Codes and Conventions of Indie/Rock Music Videos

The genre that I have picked to analyse is Indie/Rock, and I have looked at 2 videos to help me understand the codes and conventions used in music videos of this genre.




In Indie/Rock music videos you usually see the artist/band performing throughout the video. This is shown in Mumford & Sons video 'Little Lion Man'.

The video 'Naive' by The Kooks challenges this though, as there is a sense of performance in the video, but it is focused on one of the band singing, with the rest of the band in the background of the video. I think this is because the video is more narrative based than performance based, and so this challenges the typical codes and conventions of Indie/Rock music videos.

You also usually see the artist/band playing their own instruments in the music videos, and we can also see this in the 'Little Lion Man' video as they are all playing instruments and singing throughout the video.


There are popular camera techniques used in Indie/Rock videos, especially long shots and extreme close ups. In the Mumford and Sons video there are many extreme close ups of the artists playing the instruments, which shows them actually playing the instruments which shows to the audience their talent. 

There are also a lot of long shots used in the 'Little Lion Man' video as it shows all of the band playing all together.

Dark colour palettes are usually used in Indie/Rock music videos, and this is shown in The Kooks video 'Naive'. The video is very dark throughout, and is based at a gig. 

The Mumford and Sons video also has quite a dark colour palette, using mainly white lights and a grey background. The clothes they are wearing are also quite dull and dark, mainly whites grays and blacks. 

The editing usually used in Indie/Rock videos is quite fast paced, and a great example of this is Mumford and Sons 'Little Lion Man'. This is also parallel to the music in this video, as when the music speeds up, the editing and cuts between instruments become faster to. 

These are all examples of typical codes and conventions in Indie/Rock music videos.

Codes and Conventions of hiphop/rap

Mirror- Lil wayne.
Lil Wayne is an artist who very raely has a storyline in his video, he is very about the image
and trying to put across his record labl 'Young Money'

-Long shots on full body to show off the '6 pack and tattoo's'

- By having the top off and wearing sunglasses, shows a 'bad boy image'

-Having close ups on the artists face shows his teeth showing his diamond grills'

-Showing his tattoos and extreme close ups on them to show the different
tattoos and also if those tattoos have a certain meaning.

-Doesnt follow a storyline, the video just shows a warehosue with red and white paint being thrown around and the singer in the middle singing.
-Lighting stays very simular throughout quite dim and dark. The lights get brighter only a little when its close up in his face.

Other Examples Simular to the video.

Usher-Climax, this only uses 2 scenes and dimmed lights.

Tyga-Rack city this uses explict scens of poles dancers to show off woman, then the singer wearing lots of diamond jewelery and showing again the tattoo's.
Chris Brown ft Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne- look at me now
Based in a warehouse and no storyline that relates to the lyrics and shows off the bad boy image again.

I can transform ya- Chris Brown ft Lil wayne - Shows off the 'body' which is the girl appeal and also 'bad boy image' The video has nothing to do wih the lyrics either.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Music Video Name: Whats My Name - Rihanna Featuring Drake


Relationship between lyrics and visuals - There is no literal link between the lyrics of the song and the visuals, but as it has a very flirtatious narrative about a relationship it links in with the visuals. An example from the 'What's My Name' video is when the female refers to the male as taking his time - 'you took your time', the visuals then slowed down. 


Relationship between music and visuals - The music is parallel to the visuals in the Rihanna video. Short shot duration is used throughout the video, and as the music gets faster, the length of the shots also get shorter to match the music. 


Genre characteristics - In the video 'What's My Name', there are very stereotypical characteristics of R'n'B artists, here are a few examples:

• The video challenges the typical locations used in R'n'B videos as they are usually based at a party or a fancy location, whereas in this video it is set in the street and in a downtown supermarket.
• The video conforms to the conventions of R'n'B videos as an expensive looking house is used, the artists are well groomed with nice clothes and expensive jewellery (an example of when this is shown is with a close up of the female characters ring on her finger).

• The video also conforms with the use of camera work and techniques. In r'n'b videos, you tend to see lots of establishing shots and close ups to show the money involved. We can see these have been used in Rihanna's music video as there are establishing shots of the street and also in the house, and close ups of her jewelery and make up. 

Example of an establishing shot

• In R'n'B music videos the artists tend to always be involved, and so this video conforms to this as both artists - Rihanna and Drake are both involved in the music video.
• R'n'B videos do not normally follow a story line, they only follow the genre and so this video challenges this as it is based on a story of a female and male meeting and their relationship blossoming throughout the video.
• R'n'B videos usually use dominant, rich, bold colours, and we can see that this video conforms to this, for example the females clothes are dominantly black and white, and she has bold red colour on her lips.

Notions of looking - The female artist in the video is represented as an attractive female who would appeal to the male audience due to the clothes she is wearing and her body language. Camera techniques such as close ups are used to show her body parts such as her lips and bottom which shows sexual appeal. The female in this video is represented as an object, whereas the male is quite casual throughout the video.

Intertextual reference -  None involved in this video.

Base -  'Whats my Name' is a narrative based music video of two people meeting and showing affection towards each other, and the video shows us their relationship.

Demands of record label -  By conducting research on Rihanna and watching a few of her other videos, it is obvious that her record label want her to be sexually appealing to the audience. This is done in many ways, for example, her abstract fashion, her hair and bright, bold lipstick. These are motifs that we can see in most of her videos, and it is very obvious is this video, 'Whats My Name' by Rihanna featuring Drake.