Music Video Analysis of 'Pacifier' by Catfish And The Bottlemen

The video for 'Pacifier' by Catfish and the Bottlemen is complete disjuncture from the lyrics however it still conforms to the connotations of indie music; the video sees the band playing a football match in an abandoned warehouse against a group of thugs, the football match is aggressive and violent which goes well with the song in my opinion as the song does contain moments of the lyrics being shouted; this is further complemented by editing which is in time with the beat. There are many close-ups of the band members - showing their outfits (skinny jeans, leather jackets etc) which conform to the genre. The video very effectively uses slow-motion editing at parts such as when the band scores the winning goal. The setting of the video is also particularly effective as the warehouse is dark and the use of the flare makes the band look like silhouettes, flashing lights have also been used well in the video - all of these work well together to create a vibe that conforms to the indie music genre and will appeal to the band's target audience demographic.

The intro of the music video is effective in establishing a brand identity; all four of the band members have long hair and though the audience can only see their silhouettes, they are immediately aware that it is the band members - specifically lead guitarist Johnny Bond who is known to always wear hats, and bassist Benji Blakeway who has a trademark long and frizzy haircut. The video contains clear mid shots of each band member which will appeal to the band's target audience, especially due to their central framing in the shot. The video contains no performance from the band members and is a purely narrative based video that is a disjuncture from the lyrics - the song itself was written about one of lead singer Van McCann's friend's who's mother had passed away, however from the music video this would not be evident. The band are seen to be bloodied and dirty as well as smoking and drinking from a flask; this conforms to the indie music genre and the use of the dusty warehouse as the setting for the video is suitable as it draws urban connotations which are fitting to the band.

The section in the song after the second chorus is the slowest part of the song and during this section the shots are in slow motion to replicate this change in speed however when the instruments kick in again the shots speed up and the band begin their comeback in the football match by scoring the first of three goals to win the game. As the song ends we see the band walking away, lead by lead singer Van past the camera. The narrative of the story doesn't relate to the lyrics in any rational way even as amplification but at the same time, the video still does an effective job of promoting Catfish and the Bottlemen as it is an interesting music video that conforms to characteristics of the Indie genre as well as creating a band identity that will appeal to the band's target audience.