Indie folk music is a relatively new genre of music, it started to come into fruition around the 1990's in the USA when singers and songwriters came together from the indie and the rock community. It was influenced by folk music from the 1950's- and combines the two genres of indie rock music and folk music into one.
Examples of artists
Artists which are recognized to be 'founders' of this genre are Ani DiFranco and Dan Bern. However during the early 2000's onwards, the UK got hold of the genre where it exploded and elements of this genre can easily be found in the more popular songs in the current day. For example, Shawn Mendes, a singer/songwriter's current single, 'Mercy' and 'Treat you better' are currently in the UK top 40 singles chart at places 15 and 19 respectively. Other artists which identify themselves as Indie folk include; Bon Iver, Mumford and sons, Passenger, Of mice and men, Ben Howard and countless others. An example of a hugely popular indie folk song is 'Passenger - Let Her Go' which has (at the time of writing this) 1.2 Billion views.How is the sound identifiable?
The genre produces a very stripped back style of music, this is shown in the conventions of it, because it is so stripped back, electronic instruments will rarely be seen in an indie folk music video, as acoustic/ natural sounding instruments are what makes it, it. Examples of instruments used are:
- Acoustic guitars
- Pianos
- Banjo
- Drums
- Violin
- Harmonium
- Mandolin
- Double Bass
Nature
Nature is hugely apparent in indie folk music videos. The colours shown portray a realistic, more natural tone to the video, this is also to represent the stripped back nature of the genre, as nature is just about as basic as you can get, the naturalness of it all almost creates an aura around the watcher of the video as it plants you into the location where the video is taking place.
Camerawork
The camerawork varies a lot in indie folk music, one thing which is very common and has a reoccurring factor in the videos is the use of close up on the singers face, around 30-40% of the video is taken up by this. This establishes the protagonist in the video, and allows them to understand the sentimental value of the song. However, the person in shot, never looks into the camera, and looks away once 'eye contact' can be made, this adds to the mood of the song as the viewer can never fully understand the singers thoughts and feelings, despite the expressions shown by them.
Another shot used is the extreme long shots and long shots. These are very popular as it allows the audience to see and understand where the video is taking place, how the video relates to the song and usually adds to the feeling of the song. shot syntax usually follow after, leading to a close up of the artist.
Camera angles; Constant moving of the camera is also used a lot, this can represent the constant moving of the artist, as even though they may possibly be still or sitting down in the video, they are never truly still inside.
The artist can be shown in many different ways due to the camera angles used, and it is usually relevant to the song, eg, if the artist is to be shown as a strong character, a low angle shot will be used, and if the artist is trying to be portrayed as a weak character if they, for example are going through a hard time relationship wise, they will be shot using a high angle shot.
Camera angles; Constant moving of the camera is also used a lot, this can represent the constant moving of the artist, as even though they may possibly be still or sitting down in the video, they are never truly still inside.
The artist can be shown in many different ways due to the camera angles used, and it is usually relevant to the song, eg, if the artist is to be shown as a strong character, a low angle shot will be used, and if the artist is trying to be portrayed as a weak character if they, for example are going through a hard time relationship wise, they will be shot using a high angle shot.
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