Genre Case study- Florence and the Machine Ship to Wreck-EDITED

Genre is how musicians and films are categorised, it also helps to target a specific audience as they know what they are looking for and what to expect. The word genre literally means 'a style or category of art, music and film'. Genre's are picked due to certain characteristics of the music or film that have been predetermined years before from the musicians predecessors.
Florence and The machine- Ship to Wreck is a prime example of  an indie pop music video surrounded by artists such as Lana Del Ray, this indie pop band has been around since 2007 and originated in London, England whilst they are classed as the indie pop subculture they are also associated with indie rock, chamber pop and art rock. Similarly, they are also compared to artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Dev Hynes and the The Big Pink because of the common beginning year and where they originated from although their genres are different such as Dizzee Rascal who is classed as a Rapper/ singer songwriter, these artists are all classed as being very similar due to fan bases and their origination. Ship to wreck is from Florence and the machine's third album and it was released on the 9th April 2015. The song originally premiered on Huw Stephens show on radio 1 and the music video was released a few days later on the 13th April 2015.  The music video for the song is part of a wider narrative from 2 predecessor music videos from their previous albums. Indie originates in the 1980s from Scottish post punk bands in the UK and has predecessors such a Josef k and Orange Juice.  The word indie used to mean independent but gradually over time it has changed to mean outsider/ underground and also not mainstream. This is through the many subcultures and genres of music being produced with pop music being the most mainstream.



A convention that this music video uses which is a primary feature in the majority of indie pop music videos is the performance aspect of the video although Indie pop video do generally have a narrative they also incorporate a performance element within the video. An example of this is at  0:59 in which there is an ellipsis that carries on the narrative but florence is now performing instead of acting this draws the audience's attention to the main artist instead of the narrative and her surroundings The video ship to wreck also has a linear narrative which means that the story is in chronological order but it also allows for the performance to be intertwined within it. To emphasise this they use a close up of the artists which Goodwin claims is a convention of all music videos as the record label want to have frequent close ups of the artist to sell to the ever growing music industry. By having a performance element within the video it brings another element and allows for the audience to understand the artist but also to see if they are a new fan who the artists actually are. By using the close ups of the artists it develops who they are but also enhances the narrative or performance aspect of the video even if the audience's attention is drawn to the artist it makes them watch for longer as they realise that although there is a narrative it can be combined with a performance element whether that be intertwined with the narrative or completely set apart it involves the audience. By having a performance element in the music video it also allows for the audience to experience what the band/singer would be like live which is a form of marketing as the record label are essentially selling the band members to today's societal judgement. Although in most cases the performance and the narrative are intertwined this generally helps to enhance the narrative and involve the audience a lot more. Not all videos feature a narrative some are purely performance based such a James bay's music video for if you ever want to be in love. This video is entirely performance based which allows for the audience to see the vibe at a gig/live event but it also enables the artist to show off their talent and have the audience's full attention instead of having them distracted by a linear narrative which although wouldn't stop him from showing off his talent it would avert the audience's attention greatly henceforth hindering him in becoming more successful.

Generally, indie pop music videos are low budget because a majority of indie artists are not mainstream henceforth  they don't have as much  need for an expensive, lavish music video. Although there are some indie pop artists that are slightly more mainstream like florence and the machine but still not entirely relevant in today's younger generation even their videos are not as high budget as more mainstream artists such as Taylor swift who can afford to have fx in her videos such as Bad Blood. Florence and the machine's video for ship to wreck is not the biggest budget music video which is shown through the use of diegetic lighting and the lack of digitalised effects but by using the diegetic lighting it makes the video more natural and realistic which would appeal to an audience as it makes the band relatable.By florence and the machine having a relatively low budget music video it allows them to conform to the conventions of their genre which makes them more definable but slightly less recognisable instantaneously as the majority of indie pop music videos conform to this stereotypical convention.



After searching, another convention of the indie pop genre is during editing a filter is likely to be put over the music video or just selective parts of the video. In ship to wreck a slight filter is put on the video to make it seem slightly more retro but also to make the video look fazed and almost old. This is done to help create imagery for the video but also to allow for the time of the video to be set as well as letting the audience use their imagination of the context of the video or the meanings behind it. By adding a filter in the editing it helps to create a odd atmosphere which is slightly negative, this reflects the metaphorical meaning of the lyrics and the audience can experience this.An example of this si ellie goulding's 'your song' which uses a filter to define that they are memories which makes it easier for the audience. Another feature of editing is the type of cuts that are used in the video stereotypically indie pop uses cuts to reflect the tempo of the music. This is something that florence and the machine ship to wreck challenges as this video is more continuous and almost like pov shots but following her around instead of seeing what she is seeing. The effect of this is a smoother,better continuity video which allows for easier watching and is almost like a day in the life style video.

A convention that Florence and the machine's video does conform to is the use of location and how stereotypically they are dark and are streets or houses or cities. Ship to wreck does conform to this by using the streets but it also challenges it by having the majority of it in a house which could be a convention of another genre they are apart of. By using a house it could be seen to represent family and demonstrate how the lyrics are saying did they build everything that they have just to destroy it and abuse it. Normally, a house is a symbol for unity and family but the lyrics describe somebody who has a habit of wrecking things as well as this undermining the security which comes from a house it almost seems like this is set up by the character that Florence is portraying.

Lastly, camerawork plays a big  part in being a convention of indie pop music videos this is generally close ups of the artist which could be something that the record label demands but there are also a use of tilt shots and pan shots. The music video Ship to wreck tries to challenge this convention whilst it does use mid shots a close ups the camera is constantly roaming and is never stationary which is part of the reason there are limited cuts throughout the video. An example of a close up of the main artist is at 0:55 which meets the demand of the record label but also helps to sell the song and the band to a wider audience.

All of this incorporated together creates a definitive genre that helps to categorise musicians to help target their audiences and help find similar artists.