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Media rock alt vids

1. Codes and Conventions – Music Videos

2. Styles and Target Audience: There are 5 types of music videos in general: Performance, Narrative, Abstract, Animation and Cinematic. My target audience’s genres of indie and alternative rock are typically performance and narrative based so I will focus on those 2 accordingly. My target audience are teenage to young adult alternative and indie rock fans. Thusly, the artists and videos analysed here will be from these genres, with general rock-wide conventions also being explored.

3. Alternative and Indie Rock Research: The Alternative Rock genre is a branch of typical rock that came from the independent music underground of the 1970s. “Alternative” refers to straying from mainstream rock’s conventions ranging from sonic, social and regional typicality. Especially in Britain, Alternative Rock evolved into punk, followed by post-punk and then new-wave and gothic rock with staples of these genres being The Cure, Joy Division, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Alt Rock is largely an umbrella term, which indie rock itself falls under, involving movements and genres such as grunge with bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Other Alt Rock bands include the funk-rooted Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Velvet Underground and Dead Kennedys. Indie Rock is a product of the 1980s, originally used as a term to describe rock music released independent to a large record label. Characteristically low-budget and DIY, the genre is one of the freest and liberated out of rock, its entire premise revolving around an artist’s total self-influence with no large corporation making creative decisions. Defined by early bands like the Pixies, Radiohead, and the Smiths, the independent label aspect of the genre fell away as the years went on, with indie now referring to the feeling of the music more than self-publishing. In the modern day, Indie Rock bands include The Strokes, Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Florence + the Machine, and The Vaccines.

4. Analysed Video Codes and Conventions:

5. Artist involvement In videos I have analysed, a core concept is featuring the artist and establishing a knowledge of their presence, style, and identity in the audience to sell the product: their music. Even in a narrative video like Mitski’s “Bug like an Angel”, she appears as a background character to deliver the most sensual and personal lines of the song to register the meaning of the song with her as a ‘persona’ Especially in performance videos such as the Arctic Monkeys play the part of the protagonists and antagonists as well as performing in both roles. Lowertown breaks up the narrative of their video with sepia-toned clips of the duo playing guitar and singing along with the music, giving reprieves from the focus-requiring narrative for a varied viewing experience.

6. Long takes In the case of Mitski’s “Bug like an Angel”, the entire 3+ minute video is composed of one long take, this makes for a smooth watching experience and linear progression, not to mention a feat of cinematography. Alternatively, long shots can be used to uninterruptedly show the performing talent of the artist/band during performative music videos. This is the case in the Arctic Monkey’s “Crying Lightning” video as a lot of panning shots display the band playing along with the song, focusing on each artist individually as the camera smoothly moves.

7. Cutting up long shots Especially prominent in Lola Young’s “Don’t Hate Me” music video, cutting up longer shots and sequencing them together is an effective and easy-to-recreate technique to seamlessly transition between cuts without much effort. To achieve this, she filmed for the entire length of the song lip-syncing at different locations with different clothes on and cut between the different takes with the bassline. This is also seen in MOTHICA’s “SPIRAL” video as a driving shot is broken up with spinning still shots to keep a consistent narrative but allow for variation in shot and visuals. Furthermore, moving long shots are cut up and made more interesting in Siouxsie and the Banshees’ video for “Dear Prudence” through editing and intermittent interruptions of close ups and stationary shots to make the video more interesting and engaging, conveying the chaotic and bizarre groove of the song.

8. Mental illness representation Across the alternative rock genre, mental illness and struggles with mental health are a strong connecting force between artist and audience, allowing artists to create songs and visuals that evoke a relatable experience with the audience. This is demonstrated by the entire theme of the MOTHICA song “SPIRAL”, based on the throes of depressive spirals and the visual display of problems spinning out of control. Furthermore, vices like alcoholism are explored through the meaning of “Bug like an Angel”, the title referencing a squished bug at the bottom of a class looking like an angel when raised aloft. The video here also comprises of a long take of an unnamed intoxicated woman traversing a street and rejecting humanitarian aid.

9. Mystery and the surreal In alternative rock music videos, narratives are deepened and engage the audience more Furthermore, a strategy of 'showing not telling' leaves things like motivations, background information for the audience to theorise about with no concrete truths shared, investing the audience in the story and leaving a lot up to interpretation and personal relation.  This is seen in "Bline" by Lowertown as the characters are presented to us as transporting a seal briefcase, the contents of which are never actually displayed clearly Furthermore, Mitski, Lola Young, and Siouxsie and the Banshees all involve scenes of walking and dwelling on streets and outdoor settings with no reasoning or explained purpose. Hand in hand with mystery is the surreal, where ridiculous visuals and effects are included in shots to better expand on themes explored in the video or song, often through the use of exaggerated metaphors Lowertown do this in "Bline" by comparing the "suitcase full of things you used to own" belonging to an ex-partner as cargo carried by two masked figures with criminal/ supernatural undertones. Furthermore, the briefcase is shown to emit blinding light. In "Human Replacement" by Billie Marten, a journey outside at night by a woman is compared to preparing for war/ entrance into an active warzone with the equipping of military gear and use of a tank to best convey the video's message of awareness for the safety concerns for women at night. Straying away from deeper meanings is the Arctic Monkey's "Crying Lightning" video of the band at sea playing music on a comically small boat, before happening upon huge versions of the band that appear from the sea and strike them with lightning. Despite some undertones connoting self-destruction/ making an enemy of oneself, this is less of a storytelling device and more of a visual display for the enjoyment of the audience.

10. Lighting and filters Especially during night-time sequences, lighting from the side of behind characters creates interesting contrasts and moods depending on the song. This is shown in Lola Young’s “Don’t Hate Me” in two of the cut-up long shots, Mitski’s “Bug like an Angel” in its entirety, MOTHICA’s “SPIRAL” during the ending synth-heavy resolution shots to create a dusky, nostalgic and ethereal energy. Worth special note is Billie Marten’s “Human Replacement”, which uses warm streetlights to contrast with sunset tones and neon/ cold city lights in the backgrounds to create a beautifully diverse and omnidirectional lighting arrangement. Furthermore, in Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Dear Prudence” video, shots are overlaid over eachother in their shadows to create a chaotic and stereotypical ‘punk’ subversion of normality in accordance to the genre and disturbed feel of the song. Also seen in the Arctic Monkeys’ video for “Crying Lightning” is an emphasis on hue and lighting to indicate time of day and as a tool for storytelling. The intensity, location, and colour of lighting is in constant change as the weather and intensity of the music progresses.

11. Performance Incorporation Even in non-performance videos, there is a presence of performative expression, with the characters breaking up narrative progression with usually static shots that help focus back to the song and musical aspects of the video This is shown in Mitski's video "Bug like an angel" where the camera stops following the main 'protagonist' and hones in on Mitski herself and a choir, previously background actors, as they play along with the song. This is also shown in the Arctic Monkey's video for "crying lightning", where the video carries a narrative whilst being an entire performance itself, and Lowertown's video for "Bline", involving still shots in high-res with a sepia-toned filter breaking up the gritty black and white story-driven segments

12. Playing with Time/ Continuity  By using shots from previous points in time via flashbacks or b-roll footage, the music video can expand its narrative beyond a linear story, letting an audience in on pre-existent events in the universe and deepening the story and immersion for the audience.  By not displaying events in a linear progression, the audience becomes more invested by the space in-between plot-points, and the mystery involved in scattering progression. Furthermore, this gives a wider variety of shots, costumes, locations, and possibly even effects/filters to explore. This is seen in Lola Young's video for "Don’t Hate Me", where the time-of-day changes between clips to add to the visual representation of time passing around the artist as she walks 'in circles' Furthermore, Lowertown's "Bline" features a disjointed timeline, with shots transitioning from campfire-lit nighttime shots and sunlit walking shots as well as separate performance scenes.

13. Cameos In videos where the artist is not featured as the main character of the narrative, they will often appear as side-characters or in the background of shots as an easter-egg, still displaying the artist as a part of the brand for cohesion and identification/addition into an audience's awareness set. We see this displayed as Mitski is shown to be one of the choral performers in the background of part of the video-wide long shot Furthermore, these cameos do not have to be of the artists themselves, such as the lead singer and frontman for fellow New Wave band "The Cure", Robert Smith, accompanies the band in Siouxsie and the Banshees' music video for "Dear Prudence" as the two bands were touring and working with each other at the time. This benefitted both bands and the two cross-advertised each other, attracting both fan-bases

14. Subversion of expectations Expectations and societal norms are often visually shown subverted in alternative culture, for comedic or moralistic effect, showing a non-alternative audience that the norm is not always correct or the only representation of something and an alternative audience that they are represented, included, seen, and in the media Siouxsie and the Banshees' shooting location of a Venetian town with lapping waves, aqueducts, underground classical tunnels, and picturesque romantic architecture contrasts well with the band's gothic and alternative aesthetic which would be associated with urban city locations and possibly seen as 'too rebellious' or 'troublemakers' to be in such a place. However, their presence there encourages inclusivity and judgement beyond outwards appearance. On the other hand, Billie Marten's "Human Replacement" subverts the audience's expectations of the purpose of her venture outside in a tank and armour, culminating on just a trip to the corner shop. This adds a layer of comedy to the address of a real and dangerous societal problem, drawing attention to the problem by making the narrative more interesting with a twist.

15. Alternative Fashion A large appeal to an alternative audience is being shown a role model that openly rejects societal norms for physical appearance to aspire to resemble and dress like. This creates a relationship between the audience and artist, being more potent the more alternative and outlandish compared to the norm the artist looks. One way this is done is piercings and tattoos, seen on Olivia Osby from Lowertown, Lola Young, and MOTHICA as the alternative scene, particularly a grungy and gothic subsect, see tattoos and piercings as a rebellious badge of honour amongst their community. This is also true for dyed hair, also seen in Olivia and MOTHICA. For a male perspective, teen and grungey clothings with a hint of 'gang' or biker attire is a common conventions, as seen in Lowertown bandmate Avshalom Weinberg Clothing is possibly even more important, especially in the case of Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees, who due to her individuality and originally during her active years became the mould for all goth fashion still to this day, reflected in modern artists like MOTHICA.

16. Multi-role Multi-role is implemented in a similar way artist cameos are, to include the artist more and register their appearance with the music and artist's brand. This is seen in the Arctic Monkey's video for "Crying Lightning" where the band plays themselves performing on a boat at sea and as huge monsters that attack the boat. Lowertown play masked and unmasked versions of themselves in the music video for "Bline", the unmasked personas performing separate to the narrative largely.

17. Day vs Night A common convention of mise- en -scene in Alternative Rock music videos is the portrayal of night and day to set the tone, mood, and message of different shots.  Nighttime is portrayed as dangerous, for example in Billie Marten's video for "Human Replacement" as she visually shows an exaggeration of precautions people (especially women) take to feel secure at night. It is also shown as 'rough' or being the time that 'dangerous people' lurk in Mitski's video for "Bug Like An Angel" wherein the main character roams the streets under the influence of heavy drug use.  However, in Mitski's video she also shows a sense of serenity in non-city environments, as the outro shots features soft neon lighting and a static shot of a single character walking. MOTHICA's video for "SPIRAL" carries an interpretation of dawn being a metaphor for the turning point between a 'downwards spiral' and an 'upwards spiral' as the lightning changes and hopeful messaging is lip-synced from the music along with a tonal change. She seems to imply the night as a solace from the trauma and hardships brought on in the brutalist environment of starkly sunlit scenes Time passes by in Lola Young and the Arctic Monkeys' videos to show progression Overall, time of day is shown to be tied to emotion and the weight of certain scenes.

18. Moral Messaging, Portrayal of Hope A core aspect of Alternative Rock music videos is their moral messaging and portrayal of shared experiences where hope is vital. In these videos, vices and problems common in people's lives are transformed into surreal representations of these themes along a narrative to carry a message and impart some sense of hope and advice for those in need. Mitski, for example, visually shows to the audience through her narrative that people don't always want to help themselves, and thus cannot be helped by other people. This coincides with her main character's representation of alcoholism/ drug misuse in "Bug Like An Angel", also shown in MOTHICA's music video for "SPIRAL", recounting her own experience with alcoholism and depression, with a hopeful message at the end of the song. "Bline" by Lowertown explores the importance of letting go of the past and one's history with people for the better, the narrative being a physical representation of a "suitcase full of things you used to own" that "used to feel so heavy" belonging to an ex-significant other. Lola, through recording the same style of shot in a dozen locations with differing clothes and scenery, portrays a moral message of focusing too much on other people's feelings about someone and the physical representation of one's mind 'running in circles'

19. Choppy editing Punchy and fast-paced editing, often in time with the bassline or drum beat of the song, is frequent throughout the alternative and indie rock genres Often, the effect created is a satisfying transition between shots that retains motion between shots and draws similarities between the progression of shots and the narratives and the musical beat Lola Young uses this as the driving force for audience engagement in her video for "Don't Hate Me", switching between a dozen iterations of the same style of shot with different backgrounds and outfits to create a unique experience usually changing shots as every line of music is sung Lowertown uses choppy editing particularly in sequences involving flashing lights, easter eggs and text. This creates a mysterious, surprising and somewhat scary aesthetic to the sequences. The same can also be said for MOTHICA, who uses such editing to visually display the portrayal of alcoholism and spiralling throughout the video.

20. Comedy Comedy is used to engage the audience and refer to common in-jokes or make light of stereotypes in the genre/ audience of the artist or to soften heavy themes in a video For example, Siouxsie and the Banshees show shots of the band putting up an umbrella on a hot sunny day, paying reference to the vampiric stereotypes of the gothic style Furthermore, Billie Marten uses an exaggerative visual of equipping military armour for a trip out after dark to discuss the real danger for women in cities at night. Lowertown uses a literal style of representation of their lyrics in the video which sparks comedic moments such as the masked figures plastic lip bleeding, the two figures taking photos of each other and playing catch/ carrying a suitcase

21. Genre-Wide Codes and Conventions:

22. Mise en Scene and Appearances Piercings, extreme makeup Dark clothing and usually hair DARK ATMOSPHERE, darkened lighting, low-key High-key lighting used for emphasis to mark moments as pivotal, draw attention. CONTRAST Locations usually outside or in urban areas. Brutalist archietcture compliments aesthetic  and simple surroundings keep attention on band, helps them stick out. Presence and acting tends to be exaggerated, with facial expressions and motions reinforcing lyrics and being expressive, usually conveying frustration or anger. PASSIONATE Includes typical iconography of the genre to unify and identify with fans and other rock bands: rock devil horn sign, pentagram, skull, tongue-out, etc.

23. Music Interruptions - The music may be interrupted or begin with a brief portion of dialogue/ a scene additional to the original music to start a narrative/ better tell the story of the video An example of interludes with dialogue conveying a narrative would be "why do you only call me when your high" by the Arctic Monkeys 

24. Editing - Usually edited in line with tempo, tending to be fast paced. Tends to contain a lot of jump-cuts and abrupt shifts in scenes and shots, often in instrumental sections or the chorus to better intensify crescendos Montages are common, showing a lot of different sequences in a short space of time, usually in some kind of chronological progression Little to no special effects/ editing as the focus is on the artists

25. Cinematography Close-ups are commonly used to show emotions on (usually the lead singers') faces or the instruments being played in a performative video Arial and distanced shots are also used to establish the scope of locations and action occurring, specifically in shots with crowds or a lot of events happening together. Usually at the beginnings/ends to set and conclude scenes. Angles and rotating cameras evoke action and movement, usually in line with the artists, keeping the experience interesting

26. Narratives Usually, a story will be told, relevant to the lyrics of the song, explaining and exploring topics discussed using analogies and example instances of broader topics (such as addiction or domestic violence) The artist usually features in the video, if not as protagonists, then as cameos or background characters Effectively delivers the message in a visual form of media Often includes a portion of live performance/ musical showcasing, especially during instrumental scenes Usually both performance and narrative Usually revolve around characters being wronged/ straying away from societal mainstream corruption/ conformity