Catfish and the Bottlemen - 'Soundcheck' Music Video Deconstruction:
Band Background Analysis:
Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British rock band, formed in Llandudno Wales in 2007; the band consists of four members, Van McCann, Benji Blakeway, Robert Hall and Johnny Bond. The bands name was influenced by one of Van’s earliest childhood memories; of an Australian busker who was entitled ‘Catfish the Bottleman’, due to his unusual spiky hair that mirrored the ferocity of a catfish. The band signed to ‘Communion Records’ in 2013 and released their first three albums ‘Homesick’, ‘Rango’ and ‘Pacifier’, before being signed to Island Records in 2014. (The same record label as The Heydaze, who often sign indie bands) They also won the first ever BBC Music Awards in December in 2014.
Soundcheck is the third song off 'The Ride' album and was eventually released as an individual single.
Deconstruction:
0:00 - 0:03:
Fade from black, with overlay flashes to long-tracking shot that tracks forward to reveal a room with a dark mise-en-scene and several large LED lights that flicker on. As the lights flicker on Van McCann (the lead singer), who was before camouflaged due to his dark costume within the dark mise-en-scene, is revealed in prominence within the centre of the shot; playing a 'prop' guitar, which is a recurring convention within indie music video, which stands to highlight the sheer importance of the music.
0:03 - 0:17:
On the beat change there is a straight cut to a close-up shot of Van's face, however, the visuals are limited due to the dark mise-en-scene and black and white colour grading, which conceals his face allowing him to appear as a black shadow. This greatly contrasts the white LED lights in the background of the shot. The close-up shot tracks out to a mid-profile shot of Van. The video has predominantly been filmed utilising handheld Steadicam shots to create a 'raw' and 'handmade' feel to the video, which could infer the notion that the music is of the highest importance to the artist, as they don't feel the need to create an elaborate video. The darkness cast over Van's face strips him of his identity as if metaphorically attempting to convey to the audience that they should initially listen to the music singularly, as often an artist's identity has a profound effect on whether or not a consumer enjoys the music. As the shot tracks, several beams of white reflected light appear around the lead singer, creating a haze of light. The other members of the band can be seen within the tracking shot in the background, however, there is a shallow depth of focus, whereas Van continues to be centralised throughout, extrapolating his importance within the band.
0:17 - 0:50:
A mid-shot of Van reveals the setting of the video, as the lighting becomes brighter, (thus bringing the members themselves into prominence) to be in a simplistic warehouse set, another convention that is often adhered to in indie music videos. Close-up shots have been used to introduce each member of the band, with their faces and identity finally in focus. A close-up shot of Van pans around him as he is signing in a circular motion. At 0:38 there is a sudden guitar riff in the audio, and on this beat change the shot switches on a straight cut to a close-up of the chords being played on the guitar; creating an illusion of the music being played live in front of you and reinforcing that the music video is performance based. Dolly shot, moving backwards to reveal the whole band in a long-shot, juxtaposing the close-up shots that had been used previously.
0:50 - 1:00:
A multitude, of disorientating shots moving around the band with vary foci and shot sizes ranging from close-ups to long-shots. Each shot utilises a vintage film grain. There are many shots with canted angles, with each shot changing angle.
1:00 - 2:00:
Many shots appear on specific stings in the music, relating to the instrument that is being heard in the sting. Pan shot, moving forward into the room and displaying the entirety of the band.
2:00- 3:00:
At 2:55 there is a long low angle shot looking up towards Van McCann, the low angle of the shot illustrates that he is the most important band member, but it also could be seen to metaphorically represent a POV shot from the perspective of a fan in the crowd who is looking up at Van who is singing directly into the camera. The constant bright flashes of light and light leaks on the lens representative of the strobe lighting that is frequently incorporated into their sets when performing live as evident from the GIF below:
3:00 - 4:00:
As the tempo begins to increase towards the song's climax, the shots increase in speed, directly matching the beat of the music. At 3:13 there is a slightly low angled long-shot of the entire band playing their instruments. As Van moves his arm down in an over-exaggerated movement the visuals and the beat of the music directly link as the music reaches its peak and LED strobe lights extensivley flash.
Mise-en-scene:
Location: The overall miss-en-scene of the music video is dark and simplistic, with predominantly low-ley lighting apart from the bright white LED lighting. The setting featured is a narrow warehouse space, which contains several strips of white LED industrial looking lighting, with white ruggedly painted walls. The juxtaposition between the bands dark costumes and lighting, in comparison to the harsh white walls and LED lighting mirrors mirrors the monochromatic black and white colour scheme that is utilised on all of the bands merchandise. However, a multitude of tracking shots have been framed in order to capture the bright lighting behind the lead singer, therefore appearing as high-key lighting on certain lyrics in the song. This creates a silhouette of Van and unique light glares that beam into the camera keeping the the viewers attention, and lighting his face as he passionately sings the lyrics; further evidencing the bands passion for their music.
The commonly used indie convention of using a
simplistic, bare, warehouse set is adhered to within the music video, which may be a purposeful attempt to allow the audience to make a visible connection with the band themselves. The title of the song may have also impacted the mise-en-scene of the video as 'Soundcheck' refers to the process artists go through before performing live, where they test out the instruments and backing track; this usually occurs either in the venue the band are performing in, or in a warehouse setting that mirrors the acoustics of the venue they are playing in. Therefore, the set could be seen as a visual interpretation of the lyrics.
It could also be said, that the mise-en-scene of indie music videos (indie bands usually have a smaller audience and profit due to niche sound) tend to utilise basic sets (or not elaborate sets), as typically the production budget is considerably lower.
Make-up and Costume: All of the band members are dressed in black clothing, which dramatically contrasts the white set, particularly in the shots that use high-key lighting. However, at the beginning of the video the black and white colour grading placed on the video enhances the black of their clothing, allowing them to blend into their dark surroundings, which allows the viewer to focus more on the music for the first half of the song - as the ethos of indie music centralises on the importance of the music, rather than the artist. Their costumes typically consist of black skinny jeans and a leather jacket. Leather jackets could be seen as a motif of the genre (the indie genre encroaches into the rock genre.) as they are typically are seen to connote danger, rebellion and juvenile behaviour which come with the perception of an indie band on tour; similarly indie music often includes lyrics that rebel against social norms, and include crude references to sexual innuendos or drug/alcohol use. These clothes also resonate with the adolescent fanbase that would stereotypically consume their media, as ripped skinny jeans are highly popular in today's fashion culture, with the leather jacket deemed 'vintage'.
0:00 - 0:03:
Fade from black, with overlay flashes to long-tracking shot that tracks forward to reveal a room with a dark mise-en-scene and several large LED lights that flicker on. As the lights flicker on Van McCann (the lead singer), who was before camouflaged due to his dark costume within the dark mise-en-scene, is revealed in prominence within the centre of the shot; playing a 'prop' guitar, which is a recurring convention within indie music video, which stands to highlight the sheer importance of the music.
0:03 - 0:17:
On the beat change there is a straight cut to a close-up shot of Van's face, however, the visuals are limited due to the dark mise-en-scene and black and white colour grading, which conceals his face allowing him to appear as a black shadow. This greatly contrasts the white LED lights in the background of the shot. The close-up shot tracks out to a mid-profile shot of Van. The video has predominantly been filmed utilising handheld Steadicam shots to create a 'raw' and 'handmade' feel to the video, which could infer the notion that the music is of the highest importance to the artist, as they don't feel the need to create an elaborate video. The darkness cast over Van's face strips him of his identity as if metaphorically attempting to convey to the audience that they should initially listen to the music singularly, as often an artist's identity has a profound effect on whether or not a consumer enjoys the music. As the shot tracks, several beams of white reflected light appear around the lead singer, creating a haze of light. The other members of the band can be seen within the tracking shot in the background, however, there is a shallow depth of focus, whereas Van continues to be centralised throughout, extrapolating his importance within the band.
0:17 - 0:50:
A mid-shot of Van reveals the setting of the video, as the lighting becomes brighter, (thus bringing the members themselves into prominence) to be in a simplistic warehouse set, another convention that is often adhered to in indie music videos. Close-up shots have been used to introduce each member of the band, with their faces and identity finally in focus. A close-up shot of Van pans around him as he is signing in a circular motion. At 0:38 there is a sudden guitar riff in the audio, and on this beat change the shot switches on a straight cut to a close-up of the chords being played on the guitar; creating an illusion of the music being played live in front of you and reinforcing that the music video is performance based. Dolly shot, moving backwards to reveal the whole band in a long-shot, juxtaposing the close-up shots that had been used previously.
0:50 - 1:00:
A multitude, of disorientating shots moving around the band with vary foci and shot sizes ranging from close-ups to long-shots. Each shot utilises a vintage film grain. There are many shots with canted angles, with each shot changing angle.
1:00 - 2:00:
Many shots appear on specific stings in the music, relating to the instrument that is being heard in the sting. Pan shot, moving forward into the room and displaying the entirety of the band.
2:00- 3:00:
At 2:55 there is a long low angle shot looking up towards Van McCann, the low angle of the shot illustrates that he is the most important band member, but it also could be seen to metaphorically represent a POV shot from the perspective of a fan in the crowd who is looking up at Van who is singing directly into the camera. The constant bright flashes of light and light leaks on the lens representative of the strobe lighting that is frequently incorporated into their sets when performing live as evident from the GIF below:
 |
| Catfish and the Bottlemen performing at Community Festival, Summer 2017 |
As the tempo begins to increase towards the song's climax, the shots increase in speed, directly matching the beat of the music. At 3:13 there is a slightly low angled long-shot of the entire band playing their instruments. As Van moves his arm down in an over-exaggerated movement the visuals and the beat of the music directly link as the music reaches its peak and LED strobe lights extensivley flash.
Mise-en-scene:
Location: The overall miss-en-scene of the music video is dark and simplistic, with predominantly low-ley lighting apart from the bright white LED lighting. The setting featured is a narrow warehouse space, which contains several strips of white LED industrial looking lighting, with white ruggedly painted walls. The juxtaposition between the bands dark costumes and lighting, in comparison to the harsh white walls and LED lighting mirrors mirrors the monochromatic black and white colour scheme that is utilised on all of the bands merchandise. However, a multitude of tracking shots have been framed in order to capture the bright lighting behind the lead singer, therefore appearing as high-key lighting on certain lyrics in the song. This creates a silhouette of Van and unique light glares that beam into the camera keeping the the viewers attention, and lighting his face as he passionately sings the lyrics; further evidencing the bands passion for their music. The commonly used indie convention of using a
simplistic, bare, warehouse set is adhered to within the music video, which may be a purposeful attempt to allow the audience to make a visible connection with the band themselves. The title of the song may have also impacted the mise-en-scene of the video as 'Soundcheck' refers to the process artists go through before performing live, where they test out the instruments and backing track; this usually occurs either in the venue the band are performing in, or in a warehouse setting that mirrors the acoustics of the venue they are playing in. Therefore, the set could be seen as a visual interpretation of the lyrics. It could also be said, that the mise-en-scene of indie music videos (indie bands usually have a smaller audience and profit due to niche sound) tend to utilise basic sets (or not elaborate sets), as typically the production budget is considerably lower.
 |
| Van McCann wearing black skinny jeans and leather jacket |
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