Synopsis
A man who is slowly disintegrating into a pile of old newspapers sets out to revisit Coney Island, the place of his childhood memories. Along the way, he imagines himself checking into an elegant but decaying hotel, where ghostly visions of people from his past emerge. The surreal journey transforms the song's fear of an anonymous, diminished existence into a darkly comic meditation on memory, mortality, and the desire to escape a life spent merely surviving.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was made for "Cockroach Hotel," a track from Jigsaw Soul's independently released second album, "Bound to Collide."
- The production used an abandoned hotel and factory building in Goshen, New York, roughly an hour north of New York City.
- Filming took place in late February in exceptionally cold conditions, with temperatures reported at 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The shoot was used to test Sony's CineAlta F23 camera system. The production was recorded in 1080p using a film-style camera setup with Zeiss Digi Prime lenses.
- The video's visual effects were created by Jayel Draco and Erik Rasmussen, helping shape its newspaper disintegration and ghostly imagery.
- Martin Pfefferkorn stars in the video. Dance performer Mary Madsen also appeared, reflecting Jigsaw Soul's broader connection with choreographers and contemporary dance.
- "Cockroach Hotel" was included in the 2009 Coney Island Film Festival program, where it was described as a music video from Brooklyn, New York.
- The track runs longer on the album than the festival program's listed video version: the album version is 4:37, while the festival listing gives the video a 3:55 runtime.