social attitudes - though actually its been very dominated by skinny white males. Morrissey evokes this with his effeminate body language, swinging a bunch of flowers while his open shirt could be female gaze or gay male gaze!

Vid

Indie avoids being glamorous; this duo certainly use their looks, but while brighter than many Indie vids we still have naturalistic lighting, frequent downwards looking, hair/fringes that go over the eyes etc

Honeyblood

Often credited as the 1st Indie single release, a real favourite of legendary DJ John Peel (doc), whose radio play broke many bands through to mainstream success...



Arctic Monkeys are clearly in the tradition: low key lighting, emphasis on musicianship (John Moule recalls their unusual determination to control their promos), dark clothing, hair's a biut shorter than older bands but still recognizably Indie...

Their narrative videos can have a social realist feel (mise-en-scene, handheld, underprivileged protagonist, social issues...), fitting the right-on, liberal ethos associated with Indie...

Sun Goes Down

Primal Scream went dance for a while, but they were and are and Indie archetype. Singer Bobby Gillespie played drums in the Mary Chain for a while. His look even now is pure Indie.

A miserable skinny white male - pure Indie look. The Verve made NOTHING from this huge hit, as the Stones sued them for the rights for plagiarism.

Vid

Britpop godfathers Oasis now - most of the Britpop bands are considered Indie.
B+W
grim mise-en-scene
hair, clothing
shoe gaze downwards looking
rule of thirds for emphasis on musicianship
quirkiness before this
low key lighting
...

Vid

Radiohead - miserable skinny male; some aspects of Indie clothing; emphasis on musicianship...

Vid

Suede - bleak mise-en-scene; like Morrissey, singer Brett Anderson is somewhat effete/effiminate, and certainly plays with sexuality.

Jesus and Mary Chain

Pixies

Joy Division eg1, eg2.


Primal Scream

Depeche Mode (dance/pop but Indie)

Beggars Banquet

Anything on 4AD

Suede

(Goth)
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Mission
Sisters of Mercy
The Cure