Indie Band Name

As shown in a previous post, I have done some research into established indie bands and their specific names and reasons for choosing them. As part of my coursework I, with the help of other people, will have to create a music video and therefore that music video will be from a band and that band will need a name. So, after a while of coming up with different and possible band names we finally decided on one: 'The Interpretation'. We decided on this because being an indie artist is all about being independent and unique. Therefore calling ourselves The Interpretation it portrays that our music can effect people and is open to individual interpretation as well as allowing listeners to perceive it in their own way. Therefore 'The Interpretation' illustrates our overall aim for the music; to be interpreted by the individual listener.

Preliminary Task Shot Timings & Props

We decided to completely break down Ben Howard's Keep Your Head Up and timed how long each camera shot lasted for and the props which could be seen in each shot. This will help us to recreate the video  more effectively and hopefully be able to mirror the original more accurately. Below is the poster showing this:

Album Covers: Indie Genre

As our chosen genre is Indie, I decided to research into what was a typical album convention in order to hopefully create one of my own which will fit with the conventions on the indie genre. Through my research of album covers I have discovered that a recurring theme throughout indie album covers is the use of art work; especially water colours. However their is such a wide variety in terms on style with indie album covers that it is hard to not fit with conventions. As long as the image is independent and portrays the bands personality, characteristics or what their music stands for then the possibilities are not confined. Below are only a few on some of the album covers I researched:

Recreation of a Music Video

Location
In order to find recreate Ben Howard's Keep Your Head Up music video as well as possible we've decided on a field and forest located in Great Barfield; this will hopefully match the location of the original video.

Filming Schedule
The date of which we will film is Thursday 28th of June from 12:30 pm up until approximately 9:30 pm. The reason for us filming late is that the video itself starts at sun rise but as we are unable to film early in the morning we decided that the sunset should hopefully give us the same effect. Furthermore, having checked the weather for this day and the time of the sun setting, we should be able to match the weather of the original video.

Prop and Equipment List 

In order to recreate this video we will need the following equipment and props: a black bucket, handheld camera, tripod, bubbles, bubble maker, a shovel and a spade. 

Actors

As Ben Howard is a male and the only person seen within the first minute of the video, I will be acting his role as I am the only male in my group. 

Preliminary Task: Recreating A Music Video

As the title illustrates, my preliminary task is to recreate a minute of an artists music video. Due to my interests and love of indie style music, Ben Howard's Keep Your Head Up was what I decided to do. Below is the video for that song:



Reasons for choosing Ben Howard - Keep Your Head Up
My reasons for choosing this particular song are as followed:

• As our preliminary task states we only have to film a minute of the song and the first minute of the video is relatively easy to both recreate and act out. However our main issue will be with the editing, as their is a strong edit on colour and lighting within the first minute so recreating that will prove a challenge.
• The song fits perfectly with the Indie genre as it as an absence of auto-tune (a common factor within mainstream artists), relies heavily on the use of instruments; in particular a guitar and also the video is independent as it is a more relatable and 'normal' occurance (which indie is all about) rather than a mainstream video which would be typically set in a club.  
• The location/ setting is in a field and a forest with a stream or lake of some sort. As we have suitable locations in the surrounding areas of where we live, finding a similar place to film should be easy enough and should cause much distress.
• In terms of Mise-en-Scene, the props we need to use are simple as they are: a shovel and a sack. In terms of costume, the artist wears rolled up jeans and a plain t-shirt which portrays a casual, down to earth impression and therefore should be easy to mirror.  
• The camera shots are mainly an array of close ups shots, tracking shots, mid shots and POV shots which will provide minimal difficulty in recreating as myself and other group members are all familiar with using cameras. 
• Throughout the entire the video, the artist chooses not to have shots of him singing and focuses more on his actions and movement in the video. Therefore, as I will be performing the role of the artist, I will not have to work on perfectly mirroring the artist singing as well as working on my ability to mime. 

Analysis of album cover: Amy Winehouse

Poster showing digipack analyse 

In order to gain a greater knowledge of how an artist image is portrayed on their album cover; I, along with other group members, analysed various album covers from Amy Winehouse's. The image above highlights what we have analysed into the way she is illustrated on the covers and the reasons behind it.

Indie Band Names

As part of research and planning, I looked at established Indie band names to gain an idea of not only the choice of names but the reason for it. Some indie band names are as followed: Bon Iver, The Smiths, Paolo Nutini, Bloc Party, The Klaxons, The Neighbourhood, The Kooks, Bombay Bicycle Club, Daughter, Atlas Genius, Lydia, Fun, Pegasus Bridge, The Perishers, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Films, The Fall Of Troy, Parachute.

A recurring theme, which can be seen throughout the list above, is that the band names start with 'The'. This could be because they are describing a particular thing or person such as 'The Neighbourhood'. What can also be agreed upon is that the names are all unique and in some cases like 'The Tallest Man On Earth' illustrate examples of metaphors; possibly because they are aspiring to become something.