I have chosen to study and analyse two music videos that are also in the indiepop/electropop genre, so I can compare and apply the codes and conventions used to my own music video. There is a link between each track, and if generalised to all other songs in the indiepop/electropop genre, it would be a convention of the genre.
Melanie Martinez - Sippy Cup
The first music video is Sippy Cup by Melanie Martinez. This video has an aspect of each narrative, performance and abstract. The storyline follows a mother who finds out that her husband has been committing adultery, and her angry outburst that follows. The mother kills both her husband and his lover, however this isn't shown directly on screen, it is implied by the use of a knife and blood. The meaning behind the song is that no matter how much you try to hide it, or distract yourself, reality is still going to happen. Lyrics such "he's still dead when you're done with the bottle" and "syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup" represent this. Melanie Martinez is similar to Halsey with her musical genre and style.
The video opens with a fifteen second outward zooming shot of Crybaby, acting as an establishing shot. This is followed with a sequence of handheld shots of her mother, the antagonist of the video. This handheld succession of clips represent her drunken state, as the camera staggers as she does. She is shown holding a bottle of what is implied to be alcohol. She begins to pour this liquid into a child's cup. This follows the theme of the song, which is that no matter how you disguise something as something else, it is still what it is. Crybaby is awoken from her sleep by the noises her drunken mother is making. Her father comes home with his mistress, most to his wife's ignorance. She takes a knife and it is implied that the mother attacks and kills both her husband and his mistress, however it is not directly shown on screen.
Crybaby comes to investigate the noise, and finds the bodies of her father and his mistress. The mother covers Crybaby's mouth with a cloth, takes her to her room, and then force feeds her liquid from a "sippy cup". Whilst this narrative is taking place, there is an interweaving performance in between shots, of Martinez lip syncing to the lyrics. She is shown with iconography that represents heaven, as she is in a light pink setting and is shown with angel wings. This is implied to be a 'flashback', as it seems to be Crybaby after drinking the contents of the sippy cup. She tries to play with her toys, however they are lifeless and unmoving.
There is a relationship between the music and the music video. The shots are sometimes in time with the music, such as when Crybaby's eyes are shown in a close up at the beginning in time with the lyrics. Also, in the actual track on the album there is a dubbed pouring sound, which is in time with one of the opening shots in the music video. As Martinez's album (Crybaby) is a conceptual album, there is a constant motif that is repeated throughout all songs and music videos. This repeated pattern is the story of Crybaby, a child who struggles with love and understanding the world around her. Therefore similar imagery, codes and conventions are used in all of Martinez's music videos in order to portray the story of Crybaby and for them to be connected. Child mise-en-scene is commonly used, such as children's toys and clothes. Each one of Martinez's music videos are directed by her, in order to fulfil the story that she had envisioned for Crybaby. Above, there is a double feature music video that includes much of the same imagery as in "Sippy Cup", such as children's toys and clothes.
Both Halsey and Martinez have concept albums, where all musical or lyrical ideas contribute to a single overall theme or unified story, however Martinez has a stronger, more connected story. Every song follows the life of 'Crybaby', and is themed around childhood, featuring track titles such as "Mrs Potato Head", "Milk and Cookies" and "Training Wheels". Physical copies of Martinez's album have "The Story of Crybaby" with it. This is a story book which acts as a companion to the album, using lyrics from the songs and hand-drawn images to tell the story of 'Crybaby'. Halsey's album, 'Badlands' tells stories from a dystopian world, however these songs do not follow on from each other, whilst Martinez's songs do.
Bastille - Laura Palmer
The second video I have chosen to study is Laura Palmer by Bastille. The song is named after a character in the 1990's American Drama 'Twin Peaks'. In the TV show, a series of events follow the murder of teenager Laura Palmer, as the town struggle to recover from her death and uncover the killer. Laura was known to many people, however each person knew a different side of her personality, a different 'Laura'. The director has reflected this in the music video. The theme of the video is about escaping yourself and life's norms and conventions, living a life different to others and accepting what you make of your life. This is evident in the opening lines: "Walking out into the dark, cutting out a different path, led by your beating heart". In the video, there are both narrative and performance features. However, both of these collide as the performance becomes part of the narrative.
In the meantime, the lead singer (Daniel Smith) is shown singing with strobe lighting behind him, however the forth wall is broken as the camera crew, director and makeup artists are shown. These two narratives are interwinding, and soon collide to become the same narrative, as the group of youths kidnap Smith. This is shown by both a professional camera and the handheld camera used by the teenagers, which implies that all attention from both narratives are on the kidnapping. One of the shots used in the music video is also used for their Laura Palmer EP (shown to the left). This is so the audience quickly recognise the EP because of the music video and vice versa.
After the lead singer is kidnapped, there is a brief break from the music, where only atmospheric sounds are played such as a dog barking. The music video filming site is left empty, with the strobe lighting still working. When the music begins again, the woman who is portraying Laura Palmer plays the piano in time with the music. Various fast paced editing is used through this to create a montage of clips that represent that the singer has spent a lot of time with the kidnappers. Strangely, the date on the camera in these scenes are on the 8th of August 2011, whilst the date on the camera when he actually was kidnapped shows the 10th of August 2011. This lowers verisimilitude as according to the date on the camera, he was kidnapped at a later date then when he was actually being held by the kidnappers.
The music video ends with Smith putting on a mask, becoming like one of his kidnappers, anonymous and free. The lyrics "This is your heart, can you feel it? Can you feel it? Pumps through your veins, can you feel it? Can you feel it?" are represented by the music video, as he is doing something that he wouldn't usually do, and he can feel the adrenaline. He is free from his commitments, and although it scares him, he embraces it anyway. This is the message and theme behind the song, and the representations of Laura Palmer. The entire documentary/found footage style of the music video is an aspect inspired from Twin Peaks, as the only imagery found of Palmer before her death was that of which was recorded by her friends in a handheld documentary style, and is a major plot line in the TV show. The image shown above is a shot of this footage, as is very similar to one of the opening shots in the music video (shown below).
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