Textual Analysis 1

Catfish and The Bottlemen- Cocoon 

Catfish and the Bottlemen are an indie/alternative rock band.

Analysis of the 'Cocoon' Music video:

Cinematography:

-This ariel shot is interesting as it seems to create a sense of distortion from the angle and height it is at; as though the main character is feeling a negative way about something or they're deep in thought.

-This extreme long shot shows the arrival of the male character which matches the lyrics, "I remember when we swapped names..." This long shot allows the other 2 people to be seen. However, the rule of thirds allows the main character to be seen clearly as he is in the middle, between the two others, signifying his importance. Again, the shot also allows clothing to be seen, making the genre more clear, as they're not wearing bright clothing which relates to the stereotypical dark genre of indie/rock.

-Close up's are used to convey emotion, This one of the girl shows that she is annoyed and upset that they keep getting interrupted and are not allowed to be together, linking the whole narrative together; that they are forbidden to be together because others don't allow it.

-This two shot shows that the two of them are finally together. Although they don't seem to be in a very happy, bright place which again could relate to the indie/rock genre, as in pop videos there are usually bright places and mise en scene to reflect the genre, whereas for this genre the colours are quite washed out and bleak, also reflecting the dark narrative.

Sound: 

-The non-diegetic sound of the drums and an electric guitar signifies the genre of the music video very early on, as these musical instruments are typical conventions of the indie/alternative rock genre.


-The lyrics match what is on screen, as he is singing about the girl as he sees her, and what is happening in the narrative describes what is being heard through the lyrics. "Rest on me..." matches the image below, where the girl is seen resting on his shoulder.

Editing:


-The editing is quite slow at times, signifying that time could be running out for the main character to take action, maybe to save the girl or escape from the place they're in.


-Eyeline match from the main male character to the girl, showing there is something going on between the two, and it also clearly suggests that the lyrics are about her.


-At the end of the video there is a cut from a two shot of the two main characters in the music video, to a close up of them holding hands. The girl is wearing a red top which has connotations of love, signifying that they love each other and will stop at nothing to be together.

Mise en scene:

-Through the costume of the main male character, we can see that he's not wearing bright colours which also conveys the genre, as this particular genre stereotypes that they wear dark clothing.

-The costume of the woman in the image below is all white and she is wearing a white hat which has connotations of a nurse or it is what someone would wear in a mental institution. This is quite a serious theme in terms of mentality, which also reflects the indie rock genre, because it wouldn't match pop music videos as those are usually cheery and happy or even a love song focusing on less serious themes.

-The colours in the music video are quite neutral and dark, again, linking to the rock/indie genre, as pop videos usually have bright colours to reflect the genre, and rock has dark colours to show their genre.

Overall:

Overall, this music video reflects the indie/rock genre due to mise en scene, cinematography, editing and sound. To extend each points further, the mise en scene used is very dull and dark, a typical convention of this genre. Their clothing isn't revealing which is also typical of this genre. Other genre's such as pop music videos have their artists/characters wearing revealing clothing which also relates to Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory; that they're only there for the viewing pleasure of others, sexualising them as things and not people. Whereas indie/rock music videos tend to have a narrative and plot surrounding their videos, such as this one by Catfish and the Bottlemen, where the only thing that is being focused on is the plot itself and the people acting to portray the narrative as good as possible.

The sound used is a clear representation of the indie/rock genre due to the drums and electric guitars. In my second analysis I am analysing a country music video and in that video there is an acoustic guitar to signify the country genre and in this video the electric guitar clearly sets the two videos apart and shows the difference between them-as acoustic guitars are typically for country/soft songs and drums and electric guitars are usually used for the rock genre. If an acoustic guitar was used in this video instead of an electric guitar, then the genre wouldn't be as recognisable and the narrative wouldn't be as strong and easy to follow. This shows that musical instruments in music videos are vital in portraying the genre clearly.

The editing used are usually cuts from one shot to another in order to portray what the lyrics are saying to link to a particular shot. Some are fast paced which could be to emphasise the anger that the main characters are feeling as they can't be together and keep getting judged by everyone. The cuts that link the shots together also shows the closeness between the two characters and show that they like each other a lot.

The cinematography used helps convey the narrative of them not being allowed to be together. The long shots show the other people in the way of the 2 main characters. The two shots with the two main characters represent their closeness and their fondness of each other and the fun times they had, even if there wasn't that many because they couldn't be together much. Each shot conveys the relationships between everyone in the video.