Music Video: Research [ Component 3 ]
This is my music video analysis for Component 3
'Nxde,' (G)I-DLE
SoYeon, Pop Time, Kako. (2022) Nxde. [Performed by (G)I-DLE] On I love
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCO7f0SmrDc
The music video for (G)I-DLE's recent title track, Nxde was released in October 2022. Nxde is an alternative pop song featuring lyrics that revolves around the notion of expressing one's true self.
Media Language
The music video starts with an animated character that resembles Marilyn Monroe along with texts such as "Welcome to the glamorous and sensual nude show" or "Don't be rude. Yes I'm a nude" which introduces the main idea and setting to the audiences.
Unlike other scenes, the girl here is in her own outfit and style, not cosplaying as Marilyn Monroe. Actions such as rejecting magazines containing "NUDE" as well as pushing her makeup artist and hair stylist away connotes that she's does not accept when people view her as an object.
In the scene where the woman was reading a newspaper is followed by her ripping it apart, symbolizing the articles about her are nonsense. However in the end of that she's still chased by newspaper connoting that the harassment is endless.
On the contrary to what the women did before, in this scene they're applying more makeup, posing for the camera, fanning themselves and asking "How do I look?." The scenes are in black and white symbolizing that this is not what they want to be doing or that this is the old them. They're connoting that this is not what they want, instead they just want to be an artist that are being true to themselves, not following the stereotype.
The first clip shows a woman with a blonde wig who resembles Marilyn Monroe playing the piano in a show titled "NUDE." Most people may expect it to be a show with sexy women, however, differing from the traditional thinking, the woman is shown playing a piano and producing her own music rather than dancing around in a sensual way. This music video subverts from the idea of Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory and the sexualization of women, instead, strong independent women are represented.
The next scene is a homage of the movie 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)' where men are offering Marilyn Monroe hearts to show their adoration. Different from the original scene, (G)I-DLE featured men from different races to promote inclusivity and diversity.
In the next scene, a woman sitting in front of the reporters in a movie premiere, harassed by the flashing cameras and microphone the same way as what Marilyn Monroe experienced in the past. She showed an uninterested facial expression representing idols/women being in spotlight of unwanted public opinions.
The woman is shown reading a book. This is because Marilyn Monroe is known as a 'dumb blonde' when in fact she is an extremely intelligent women. Female audience may be able to relate to her as someone struggling to be taken seriously especially for those who's working in the entertainment industry like (G)I-DLE themselves. This is relevant to their target audience since,(G)I-DLE's fandom is consisted of mostly young females. Other than that, the women in the scene was also reading the poetry book "Leaves of Grass" which focuses heavily on the philosophy of life and discusses self individuality and personality.
They used intertextuality to make the scenes familiar and more interesting to watch for audiences with previous knowledge of the other text. They recreated a famous scene of Marilyn Monroe from the movie 'The Seven Year Itch (1955).' The scene from the movie is well known to audiences from most age group as it has been made into memes in various social platforms. In this scene the woman is dressed up considerably in a sexy way and is posing for the camera. Male reporters surrounding her represents the male gaze and society's approval for those characteristics in a woman.
This part shows the woman undressing herself on a livestream, ignoring the comments saying "guy's don't like this" "That's too vulgar" "that's not what I expected." Her going nude here connotes removing the apologetic side of herself, the side enslaved to society opinions. There are comments such as "show me something sexy" and "she can't rap" which are comments (G)I-DLE received a lot from the public.
A black and white nude drawing (which resembles Marilyn Monroe) was put in the museum. People look at the frame only knowing her accomplishments & choose to only remember parts of her that they approve.
At the end the artwork ended up being shredded. This is a tribute to an artist called Banksy. It references one of Banksy's shredded artwork, 'Love is in the Bin.' This scene also represents (G)I-DLE disagreement to women being objectified.
(G)I-DLE garnered over 100M views on YouTube in less than a month. Due to the advancement of social media, they're able to promote their music videos through various platform and YouTube advertisements. They also attract viewers by featuring animations which makes their music video different from other K-Pop music videos.
'Ditto,' NewJeans
250. Hyu-il, C. Minji, K. Oohyo. Ylva, D. (2022) Ditto. [Performed by NewJeans] On NewJeans 'OMG'
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSUydWEqKwE
There are 2 versions of the Ditto music video, side A’ and ‘side B.' They both revolve on a divergent story, as they are shot from the perspective of a character called Heesoo, a close friend and schoolmate of NewJeans. I personally really like the aesthetics of this video and how they subverts from the usual K-pop music videos.
Media Language
The story is separated into 2 MVs, side A and side B. The 2 videos matches up perfectly. The clips are partly shot on an old low quality camera to suit their setting of Seoul in the year 1999. This music video subverts the usual K-pop music videos where they are mostly very high in budget and quality, features bright vibrant colors and artists lip-syncing to the song. The music video includes clips of the girls playing and dancing around like normal high school students, both from Heesoo's perspective (grainy shots) and the cameraman's perspective (higher quality clips). The clips follows characteristics of video's from the 90s, muted colors, warm & greenish tone, & low contrasted clips. There have been many interpretations of the music video. Some think that it is about growing out of a friendship, but some fans have deduced that it explains the relationship between idols and fans. Some theorizes that it tells the tale of how a fan grows up and may fall out of the fandom.
Representation
Ban Heesoo is the 6th girl in NewJeans' group of friends. Ban Heesoo's name is pronounced similarly to NewJeans' fandom name "Bunnies" which means that her character represents NewJeans' fans. Heesoo is always seen taking video of NewJeans rather than joining them dancing and playing, just how fans always take photos and video of their idol who are always performing. Conversely, just like how idols can provide happiness and strength to their fans, the NewJeans girls also cheer on Heesoo when she is hurt. However, during the ending Heesoo's attention was captured by something else. She then turned her gaze and camera from the girls. This connotes the moment when fans face an event in their life that will distract them from being NewJeans's fans.
Audience
I think this music video can be enjoyed by people from every generation as the track is a timeless romantic song with lyrics expressing about someone falling in love and how they "got nothing to lose." which may be relatable for many people. Nevertheless, this music video is targeted to teenagers who are NewJeans's target audience. This music video will be especially interesting for high school students because it features a story of 6 high school students and the NewJeans members are all still in high school or middle school in real life. This music video are also enjoyed by older generations especially those who spent their high school year in the 90s as the style of the videos and the setting recalls their old memories back. NewJeans is famous for their Y2K (year 2000) concept. Most of their promotion teasers, fashion and album designs resembles styles from the early 2000s. These kinds of concepts are back to the trend and are famous amongst many teenagers nowadays. I think their concept is very suitable for their target audiences as trends goes through a cycle where new trends come and go. The reason for this is the 20 years rule which suggest that trends come back every 20 years.
Industry
The mysteriously shot music video has sparked the interest of many K-Pop fans because of its hidden meaning. Fans started to post their own views and theories about this music video which has indirectly helped promoting the track. Instead of setting up advertisements on social medias, this time HYBE Labels promoted NewJeans's new track in an unusual way. They set up a YouTube channel with Heesoo's name and uploaded short clips from 1999 recorded by Heesoo as seen from the music video. These videos will take the audiences deeper into their story world and enhance the nostalgic feelings. Audiences will automatically anticipate their next releases enthusiastically as the storyline will continue in the music video of their next track "OMG." Along with the release of the social media promotions of the music video, HYBE Labels also created a website ( https://newjeans.kr/ ) with a user interface similar to a computer desktop from the 90s. Fans can see pictures taken by Heesoo from the mv and their teaser photos for their next release in the website. They also embed NewJeans's music video onto the website to persuade fans to stream the music videos.
Considering NewJeans's success and their agency, this MV is considered to have a lower production value, nonetheless, because of their creative approach on creating the video, it's still an effective device to promote their music and album. This music video received an immense success which may influence other K-pop groups/artists to create this kind of MV in the future.
'Feel My Rhythm,' Red Velvet
Andreas, O. Jake, K. Maria, M. MCK. Jieum, S. (2022) Feel My Rhythm. [Performed by Red Velvet] On The ReVe Festival 2022 - Feel My Rhythm
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9At2ICm4LQ
Feel my Rhythm is a song that celebrates the arrival of spring. The music video tells a story of a world of dream where we can get lost in their rhythm. The track samples the classical music Air on the G String by Johann Sebastian Bach. The music video is shot like an opera. There are oil painting-like animations and numerous references of classical stories and artworks. The video is structured like a moving artwork. This music video succeeded in attracting audiences' attention because how aesthetically pleasing it is. This MV contains many theories and meaning behind all of the artwork references which drives their fans to watch it over and over again to find out the hidden messages. This music video conform its genre conventions. Like most, music videos it features bright vibrant colors, hidden connotations and many close up of the group members. In spite of that, they still serve something unique which are the classical painting references. This music video has a really high production value as it contains many different set, props and CG. I personally really like this music video because of it's hidden meanings and visuals. I really enjoy watching Red Velvet's MVs because of their creativity and interesting theories.
'Summer,' The Volunteers
The Volunteers. Yerin, B. (2018) Summer. [Performed by The Volunteers] On The Volunteers
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EWqjMqkiY
This music video is self recorded and edited by the band members. The production is low budget. Although it was release on 2018, the quality looks like videos from the 90s. However, I personally like how they used old video camera as it gives off an old school feel and adds a unique style. The content of the video is the band members enjoying their summer which is relevant to the lyrics of the song. There are hardly any scene of them playing instruments or singing. The video is edited with basic features and font of video editing softwares. Despite the music video being very simple, I think that it's effective enough for a new indie rock band like the Volunteers as their audiences are mostly music enthusiasts rather than people who cares a lot about visual arts. The track 'Summer' was initially released on YouTube only until 2021 when they released their first album 'The Volunteers' in various music platforms. YouTube is a great starting point for independent bands like them as they can upload contents to reach new audiences for free.
'Tiger Blood,' The Vaccines
Young, J. (2011) Tiger Blood. [Performed by The Vaccines] On What did you expect from the Vaccines
Similar with The Volunteers' Summer music video, this video is a compilation of videos of the band members. This music video conforms the genre conventions of indie rock band music videos. The video is also mostly shot using a low quality old camera for the grainy nostalgic feel. This music video features clips of them performing in their concerts and audio of audiences cheering or them which in my opinion, makes the music video more exciting. I like how they show 2 sides of the band, them playing around and when they're performing. I also like how they include quick cut of clips to match the fast paced music. However, I don't think that this music video will be interesting to watch for those who are not a fan of them since it doesn't contain any narratives.
'Savage,' Aespa
Jia, L. Hautboi, R. Jeremy, T, J. Kirsten, C. Youngjin, Y. (2021) Savage. [Performed by Aespa] On Savage - The 1st Mini Album
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPdWvnAAurg
Aespa is a half-real and half-virtual K-pop girl group which focuses on AI avatar and metaverse concept. This music video conforms the genre conventions of K-pop music videos as it features vibrant colors, high budget and quality and meaningful elements. The savage music video acts as a continuity of their metaversal origin story. The setting of this music video is in their imaginary metaverse, KWANGYA. In their previous music videos they told a story about them encountering a villain (Black Mamba) and this music video tells a story about Aespa beating Black Mamba. This music video made use of CGIs and various props to recreate Aespa's fantasy world.
'Hopeless Wanderer,' Mumford & Sons
Mumford, M (2012) Hopeless Wanderer. [Performed by Mumford & Sons] On Babel
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rId6PKlDXeU
This music video is more on a high budget side. It features cinematic and high quality shots. The music video started like a normal fold music video. However, later on it subverts from the usual folk music videos this music videos includes funny and unserious scenes. Instead of the real artists playing the instruments and lip-syncing to the song, Mumford & Sons hired 4 actors/comedians to act for them and make fun of how they usually act seriously in other music videos creating a pastiche. They included close up shots of the comedians to focus more on their exaggerated facial expressions and actions. I like how witty and entertaining this music video is and how it can be enjoyed by people from different ages. This music video includes hermeneutic code and mystery because audiences wouldn't be able to guess that this music video will be a comedy in the first part. I don't like the lack of variety in the colors of this music video because it may seem bland to some people.
'I ≠ DOLL,' Huh Yunjin
Yunjin, H. Megatone(13). SCORE(13). (2023) I ≠ DOLL. [Performed by HUH YUNJIN]
[audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9trNIRzbPMc
I ≠ DOLL is a single performed by a member of the K-Pop group Le Sserafim, Huh Yunjin. The music video is in the style of animation which are animated by Yunjin herself. The song and music video conveys the message of "Idol is a human, not a doll" & "They're more than their pretty face." This music video has a low production value as it only consisted of self drawn animations. This music video subverts from the usual K-pop music video as it'a rare for a K-pop MV to be in an animation form. It's also rare for a newly debuted K-pop idol to release their own solo music, especially songs that features profanity and messages that goes against the public. The music video complements the song lyrics since the clip illustrates a story about Yunjin herself being a doll instead of a talented artist in the public's perspective.
OK Go
We took a look at some OK Go music videos, 'Here It Goes Again,' 'This Too Shall Pass' and 'The Writing's On the Wall,' which all are highly creative. Their first viral music video for ''Here It Goes Again' was made with very little budget. They performed a unique and quirky choreography on treadmills which successfully caught many people's attention. Although it has a low production value, the choreography is very effective enhance the mood of their music. Other than that, we also watched 2 other MVs from OK Go which was produced with higher budget, more staffs involved, extra efforts. Their music videos are all shot in one shot with no editing, visual effects or any post production stages. Their music video subverts from other band MVs as they didn't include any scene of them playing instruments or acting cool in front of the camera.
'Dried Flower,' Yuuri
Dried Flowers is a breakup song and the music video shows 2 different perspective of the girl's daily life. The first one is a collection of her videos and photos shot with an old digicam and a film camera by the boy(past) while the other one shows the girl's life after the breakup (present). The clips shot with an old digicam are in the aspect ratio of an old tv, 4.3 while the other one is shot in a standard youtube aspect ratio, 16:9. In the clips from the past the girl is shown with happy expressions and the clips are in a warmer tone while the clips from the present shows a more gloomy side of the girl and the clips has darker vibe to it. Another interesting detail is in the clips form the past, the flowers are in full bloom while in the clips from the present the flowers are dried and withered.
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