Technical Codes

Technical Code research

In the alternative music genre there are multiple technical codes which are frequent within this genre; features such as the sound, lighting, transitions, shot types and filters used. 

Sound:

-There is frequent usage of Diagetic sound in alternative music videos to add more of a suspenseful effect for example traffic, or crying, or a slamming door for example. These sounds are included deliberately to set the vibe of the video and help the audience grasp the mood of the song. For example, hearing crying at the beginning of a music video may reflect a painful song with lyrics which are emotional to the artist and/ or audience. 

-Music videos in the alternative genre often feature dialogue in between verses or at the beginning/ end of a song. The use of this is to further the narrative and add effect to the meaning of the song; in our chosen song Lorde- '400 Lux', she stops singing in between verses and says 'dreams of clean teeth, I can tell that you're tired, but you keep the car on, while you're waiting out front'. This furthers the narrative whilst also adding some edge to the song and making it more unique. 

Lighting:

-Commonly, the lighting within an alternative music video would be mainly low key and dark, or often with a spot light on the artist themselves during a singing part of the music video

-There are also indie music videos in artificial dark lighting, for example in a dark room, in a club

-There are indie music videos with natural low key lighting such as in a dark alley way at night time, sat on a park, walking through a field, driving at night time

-There are indie music videos, often the ones with a happier message which do feature high key lighting for example at a party, at the beach, at a festival, driving in day time when sunny

Transitions 

-Alternative music videos can feature an array of transition types depending on the narrative type, some of these transition types are...

• fast cut transitions: these are for a fast paced narrative to exaggerate the up beat song usually
• montage transitions: shows a series of shots overlapping and appearing over each other consistently
• fade transitions: these transitions can be used to show a flash back or flash forward or just to show the song is slow paced and not chaotic

Camera Shots/ Angles 

-Often in the genre of alternative music there is not a typical camera shot or angle to be included however some ones which would work well and effectively would be...

• close up shot: this would show something and detail and make add major emphasis on the artists emotions
• establishing shot: this would effectively reveal the setting of the music video, which are often significant in alternative music videos as the setting is usually linked to the narrative
• long shot: this would show the artists/ character's style to the audience and reveal the artists genre immediately
• ariel shot: these are just cool to be included within an alternative music video
• tracking shot: this could be utilised to reveal the narrative further and emphasise the pace or suspense of the song

Filters

-The filters most commonly seen in alternative music are

• Black and White
• Retro/ Vintage
• Old movie
• Colours; neon colors, club scene
• Flashes of light

How would the use of technical codes help me in my music video?

Sound; 

The use of sound in a music video can add to the tensions and meanings of the song and make it more dramatic or exciting. By adding in dialogue or a diagetic sounds for example it can enhance the narrative and make the lyrics of the song deeper and more effective; people will feel more emotion towards the song. 

For example, in David Bowie's song 'Future Legend/ Diamond Dogs' there is an extended monologue before the song itself begins which builds up the tension of the music video making it more exciting for the audience, because there is a bigger wait until the lyrics and music begin. You can hear the monologue here...



The utilisation of this monologue within the music video has inspired us to use specific sound features in order to make our music video more exciting and to enhance the meaning of the lyrics. We have ideas to include dialogue mid way through the song so the characters of the narrative can be understood more. Additionally, by layering these sounds it will show how we can edit our music video and add our own extra sound effects on top of the song in order to make it more exciting.
We may also use sound features which have a distinct impact on the audience such as traffic noises, muffled dialogue and laughing in order to portray our narrative idea further and symbolise our indie genre such as the recklessness of our narrative characters. Eg; bottles clinking together to show that they are drinking alcohol.


Lighting; 

Lighting can also make your music video fit the conventions of a music genre and typically, in an alternative music video you'd expect low-key lighting or dim lighting in order to reflect the conventions of the genre. Usually, this can consist of low-key lighting through natural lighting of nigh time which enhances the narrative further. However, the alternative genre is not limited to the use of low-key lighting only because certain indie narratives can utilise artificial lighting to illuminate the artist or to have a day time setting in the narrative.

In this shot taken from Lana Del Rey's music video we can see how the low-key lighting surrounding the artist complements the spotlight which is put on the artist to make her stand out and the audience will notice this as how it represents the artist as well as complimenting the title and lyrics of the song 'young and beautiful'.

In my music video we plan to use lighting in order to enhance our narrative as we will feature low-key lighting followed with a spot light like this on our artist so that she is standing out from the surroundings. For establishing shots we want the lighting to be fairly neutral in order to add in filter altercations which will make our music video more unique and fit the alternative genre further.