research into chosen music genre

Our group has chosen this genre due to the nature of the videos and the resources available to us, with this genre you can tell a story to your audience within the song and video, allowing for it to link and for it to make sense to your audience, relating to them and allowing them to enjoy the artist more and feel they are down to earth and not unachievable, if you do not establish an artist before you choose an artist then you will not be able to truly get the grips of the genre and use co
nventions that make it the genre it is as you will have no example of the style of the genre.

We have decided to use the indie artist Gabrielle Aplin, two indie artists that use a similar style to hers are Ed Sheeran and Birdy, they both follow the codes and conventions of the indie genre, using fairly simple, Ed Sheerans 'A-team' is conventional to the indie genre because it uses narrative to tell a story to the audience which is probably a true story, this is conventional as it allows the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they can see the artist is truly pouring his heart out and telling real experiences of his, showing he has nothing to hide from his audience, this makes them warm to him as a person as they can see how down to earth he is and also allows them to feel like them know him better and see how open he is as a person. However it is unconventional as the songs are usually based on love, not real issues such as homelessness, this is unconventional as usually the topic of the songs are issues that everyday people, paying to listen to the song/see the artist live can relate to such as love. Homelessness is not a topic that many people listening would be able to relate to and therefore it is a controversial choice of topic and was a risk to make a song about as it could have flopped due to the audience not feeling part of the song like they do in other songs of Ed Sheerans, the fact he sings/focuses about sensitive topics like this shows how caring and considerate he is as a person even though he is a world famous star.

Mise en scene is used through the setting of the streets, this shows where she spends most of her time, trying to make money from selling 'the big issue' or from prostitution, and where she sleeps when she cannot keep up with rent; this makes the audience realise how real the issue is and shocks them, helping the artist have a big effect on the audience, due to the shocking nature of it the song is more likely to stick in the audiences head, and due to the audience being shocked it will be advertised through word of mouth by the audience, making it more likely for the to be a huge hit as it is advertised publicly.

Mise en scene is used again through the use of drugs at the end to show the struggle she is going through and what she has resorted to, the use of drugs by her shows the state her life is currently in and that she isn't in control anymore and needs to find a buzz from somewhere to get through everyday, this shocks the audience as they can see what has happened to a poor, helpless girl due to the unfortunate situation she has been put in, the audience will then remember this song due to the shock they have got from listening to it/ watching the music video, this will cause them to talk to other people about the song, getting them intrigued and wanting to listen to it, helping spread the song and making it more successful and helping grow his audience due to them seeing how down to earth he is as a person even though he is famous, a trait that the public tend to like and will relate to artists more if they are down to earth, this helps artists become huge stars due to having wide support from fans who feel like they know the artist personally and will him to do well and help in everyday they can.

Mise en scene is used through low key lighting throughout to show the dullness in her life and the her isolation, also to imply the evil and sadness that surrounds her, things like this reflect the reason she has turned to drugs and how it has helped her get through her struggles, this shocks the audience as they don't realise the true struggles of homelessness and would usually look down on them, the song helps them truly emphasise with the homeless and change their perception of homeless people, and possibly speak about the song to other people similar to them who would also look down on 'people below them'.

Mise en scene is used through wearing loose clothing, this shows that she only buys things necessary to her her and that she doesn't have luxuries, these clothes are purely to keep her warm, and are cheap and worn, showing her money struggles as she cannot afford to buy nice clothes, this shocks the audience as they take their luxuries for granted, this shocks them and makes them appreciate their lives, which they usually didn't, this changes their perception of their lives and would cause them to share it with family and friends, helping spread the song world wide and help make the song/artist more successful and gain a wider/larger audience.

Mise en scene is used through facial expressions which are constantly saddened, showing the struggle she is gong through and that she cannot even force herself to smile anymore due to the intense depression she is going through because of her life as a homeless person, this shocks the audience as they are not used to seeing songs from the perspective of a poor person rather than a rich, successful person, this makes the video unique and helps the audience sympathise with the homeless (which is the artists aim) and look at them as people as well, as they can see they have emotions just like everyone else.

The main camera techniques are long shot to show the distance she is from everyone else even though she is in the streets, as close as she could be to the public, yet she still feels lonely and depressed, this shows how she is not seen as another person by most, bar Ed Sheeran, causing the audience to really be shocked and see how awful they are treating another human being, this video/song really hits the audience hard and helps create an effect on them that will change the way they act around homeless people, the shock will help spread the song around the public as the audience will share the song due to how hard hitting and individual it is.

The other camera technique used is medium shot which shows the audience that they are not better than her just because she is homeless and that she is just as good as person as everyone else, just in a hard situation, the medium shot shows that they are the same level as her, this is the specific reason and high angle is not used as that would give the impression that the public are better than her, therefore the audience are shown that everyone is equal and this helps them understand that the homeless are just as important as them, just not as lucky as the rest and are in a hard time of their lives, this shocks the audience as they can see that they have been treating others wrongly and will cause them to change their behaviour.

The main editing style is fast editing to show the speed the world goes on around her, with no one ever even looking at her or trying to help, making her feel an outcast.
The target audience are everyday people that believe they are better than others just because of their situation, which would include the homeless, the artist is shown in the video slightly, helping the homeless woman and speaking to her, this shows him as caring and as a good person, making the audience appreciate him and respect him. The style is narrative as it is telling a story about a homeless girl, there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual, as it is a story, at the beginning you hear "white lips, pale face" and see her wandering around in the cold, there is a voyeuristic treatment of the female body as she dresses up to draw in men to get jobs for prostitution to make a living, the performance is majorly narrative based due to the telling of a story throughout.

These are used to draw in a target audience that will enjoy the indie genre and therefore the song, helping it become more successful and make the artist wider renounced by using indie conventions such as low key lighting to show how down and dull she is feeling, this allows the audience to relate to the artist as they can relate to her and feel like she has had the same experiences and therefore can build a relationship between the audience and artist.

Birdys 'wings' is conventional to the indie genre as it is telling a story about her love for someone and how she wants it to go on, a regular topic for indie songs, it is telling a story of how they met and that she misses him, this portrays to the audience the message the artist is trying to get across, the fact that she still loves the boy and that she wants to relive all the memories they had, this helps the audience relate to the artist and emphasise with her as they can understand her pain through the song as she makes it clear that she misses him, therefore she builds a relationship with the audience as they emphasise with her.

However it is unconventional as there is a lot of mayhem throughout with fires, etc, symbolising riots, this is uncommon within an indie genre song as it does not link with the peaceful, loving nature of indie fans and artists, this contrasts to their personality and therefore would be unconventional to the genre, helping draw attention to it and showing the artist will take a risk to become successful as it could flop and cause her to lose fans, by doing this she can draw in new fans that may enjoy the more fiery side of music and therefore widen her fan base, this helps her create a relationship with her audience as they do not expect her to do the unexpected, this shows she has a personality and lets the audience see that she isn't a generic artist.

The setting is at a party at a mansion in which there is lots of ground, showing the wealth of both of them and that the artist is clearly an important person to be getting invited to such high class parties, this causes the audience to look at her as an important person and almost see her as 'above them' due to her being at these big events, therefore showing that she is a big artist, therefore the audience believe she is successful and has good music, helping her convince her audience/new audiences into listening to the song and therefore gaining a wider audience in turn, by doing this as well she creates a relationship with the audience as they respect her for what she has achieved as an artist and they aspire to be like her.

Iconography used are horses, to show their freedom and grace throughout, and that they are two wild animals, this shows the audience that she is a free spirit and lets them see that she can have fun like everyday people do and isn't all work, this helps show her as a down to earth, everyday person and therefore helps her create a relationship with her audience as they believe that she is one of them and is approachable, helping make her more successful as the audience will like her due to her being one of them and not feeling she is above them.

The colour throughout is really dark apart from the fires in the background, to show the little hope she has of being with him but that she still has a small bit of belief, this helps the audience see how down she is and creates the effect of despair and sadness/loneliness, this then reflects onto the audience and they really feel the emotion as well due to the video using the effects really well, this then helps build a relationship between the audience and artist as they sympathise toward her and therefore build a relationship between them, this helps the artist become more successful as they feel closer to the artist and therefore the audience will the artist to do well and do all they can to help her.

Her costume is a dress which she wore to the party, to show the audience she is still thinking about the time she was with him and won't let the memories go, this helps the audience see that she is clinging onto the memories and trying to cling for as long as she physically can, therefore the audience see she is truly pained and the depth of the love she has for him, this helps them sympathise toward her and therefore build a relationship between them as she shows she feels pain because of love like everyone else, helping them emphasise with her as they've been in the same situation as her and therefore can understand what she is going through.

Her face is pained when she thinks about him, gutted she won't be able to be with him again, these facial expressions help show the audience the true pain she is going through and helps them understand the song better and the true feelings of it, the audience can sympathise with the artist as they can see what she is thinking/feeling without her even speaking, this makes them feel like they know her better as they know her thoughts without her speaking, this makes them feel like they've known her for years and know her well, this helps them warm toward her and feel like they know her personally, therefore doing everything they can to help her succeed.

There are lots of close ups of the artist to show the emotion on her face as well as to sell the song and future songs, helping her gain a larger audience and become more successful, these floes ups help the audience see the artists emotion up close and truly see that she is actually feeling these emotions and puts these into her songs and therefore shows that she hides nothing from the audience as she wears her heart on her sleeve and lets the audience see all her true feelings, this helps them build a relationship with her as they feel they know her well as they know what she is thinking just through the look on her face.

Long shots are used throughout to show the whole area and how large the party is, showing its importance, as well as showing the mess they've made, this helps her audience see the whole picture and get a true feel of the scene, helping them engage into the music and really enjoy it, therefore helping the artist become more likely to become successful and build relationships with the audience due to them feeling involved in the music and feeling like they are the same as the artist and that she truly is an everyday person.

There is fast editing used to show the speed the night went and how she enjoyed it, wishing she could relive it or it could go on longer, so she could be with the person she fell in love with again, this editing helps show the audience that she truly was enjoying herself and that she was having so much fun with the man that the time flew by, and she wishes it didn't go so quickly, and she
wants to relive it, the audience sympathise for her and really feel sorry for her, this helps build a relationship between them as they know how much she wants to be with the boy.

The target audience are those that enjoy love songs, so this means your typical indie fans, she definitely bases this song on her current audiences taste, by basing it on a conventional indie fans taste of music she is likely to reach a wider audience of the indie genre  and therefore is more likely to become successful within it, if she aims at a niche audience then it will only be successful within a small part of the community and not be a successful hit, by generalising it, it reaches more people and will be more likely to be successful and build relationships between the audience and her as they enjoy her songs and can truly relate to her

The artist is represented as someone important that is looking to find love and has found it, but lost it again, this is conventional to the indie genre and makes them more likely to relate to it, therefore she builds a relationship with her audience and will be more likely to be successful.

The style is narrative as it is telling the story of her night with this man she has fell in love with, the lyrics and visuals relate as it is talking about her love for this man and then it is showing the story of what happened, at the beginning there is a relationship between the visuals and music, it is fast paced and the camera is quickly switching between peoples faces, there are lots of close ups of the artist to help 'sell her' as an artist to her audiences as well as others, the performance is mainly narrative as it is telling a story of her love life and how she wants it back.

This research will help as it will give us ideas on what to do for our video, for example we will be using a narrative music video to help tell a story to the audience, also it will be about a love story although it was interesting to think about a real world issue as one as well, this is because love is conventional to the genre and will be easier to re create.

This draws in the target audience as the video sticks to classic indie genre conventions such as a narrative style of music video to draw in the correct target audience and therefore draw in fans of indie music, helping the artist become successful along with the song, and helping the artist form a fanbase to help them succeed, the narrative draws in the audience as they can relate to the storyline and therefore feel like they are similar to the artist and can relate to their problems and life, making the audience build a relationship with the artist.