The Typical Conventions of the Rock Genre

I will study the rock genre in order to show the impact of genre on the promo. I will look at the camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene, performance and typical narrative of this particular genre.

Indie Rock:

Camera work:

The camera work for an Indie-Rock music video always involves a lot of close-ups of the band members as well as tracking shots of the performance and sometimes the audience. Also, the videos that involve stories usually have a lot of mid-shots to give a general idea to the audience of what is happening in the story as well as the idea that using mid-shots allows the audience to see all the people in the setting and their emotions and actions.

Editing:

The editing of Indie-Rock videos are usually fairly fast-paced and adrenaline-fueled, maintaining audience interest through use of a large variety of shots and effects to maintain an atompshere and keep up with the sound of the music. Also, there is usually a lot of straight-cutting between shots to do with the story and performance shots that highlight the band's talent and provide small breaks from the story so the audience get to see the band they love and get to feel what it would be like to see them perform.

Mise-en-scene:

Setting and Lighting - The setting of rock videos is usually fairly dark because it keeps the audience focused on what is going on and relates to the usual fast-pacing and loud music provided by the artist. They are also usually based around fairly normal settings like clubs or even the street. A lot of Indie-Rock videos are also located in just normal rooms like recording studios against a certain coloured backdrop like Nickleback's 'How you Remind me' which shows the performance past of the promo being in a normal room against a black background.
Props - The main props used are the instruments used by the bands but there are also usually other more normal props that relate to the story told by the lyrics or the narrative of the promo.
Costume - The costume of band members and artists of this genre are usually fairly casual and normal but some Indie-Rock bands like 'Empire of the Sun' wear weird and wopnderful costumes and dress in unique ways in order to humor, or even scare, audiences and make them want to watch on.

Performance:

Most videos of this genre involve an aspect of performance in them in order to show the ability and the talent of the band and also to capture the atmosphere of a live performance for the audience who are watching the video. Also, it allows the audience to see the band and feel a personal connection to them rather than just listening to their music whilst watching a random actor relaying a story to them through the video.

Typical Narrative:

The typical narrative of an Indie-Rock music promo is generally amplification as it 'amplifies' the main title of the song instead of focusing on specific lyrics throughout. Indie-rock generally focuses on this sort of music