WHAT IS ICONOGRAPHY?

It is when elements within a product are repeated so they become the main or default package for a genre. Usually, we can immediately identify and associate visual images with a specific genre. There are three popular music genres that people are able to identify using the iconic visual imagery; rock, pop and indie. Within a music video, the conventions of the genres combine all elements of their individual iconography, which makes it easy for the audience to identify their genre. Mise en scene, camera, and editing are associated with this iconography. Also, artists in music videos and their live performances can show iconography. 

MISE EN SCENE:

Colours: Genres can be recognised by colour schemes throughout their music video. Indie bands usually use natural tones as they connote something  “average”. This means that the audience can identify the music being indie pop. Typical colours used in indie music videos are often black, brown, green and orange. However, indie pop bands include a few contrasting colours such as red and white because the genre heads towards a modern aspect. Since our genre is indie pop, we can introduce these newer colours into a music video to relate it more to indie pop, rather than just indie. 

Location: Compared to other genres, indie pop used simpler but varied locations. Fitting with the colour scheme, indie pop music videos tend to include the location of studios, cities, beaches, parks and the woods. These locations create a mystery, which makes the audience focus on the performance. By having locations that the audience can identify means they are able to relate to the artist because the videos and songs are usually at a personal level. This can compare to the rock genre, where band members are usually shown on stage with crowds cheering.

Performance/Narrative: Many indie pop music videos include the artist performing live; this makes the audience focus on the amount of talent that the artist has. They also include the artist performing on a stage just like a live performance, but without the crowd. This gives the same effect, but it also enables the audience to focus on artist/band rather than the atmosphere of the music. In a music video, a narrative is also shown, which makes the music video memorable. Using a narrative as well as a performance on stage makes it less tedious for the audience when they are watching the video. A narrative is when there is a sequence of images and videos that relate to the song to tell a story. This makes the audience able to understand why it was given that certain narrative; the narrative links to the song. Music video directs can add a variation to the narrative due to using special effects. This makes the video a lot more interesting for the audience because it keeps them engaged in the music video since the scenes are constantly changing.