Music video anaylsis

Goodwin’s 7 Features of a Musi
• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos,
dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images
(either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
• There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual
reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the
artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
• There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc)
and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
• The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style).
• There are often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

BTS is a South Korean hip hop group. The group of seven debuted in 2013 with the song ‘No More Dream’
under Big Hit Entertainment. The members include: Rap Monster (leader, main rapper and dancer), Jin (face
of the group/visual, vocalist and dancer), Suga (lead rapper and dancer), J-Hope (lead rapper and main
dancer), Jimin (lead vocalist and main dancer), V (vocalist and dancer) and Jungkook (main vocalist, lead
dancer, sub rapper, centre/face of the group and maknae). Since their debut, they have had many
comebacks, including another comeback later this year. They have gained a lot of popularity, both nationally
and internationally. BTS are also the first Korean group to win a Billboard award, stopping Justin Bieber’s
streak of the top social artist.
BTS

Editing
The editing pace for the introduction (whilst their song ‘Dope’ is being played) before the music starts is slow in
comparison to the rest of the music video. This creates a juxtaposition for the music video. It is interesting that
‘Dope’ is played during the slower edits of this music video because very few cuts are used in the ‘Dope’ music
video, making it seem like no cuts are made throughout, so I thought it was interesting that they played ‘Dope’ at
that point. Throughout the music video, there are many shots that are in slow motion. These vary in their length
and their focus points. There are a few shorts shots of slow motion in the introduction, of which are not easy to tell
that they are slow motion. Most of the slow motion shots are used during the choruses throughout. However, most
of the slow motion is used during the final chorus. These slow motion shots are used to show emphasis on the
movements within the shots. Slow motion is never used for the dance routine, so it is used to emphasise the body
language or hand gestures that the members make. The editing pace during this final chorus is also much quicker
than the rest of the music video. This is because this chorus is much different than the others in terms of pace, so
having the pace of editing increase here reflects the increase in the pace of the song. Throughout the music video,
cross cutting and graphic match shots are used. There are many shots of the dance routine in various locations
throughout the music video which are cross cutted with the other scenes of the members either as a solo scene or
a duet scene. Most of the dance scenes are used in the choruses, especially the final chorus. This is done
because many fans of K-pop like to see dance routines along side narrative. Graphic match shots are often used
to cut between the different locations of the dance routines. This is often not done for dance routines because it is
hard to match them well, but K-pop groups are able to do this because of the precision of the members during the
dance routine. BTS are one of the few groups that are most well known to be able to do this. However, not much
narrative is created in the ‘Fire’ music video, at least not as much as some of their other music videos, such as
Genre characteristicsCamera angles
There are a lot of low angled shots, which are typical shots for a hip hop music videos as
these make the artist/members appear more powerful than the audience. Throughout the
music video, close ups are used of each member for their verse/chorus/lines. Close ups
are commonly used in hip hop music videos to enforce the idea about the members
having power over the audience as they dominate the frame. During the
dance/performance shots, long shots are most commonly used because it enables the
audience to see all of the members and the dance, which fans of K-pop like to see. Just
like all music videos, the camera is never static. During the dance shots, the camera
often moves towards and from the members. This is typical across all types of music
videos, especially those that have performances/dances as it draws the audience’s
attention to that. The ‘Fire’ music video does not use a lot of pans or whips throughout it,
mostlyzooms and pulls. Whips and pans are common for most hip hop music videos, especially during scenes in clubs or with an audience. This is done to show the amount of people that are there, making it more likely that the audience
will like the song because they can see many other people liking the song, creating a psychological effect on the audience. The movements of the camera are timed to the lyrics/lines and beats of the song along with the movements
of the dance routine. For the pace of the music, the camera movements are slow. For a song of this pace, usually the movements of the camera are much quicker than these to reflect the pace of the song. Especially during the
bridge, the movements of the camera are slow, mainly because slow motion is used here. However, during the final chorus, the camera movements are much quicker than the rest of the music video to create a juxtaposition to the
rest of the music video to reflect the change in pace and sound of this chorus compared to the others. before this one. This idea is typical of hip hop music videos as most hip hop songs do a similar thing with the final chorus. The
movements made throughout the music video are often towards the singer/rapper of that verse/chorus/line of which are shared equally between the members, which is often used for artists of groups. So, in terms of Andrew
Goodwin’s features of music videos, the ‘Fire’ music video does not follow the idea of using genre characteristics as much as other hip hop music videos use. But it does use a few genre characteristics to ensure it makes sense with
the song.
‘Spring Day’ which is all narrative. Although little narrative is created, the audience can still follow the simple plot line of the narrative element of the music video. The absence of the narrative may be because the lyrics of the song
do not give much room for a narrative to be created and it is very rare for K-pop music videos to not have an element of narrative, no matter how simple the plot is or if the lyrics create a narrative element easily, even if that means
creating a disjunctive narrative.

Lighting
Part of the reason why most of the music video is set at night is because of the line “once the sun goes down”, although some parts are set in the
day. It is actually rare to see a K-pop music video set during the night because K-pop fans like to be able to see the members clearly. Although,
during these night scenes, low key lighting is used so that the audience can still see all of the members clearly without ruining the effect of it being set
at night. The convention of lighting for K-pop music videos is high key lighting so that the audience can easily see the members, especially during the
dance/performance scenes, since most K-pop fans enjoy dance/performance scenes. High key lighting is also used to create a natural and relaxed
look, which is often used in many music videos regardless of the genre of the song. This relaxed look creates a contrast to that of the rest of the
music video because the rest of the music video is much darker in tone and lighting. This convention of high key lighting is used in the ‘Fire’ music
video as some of the scenes use high key lighting, which is often for the group scenes either when they are lip syncing as a group or for the dance
routine scenes. However, during the dance scenes, because of the cross cutting and graphic match between the dance location, it often goes from
light to dark quickly to create a contrast. This contrast is done because it creates two tones within the music video as a whole. During the final
chorus, the lighting changes and it is the darkest it has been throughout the music video. This is done to reflect the change in this chorus compared
to the other choruses previously. This also creates a darker tone to the music video compared to the rest of the music video. Also during the final
chorus, lights similar to that of stage lights can be seen above all of the dancers, including the extras. This is done to create a sense of a
performance like in the scene within the building where they appear to be performing for the extras. The lighting within the building is colourful like in
many pop music video in a club to create the same idea. This lighting reflects the tune of the song as it is an upbeat song. Colourful lights are also
more interesting to look at and make the audience want to like the song more since the visuals are more pleasing to look at. So overall in terms of
lighting, the ‘Fire’ music video uses conventions for K-pop but it also changes them slightly to compliment the song.Performance
In terms of performance for K-pop music videos, this refers to the dance routines of the music video as it is
rare that a K-pop group will play instruments which they play for their songs. Although some members of
BTS can play certain instruments, they find it unfitting to use in their music production and music videos.
Although some K-pop artists or groups use instruments for their music production and music videos, such
as Day6, they are less popular than other artists and groups that don't. For the ‘Fire’ music video, the
performance element of the music video is key. Very little narrative is created, mainly because the lyrics
do not allow for such development for a narrative of depth like in some of their other music videos such as
‘I Need U’, ‘Run’ or ‘Spring Day’, all of which have dance routines but they are not shown in the music
videos. Fans of K-pop like to see a lot of the performance elements in their music videos, it is unclear why,
but many think it is because of the skills that all of the members have across the genre. During the music
video, dance scenes are cross cutted with narrative scenes. There are two dance locations which change
in the lighting between each one. One of the locations is the same but uses darker lighting to make it seem
like there are three locations for the dance scenes (the location in the still on the left). For each location,
the costumes of all the members change too. These dance scenes most commonly use long shots to
show all of the members of the group and the dance routine itself. This enables the audience to see all of
the members and their different skills and styles of the dance routine. This is a convention of K-pop music
videos because almost every K-pop music video has a performance element which shows all of the
personalities of the members of any group or artist. All of the personalities have to be confident in order to
sell their music because the audience would feel uncomfortable of one of the members or artist felt
nervous or unhappy to take part in the music video. This would put the audience off buying their music,
resulting in less sales.
Genre characteristics

Styling
The overall style of the ‘Fire’ music video is very typical of the K-pop genre. There are mainly two types of styling
in the K-pop genre, for both boy groups and girl groups. One of the styling is dark, where the members of the
groups would wear darker clothing, the locations would be dark and the lighting would be low key lighting. This
type of styling was more commonly used between 2000 and 2012/2013. However, the styling of the K-pop genre
has taken a turn and most are now using much brighter styling. Many music videos are now much brighter in
terms of costumes, locations and lighting, ‘Fire’ is one of these examples. When BTS debuted in 2013, most of
their music videos used the darker styling ideas. Now they use the brighter styling. However, in the still on the left
of this text, the member second in the from the left (Jin) is wearing a white shirt and tie. This is very similar to that
of their earlier music videos, such as ‘Boy In Luv’ where they all wore a similar costume to this. The use of this
costume suggests that they are still the same group as they were when they debuted, but they have changed to
become what they are now. The styling of either styling ideas are not scruffy, they are often very neat and clean
cut. This is a convention across the K-pop genre that has and is becoming more common. Although some seem
more urban, they are still very clean costumes. The costumes also do not really follow any sort of fashion.
Korean fashion is not like this for boys, although girls dress in a very similar way to those seen in female music
videos. However, although people do not wear the same colours as many boy group music videos, such as in the
‘Fire’ music video, they often wear a similar style. So, males in Korea some times wear denim jackets, but they
may not wear them in the same colour as those from the ‘Fire’ music video. Many people often wear what they
see in music videos and/or TV programs and films, but this is not the case in Korea. One reason why this might
be happening in Korea is because Korean culture believes that people should not stand out and that every one
should blend in, meaning they do not want to wear bright clothing because not many other people do this.

Lyrics, music and visuals
Burning up
Said as the black figure is set on fire
Once the sun goes down, I stumble
The whole music video is at night. The
dance and body language show
stumbling
So completely drunk, drunk
Said when he is acting as he is drunk and
dru^nk being written on the floor
Put your hands up and shout
The member in the centre puts his hand
up and they all begin to shout
(Fire) With your fists up, all night long
This member is stood in front of a fire and
he puts his hand up, similar to the dance
(Fire) In marching footsteps
All the members are walking in the building
Most of the ‘Fire’ music video is a performance music video that uses the style of the amplification style of a music video. The ‘Fire’ music video has a few connections to the lyrics throughout, as shown above.
Certain lines are repeated throughout the song and similar things are shown visually, such as “burning up” in which fire is often shown in different ways and by different members. In every scene, there is always a
connection to the song title ‘Fire’ by often having little fires some where within the frame. This is often done because the audience can then connect with the music video and the song and are more likely to enjoy
the song more since they can easily identify this connection. It is an amplification music video because not many lines of the lyrics connect with the visuals in the music video itself, although there are a few lines
that are connected with the visuals, which are shown above. Sven. E. Carisson’s theory of commercial exhibitionists is shown in the ‘Fire’ music video because the group, and members individually, are trying to
make themselves look appealing in a way to sell more of their songs and albums, in this case ‘Fire’ and “The Most Beautiful Moment In life: Young Forever (the album it comes from).
The ‘Fire’ music video shows connections between the music and the visuals which connect with the tone and atmosphere. The editing pace reflects the pace of the song itself so that the visuals are able to
connect well with the music. The different shots of the members are shown during their parts of the song so that the audience can connect the voices to the faces. The members are also shown together to portray
the group together as well as individually. Within these groups shots are those of dance scenes which allow the audience to see the talent of the members and the group as a whole. The fact that graphic match is
able to be used highlights the talent that this group has. This talent is one of the main features of the K-pop genre for any gender. Because they are able to dance as well as they do, it shows the connection
between, not only the music and visuals, but the music and the members of the group. As there is a lot of the dance routine in this music video, it reinforces the connection between the visuals and the music
throughout the music video. This also gives the music video a sense of uniqueness because all dances of K-pop are different for each song and group due to different styles and choreographers. The mise en
scene is typical of the K-pop genre because it uses costumes like other recent K-pop music videos. It also uses no props, or very few props, like other K-pop music videos. The only mise en scene elements that
are significant to the song is the fires that are shown throughout the music video. As the title ‘Fire’ suggests fire would have to be in the music video in order for it to fit with the song. The colours of the costumes
are bright which reflects the upbeat tune of the song.

Close ups and motifs
Many record labels demand the use of close ups in their music videos in order to sell
the artist or group and that is seen in the ‘Fire’ music video. Although BTS is very
popular, mostly internationally, their company (Big Hit Entertainment) is a small
company in the K-pop industry. So it is important for BTS’s music videos to use this
convention of close ups because it not only sells the group more, but also the
company as a whole. The close ups are not equally shared between the members.
Although they all have a least five close ups in the ‘Fire’ music video, other members
get more than others. This is because of their distribution of the lines within the song
itself, their position within the group and their popularity with fans. For example, Rap
Monster (the top left still) is the leader of the group and is one of the main rappers,
he gets a few more close ups than Jin (third on the left) because, although he is the
face of the group/the visual, he has the least amount of lines across all BTS songs.
But their maknae line, the youngest members, (Jimin, V and Jungkook, all in order
on the right.) get a lot of close ups because they are very popular among fans. So
the company are able to play around with the different close ups that the members
get in order to gain popularity of the group and the company. Although the company
was only formed in 2010, they understand how to play with the popularity of the
members of their artists and groups and use this knowledge to present them in a way
to gain even more popularity and, effectively, money.
I found it interesting that they included a close up of V’s hands using the games
controller (the third still on the right). Many fans of any genre like to see close ups of
artist’s or member’s features. In the case of the ‘Fire’ music video, V’s hands are
shown. Fans who like V may like to see this. This shot adds no more to the narrative
element because the shot before shows him pressing the buttons on the controller,
the same as the ones in the close up. This idea has also been showed in previous
BTS music videos such as ‘No More Dream’, released in 2013 as their debut song,
as Jimin (the top right still) shows his abs during the dance routine. However, the
purpose of doing that would probably be different to the reason of including V’s
hands in the ‘Fire’ music video. The purpose then would have been to show off the
group to gain the popularity in the first place. But using V’s hands as a close up in
‘Fire’ is just fan service.

Notion of looking and voyeurismOne way in which the notion of looking is developed in the ‘Fire’ music video is through the use of the games console
that V plays through a TV screen. On this screen is the same location and action of the car falling (the first still). This idea
suggests that V is controlling this place and what is happening in the music video, or that is what many theories online
say about this music video. This notion of looking can also highlight the idea that someone is always watching what we
do and what happens throughout our lives. This idea of the notion of looking through the screen is shown through the
final image the audience sees, which is a plain black background with the words “boy meets what” written in white (the
last still). This draws the audience’s attention to that because it is the only thing they can see and the final thing that they
will see of the music video as a whole. The notion of looking is also shown through the use of close ups throughout.
These close ups have all of the members looking at the lens of the camera. Making the members do this enables them to
make eye contact with the audience. This, therefore, breaks the fourth wall, connecting the audience and the members.
This eye contact is made during all lip syncing scenes and the dance scenes. Doing this makes the audience feel
involved with the members and the music. When they are doing close ups, they are often doing something, such as Jin
moving his head and arm/hand (the second still). This would further connect the audience and members because they
are acting natural but in an appealing way to gain attention and audience. The idea of the members looking at the lens
during the dance scenes makes it feel like they are preforming it live, which they have done to promote themselves in
concerts and TV shows. This would allow the audience to recognise the performance element of the music video and
understand that this would be used to sell themselves after the release of this song and album. This performance is also
highlighted by the idea that during the final chorus, they seem to be performing on a stage to the extra dancers, which is
another feature of notion of looking.
In terms of voyeurism of the female body in the ‘Fire’ music video, there is not a lot or not at all. Many music videos of
any genre would use a female actor or member to present this, regardless of whether or not there is a female in the
group. An example of this would be SHINee using a female in their ‘Tell Me What To Do’ music video without having a
female as a member of their group. However, BTS have only ever used a few girls throughout their music videos, of
which appears to be the same girl. This female(s) were only used in some of their earlier music videos, ‘Boy In Luv’ and
‘War of Hormone’ are two examples of their music videos that use females. However, the female was not the main focus
of the music video and they were used to create a competition for the members to fight for. Doing this would increase the
amount of teenage male audiences because they would see the members fighting over the female and enjoy that idea
and maybe even try it themselves. Also, the outfits of these females are interesting when looking at them from a UK
female’s perspective. The Korean fashion for females is most commonly short skirts and tight t-shirts or crop tops. This
fashion can be seen in both female groups’ music videos and what most girls wear day-to-day. Girls from the UK do not
wear clothes like this. However, many boys from any countries commonly like to see females showing as much skin as
they can without being too explicit. So the theory of the male gaze, created by Laura Muvley, is presented in some of
BTS’s earlier music videos. However, no females are shown in the ‘Fire’ music video. So, because the male gaze is
commonly used to gain a male audience, the makers of the ‘Fire’ music video created a powerful concept in order to
keep some of the male audience. This idea is also done through the song itself as it is a powerful song, which matches
the powerful concept that is created.

Motifs or iconography
Black hooded peopleBrown pianoOld technology
I Need U
Fire
Not Today
Begin - Wings Short Film
First Love - Wings Short Film
Awake - Wings Short Film
No More Dream
(Japanese Ver.)
No More Dream
Danger
Fire
I Need U
Boy In Luv
(Japanese Ver.)
Boy In Luv
Dope
War of Hormone

Trains
Spring Day
Danger
Danger (Japanese Ver.)
Run
I Need U
Since BTS’s debut, many fans have identified certain props that have made appearances, these are just a few that have been identified.
One of the most identified props, or in this case extras, is the black hooded figures. There are many online theories that suggest these
hooded figures present evil or bad things in the lives of the characters each member is for all of their music videos. Another main prop that
is identified is the brown piano. Many fans know that a few members of the group can play or are learning to play the piano. So including the
same brown piano in some of their music videos shows this connection that the members have. The brown piano can even be seen in their
last release of 2016, ‘Wings’, in the first (Jungkook’s ‘Begin’), fourth (Suga’s ‘First Love,’ of which he raps about a brown piano being his first
love) and seventh (Jin’s ‘Awake’) short films for the album. A third prop identified is the use of technology that is old. Fans have tracked the
use of old technology and have found that as they release more music videos, the technology begins to work better. So, some of their first
music videos, such as ‘Boy In Luv’, use old technology that does not work. But the ‘Fire’ music video has old technology that now works.
Some fans see this as the development of the group. Another main mise en scene feature to be identified is the links to trains. In almost
every music video that they have released, there is a reference to trains, even if it is a small drawing on a piece of furniture. The whole of
the ‘Spring Day’ music video, from their most recent album release ‘Wings: You Never Walk Alone’, is based around a train. There is an
online theory that suggests this train in the ‘Spring Day’ music video is a way for the members to access a different parallel world, which I
found interesting. Other fans suggest that the trains symbolise the journey the group has taken and the journey they will face. One reason
why these have been repeated in music videos since their debut is to suggest that all the music videos are connected and are by the same
group. Some of these ideas are shown in solo music videos such as Rap Monster’s ‘Joke’ music video having a hospital bed and some BTS
music videos have hospital beds, ‘Run’, the ‘Begin’ short film and the ‘Lie’ short film being three examples. When looking at the styling of
the group, it is clear to see the development of their style but there are also similarities that can be seen. Some of their earlier music videos,
‘No More Dream’ and ‘We Are Bulletproof Pt2’ to be more specific, show similar styles and even the same costume items for each member.
But their latest music videos, ‘Spring Day’ and ‘Not Today’, show different styles to each other. Although the style of clothing is different, the
use of bright colours throughout the music videos can be seen for both of them, which can be seen in other music videos like ‘Fire’ and
‘Blood Sweat & Tears’.

Intertextual references
Lost River
Lost River is a mystery fantasy film, released in 2014. The plot follows a single mother who goes into a dark underworld to save
her childhood home and her son discovers a secret underwater town. The first still shows Jungkook sitting on a bin watching a
bike on fire roll by. This is very similar to that in the Lost River film where Bones, the single mother’s son, watches a bike on fire
roll by. The second still is from the ‘Run’ music video. But it shows V under water. Bones finds the cite of the lost river under water,
which relates to V in the ‘Run’ music video. The next still shows Suga shaking hands with one of the hooded figures. A few online
theories suggest that this is a deal being made with evil, since the black hooded figures present a presence of evil. This relates to
the Lost River film because there is a curse that comes with this river and some characters try to break this curse. Also, just like in
the ‘Fire’ music video, the film ends with a burning house. Although there are elements of the film within the music video, it does
not follow the plot of the film, just referencing ideas and shots from the film. However, Lost River, despite being a Ryan Gosling
film, has not achieved much of a gross or much popularity. So there is a small possibly that those who see the music video will
understand the intertextual reference, especially those for Korea.

Agust D is a Korean rapper who debuted in 2016 with his mixtape ‘Agust D’ under Big Hit Entertainment. This
mixtape took 4 years for him to complete, which he produced himself. He is part of the Korean boy group
BTS as his other stage name, Suga. Under this stage name (Agust D), he reveals a lot about his life, such as
dealing with depression, suicidal thoughts and social phobia, which is not expressed through his work with
BTS. Although he has never shown this under his stage name Agust D, he is able to play the piano, which he
shows under his other stage name, which fans like.
Agust D

During the first part of the music video, the part inside the apartment/truck, there are many dutch angles being
used. Dutch angles are often used to suggest psychological effects or that something is wrong. In this case, it is
possible that it is used to suggest that he is drunk, also suggested by his body movements and the mise en scene
in the kitchen area. Dutch angles are also used outside of the apartment/truck too to emphasise his psychological
effect. The idea of showing psychological effects in rap music videos is common because of the nature of the songs
themselves. But it can also be done because they want their music video to stand out and presenting something
mentally wrong is often intriguing for audiences to watch. There are very few shots that are low angle, most of them
are either eye level or high angle. High angles shots are commonly used to suggest that they are being looked
down upon by people, usually society. This could be because many rappers are criticised for what they include in
their songs and often music videos. So this can be done to show that. However, it can also be used to suggest that
he is looking down on himself. In another of his Agust D songs, ‘The Last’, he talks a lot about his experience with
depression. So having high angles shots in many of his music videos may be to suggest that he looks down on
himself. Most of the camera movements are fast, some being slower but most are quick. This reflects the quick pace of the song itself. This is a common feature across all music videos of any genre. All music
videos will use the movements of the camera to show the pace of the song, regardless of its language, genre, gender or target audience. These camera movements change and become a little slower when the
audience sees him outside the apartment/truck. This is done to help the audience understand that the location has changed. It can also suggest that he is a lot happier since he is no longer trapped in the
apartment/truck. There are also a lot of zooms and pulls throughout. These draw the attention of the audience to him, especially since he is often in the centre of the frame when this happens. Like the camera
movements, the pace of these zooms and pulls become slower when the audience see him outside the apartment/truck. It is important for the artist to be the main focus of the music video because that is what
they are trying to sell alongside the song. This is Sven. E. Carlson’s idea about ‘commercial exhibitionist’ in which music videos make the artist into a selling product and this seems true in the ‘Agust D’ music
video. So, in terms of camera angles and movements, the ‘Agust D’ music video presents the conventions of rap music videos easily which ensures the music video matches the song as best as it can.
Editing
According to Steve Archer, the pace of the editing comes with the genre of the song and creates the mood. That seems true with the ‘Agust D’ music video. The editing pace of the ‘Agust D’ music video is
quick, especially during the first (where the colouring is blue) and second (when coloured is added) parts in which he is in the apartment/truck. The shots during these parts are very short. Once he is outside in
the third part, the pace is slower but still rather quick and the takes are a little longer. This is a convention of rap music because rap songs are always fast, so the pace of the editing reflects that. This creates a
mood of worry since faster editing paces are commonly used to show suspense and tension. During these parts, the audience see him trying to escape from the apartment/truck and the editing pace helps to
emphasise his panic since he is also showing panic through this body language. Once he is outside, the pace slows slightly, so the mood shifts too. He is much calmer when he is outside, this is shown through
the change in editing pace and his body language. This creates a contrast for the music video that is identified by
the audience. During the first two part of the music video, some shots are slow motion. This is done to show the
intense emotions that he feels. However, some of the slow motion shots are close ups, whilst others are long
shots. Both of these types of shots show different parts of him, and therefore show different emotions and body
language. Also during the first part of the music video, cross cutting is used more than in the second and third
parts. However, the cross cutting is not between scenes that are used further into the music video and the shots
are also very quick and their opacity is not 100%, so the shots are not easy to see for a first-time viewer. Many
music videos of any genre use cross cutting to present a more complex narrative, but simple enough for the
audience to easily follow along. It can be argued that these cross cutting shots are from his other music video for
this mixtape, ‘Give It To Me'. It would make sense for that to be the case because the music videos together
create a narrative between them. It is common for music videos to create narratives or concepts that run
throughout a few or all of their music videos. BTS are known to do this so it seemed right that under his Agust D
name, he should do a similar thing.

Lighting
The lighting at the beginning of the music video is very interesting. The drum rolls and the beats of the intro are
used to time the change of the lighting. The clearest lighting change is the change to red and back to normal. This
change is timed to the first and last drum rolls before the vocals. The use of suddenly changing the lighting to red
suggests danger for him or violence as fire is shown during the third drum roll as the colour changes. Low key
lighting is used during this part too. This could be done to suggest a sense of mystery as it is never explained why
he is in that room in the truck. Once the vocals have began properly and the colour is added, the lighting on the
set is flashing in most of the different locations, especially the one where he is sat on a chair. This could be done
to suggest the the fast beat of the song or a sense that something is wrong in the music video, adding a layer of
understanding to the narrative. Most of the lighting used in the rooms are artificial, which can be seen in the frame
of most shots. But doing this creates harsh shadows on his face contrasted with the brighter parts, such as his
white hair and certain parts of his costumes. However, once he is outside the room, more natural lighting is used.
This difference in lighting could be done to suggest that everything is better once he has escaped from being
trapped in there and being trapper wasn’t good as the
Performance
In terms of performance, unlike other K-pop music videos, this music video doesn’t have a dance routine. It is rare to find a K-pop music video that doesn’t have a dance routine but it is common to find them for
solo artists, like Rap Monster, Taeyeon and, in this case, Agust D. The performance element of this music video is the lip syncing that he does in most of the shots that he is in, there are few where he is not lip
syncing. Doing this relates the song and the lyrics to the visuals of the music video itself. Doing this enables the audience to connect the song, the artist themselves and the lyrics together. The audience is also
able to put a face to the voice of the song. It is rare to find a music video of any genre where are is no lip syncing because creating these connections heightens the level of sales because the audience are able
to understand the connections clearly and are most likely to buy the mixtape or song for that reason. The conventions of lip syncing shots are close ups. Although there are some close ups of him lip syncing,
there are some that are not. Some long shots are used for the lip syncing shots, but there is not a lot. This could be done to create a difference to other music videos that often do lip syncing shots as close ups.
However, long shots make it hard to see him lip syncing clearly, which is why close ups are most commonly used for lip syncing shots. It would seem
light had to be made. Also, the lighting outside is much lighter than inside to help reinforce the same idea. Once the audience see that he is outside and away from the truck, the lighting changes to suggest that
it has changed from day to night and that mysterious things can happen at night. The lighting changed from being high key lighting to low key lighting to suggest this idea. As suggested by the lyrics, he is trying
to become known by people and the constant change to bright, high key lighting suggests that he is able to get some attention from people in the K-pop industry as the lighting brightens throughout the music
video.
that rap music videos would use close ups because the speed at which some rappers can achieve would be
something that could be used to sell the artist, like with Sven. E. Carlson’s theory of ‘commercial exhibitionist’ in
which the artist becomes a selling item. Although most other rap music videos use close ups for their lip syncing
shots, I find it interesting that long shots are used in this music video, especially since the lyrics are trying to sell
himself as a rapper in the K-pop industry. The other type of performance in this music video could be the acting
that he does. Since being part of the group BTS, he hasn’t really done much acting work for the music videos that
he released with them. However, the acting that he does in this music video is good and is able to portray the
struggle and panic of his character in this situation. He is able to change his body language and his facial
expressions during the music video to suggest the change from being trapped inside the room/truck and being
outside where he seems to be happier. He plays no instruments in this music video, which is a convention of rap
music videos because rapping is enough as a performance element and hard enough for them to do alone.

Styling
The styling of this music video is very conventional for rap music videos in terms of the costumes. Most
rap music videos will have costumes like these where they wear dark clothing, usually black, skinny jeans
and dark, baggy tops/jackets. Across many different cultures, this kind of styling is seen to be associated
with rappers and cool people. For any rap song, styling the music video to be bright colours would not fit
the song as none of them sound happy or bouncy like other songs that would use bright colours. He
wears four different costumes throughout the music video which change depending on the location but
they all follow a similar style. All of the costumes have tight jeans, either black or blue, a dark coat and a
black or white t-shirt. All of these costumes follow the conventions of the rap genre so that the music
video fits along side other rap music videos and doesn't seem inappropriate for the genre, regardless of
the language and the difference in culture. The location follows a similar style of being dark for most of
the music video. This is done to ensure that he seems matched and appropriate in the location and so the
music video suits the genre because many other rap music videos use dark locations and sets like this.
However, Michael Shore suggests that rap music videos should have speed, power, girls and wealth, but
these aren’t seen as much as other rap music videos. The idea of speed is to have super cars in the
music video but the only reference to speed is the truck, which isn’t going very fast anyway. The
reference to power in the music video could be the act of him breaking the car towards the end. But
violence isn’t usually shown in rap music videos. No girls are shown in this music video; he is the only
person in the entire music video. Although the audience never see money in the music video, the sense
of wealth is shown through the mise en scene. The audience understand that he doesn't have a lot of
wealth since the mise en scene through out isn’t brilliant and it could be better if he had the wealth. So,
according to Michael Shore’s theory, this music video isn't very conventional in its content.

I’m a freak lunatic on the beat
He is tied up to a chair during the first part of this
music video to suggest that he is crazy, much like a
lunatic is.
I’m sorry, change your career
His hand gestures suggest that he is hoping that other
idols will see this music video and hear his song and
see how good it is, almost like a warning.
There isn't a lot of connections between the lyrics and the visuals, but the lyrics themselves are not easy to show through visuals. This makes the music video
not a illustrative music video. This is conventional for rap music videos because it is often hard to interpret the lyrics in a way to show them visually for the
audience. However, it seems that it is neither amplification nor disjunctive. Amplification uses performance and narrative to create the meaning of the song.
Although there are a few shots of this (shown above) the rest of the music video makes no sense with the lyrics of the song. But because of these few
connections, it means that it is not a disjunctive narrative either. Perhaps this music video is combination of the three, as it uses parts of each type. This is typical
for rap music videos because the lyrics are hard to to create visuals for but some lines can be used for it. They usually have a narrative or performance (often
being lip syncing). But not all of the narrative makes sense for the lyrics of the entire song.
The ‘Agust D’ music video shows connections between the visuals and the music to create the correct atmosphere which is similar to that of other rap music
videos. For most rap music videos, the atmosphere created is dark and that is done in the ‘Agust D’ music video. This is easily created through the dark clothing,
lighting and mise en scene throughout. Rap music videos often create dark atmospheres because it would be inappropriate for the atmosphere to be bright and
bouncy as it wouldn’t fit the sound of the song. Another way that the music and the visuals are connected is through the use of lip syncing. The use of lip syncing
enables the audience to understand the connection between the voice they hear and the face of that voice. It is important that this is done because this would
increase sells of the song and mixtape because of Sven. E. Carlson’s theory of ‘commercial exhibitionist’, in which the artist is portrayed in a way to be like a
selling product. Having lip syncing in the music video is a common way to do this.

Close ups
Many record labels demand the use of close ups in their music
videos in order to sell the artist or group and that is seen in the
‘Agust D’’ music video. He is one of the rappers from the group
BTS. Although they are very popular, mostly internationally,
their company (Big Hit Entertainment) is a small company in the
K-pop industry and he is not as well recognised as a solo artist.
So it is important for his music videos to use the convention of
close ups because it not only sells him as a solo artist more, but
also the group and the company. Most the close ups are used
for the lip syncing shots, although some lip syncing shots are
long shots. Using close ups for the lip syncing shots enables the
audience to see him rapping the lyrics clearly and are able to
connect the lyrics to the visuals must easier. Other close ups
include his hands behind the back of the chair and his facial
expressions to develop the narrative. The close ups of his
hands show the actions of what he is doing and the facial
expressions show his emotions that he is feeling. Most of these
close ups are often slow motion so that the audience can truly
focus on what is going on. The use of slow motion also makes it
seem as though he has been that the room/truck for a long time.
There are a lot of close ups of his face since he is the only
person in the music video. This makes the audience recognise
his face and increase the likelihood of buying the song or
mixtape if they like him.

Notion of looking
In a few shots of the ‘Agust D’ music video, a small TV can be seen. TVs are a
common way to show a notion of looking. This TV shows static throughout the
music video and I found this interesting when he is part of the group BTS. It has
been noticed that a lot of BTS music videos have TVs of different sizes that show
static. I understand that it is possible that they did this so that the audience that
knows BTS music videos well see that in the ‘Agust D’ music video and will make
a connection between the two of them. I like that idea as it shows that him as a
solo artist and them as group are connected. Close ups are another way in which
music videos show the notion of looking. During most of his lip syncing shots, he
is making eye contact with the lens of the camera. Doing this creates a
connection between the audience, the song and him as the audience feels
included in the music and that there isn't a camera between them. When the
close ups of him are shown, he is always moving. This makes it seem more
natural as no one stays still which further connects him to the audience.
No More Dream
Dope
Fire

VoyeurismIn terms of voyeurism of the female body in the ‘Agust D’’ music video, there is none
Many music videos of any genre would use a female actor or member to present this,
regardless of whether or not there is a female in the group. But because he is a solo
artist, the only way there would be a female in the music video would be through an
actress. A convention of rap music videos is to include females. During the music
video, the females would often be presented in a sexual way in which the camera
focuses on the female body. Doing this would interest the male audience, which most
rap songs are aimed at anyway.. However, there are no females in the ‘Agust D’ music
video. But the male audience is still the main target audience because rap songs are
often aimed more towards males, regardless of what the music video is like. There are
no females in the music video resulting in Laura Muvley’s male gaze is not developed
like other rap music videos do. Also, a lack of females in the music video allow the
audience to focus more on him which would result in a grow in the female audience
since females like to look at males closely, which is done in this music video. With him
being a part of the group BTS, I found it interesting to see that neither of them use
many females in their music videos. This could be done to suggest that they are
connected and so they follow a similar music video concept of having males being the
main focus. It is possible that the company and makers of the music videos for both of
them decided to do this because many artists and groups across all genres use
females. So having very few females in their music videos would make them more
unique and gain popularity for the uniqueness of their music videos.

Motifs or iconographyAgust D Give It To Me

After watching the ‘Agust D’ music video many times, I began to know what
shots were used and the mise en scene that is used throughout. So I
watched the ‘Give It To Me’ music video (his only other music video) and
found many of the same shots (of which are on the page previously in order
which they appear in each music video, some haven’t been included on that
page). Most of these shots were in the intro before the vocals and the rest
were short takes throughout the rest of the music video. I found it interesting
that the same shots were used but most of the shots used different colours.
For example, the car with the fire on its bonnet flashed red and back to
normal in the ‘Agust D’ music video but it was just normal for the ‘Give It To
Me’ music video. The idea of using the same shots in both music videos is to
connect the two music videos and create a single narrative between the two
of them. The stills to the left on this page are the clearest way to connect the
two music videos. It seems that the ‘Agust D’ music video is the lead up to
what happens in the ‘Give It To Me’ music video even though some of the
‘Give It To Me’ music video is shown towards the end of the ‘Agust D’ music
video. It is clear that this connection has been made to be intentional. The
audience are clearly shown these matching shots to create this connection to
create the long narrative. This idea of a narrative being shared across the two
music videos is shown through the use of the same shots, costumes, location
and hair colour (as a lot of K-pop idols change their hair colour often). With
the ‘Agust D’ music video being released on 15th August 2016 and the ‘Give
It To Me’ music video being released three days later on the 18th, the
audience are going to make these connections as they would have
remembered what they saw in the ‘Agust D’ music video before watching the
‘Give It To Me’ music video.
Agust D
Give It To Me

Intertextual references
Joke
Give It To Me
Agust D
Agust D
There are intertextual references to the ‘Give It To Me’ music video as discussed on the previous page. The still on the bottom
right is another shot that is the same as the ‘Agust D’ music video that wasn’t shown on the previous page. There is also another
intertextual reference to another music video: Joke by Rap Monster. Rap Monster is another member of BTS who has released
several solo songs since their debut. Although he has released more music videos than Agust D, I only found this one
intertextual reference when I was expecting there to be more since they are part of the same group and intertextual references
are used throughout most of the BTS music videos. Although it is very subtle, people who know both music videos would have
seen the same handcuffs and made the connection between the two of them. This connection not only connects them together
as a pair, but also back to BTS as a group. I think it is important that the intertextual references are made with other members of
the group and the group itself because it then shows the audience that they are all connected and work together.

K.A.R.D is a Korean pop group consisting of two girls, Jiwoo (main vocalist, dancer and visual) and Somin (main
dancer, lead vocalist and maknae), and two boys, BM (main dancer, lead rapper and vocalist) and J.Seph (main
rapper, vocalist and lead dancer). They have recently made their officially debut on 19th July with Hola Hola
under DSP Media. During their pre-debut process, they have released 3 singles beginning with Oh Nana (13th
December), Don’t Recall (16th February) and finally Rumor (24th April). They are one of three current co-ed (or
hybrid) groups in the Korean music industry because many entertainment companies think that concepts are too
hard to work for mixed genders but K.A.R.D have made a huge impact in Korean music globally resulting in a
world tour which will continue in 2017.
K.A.R.D

Because of the use of
having a portrait music
video rather than a
landscape music video,
the camera angles and
movements are going
to look different. Like
any other music video,
the camera is never
static. They are a lot of
shots that start normal
and end as a dutch
angle, or vice versa.
This is similar to that
during Korean stage
Editing
The shots during the intro before the vocals start are timed to the beats of the song. This is a
common feature of most music videos, regardless of the genre and pace. Steve Archer said
that the editing pace creates the mood and it comes with the genre. The editing pace is neither
quick nor slow which matches the tempo of the song. The mood created is a calm mood, which
is supported by the slow motion. The editing pace supports the body language and facial
expressions of the members to suggest that this is a calm mood but something is serious
because of the dark mise en scene during most of the music video. However, the pace of
editing increases during the choruses as the song changes slightly and seems to be a faster
tempo. The change in editing pace is to support this change in tempo. Also, the cuts are timed
to movements of the dance. During dance shots, the cuts are timed to the different moves or
the beats of the moves to emphasise that move. This is done to make the dance routine seem
more powerful and stand out from the other shots. During the dance shots, there are also
cross cutting between the different dance costumes and the other normal shots. The cross
cutting between the dance costumes shows the capability of doing the dance routine well
enough to do action match shots. And cross cutting is made between the normal shots so that
the audience that doesn’t like dance routines as much don’t get bored and continues watching
the music video.There is a lot of slow motion duringmusic shows such as Arirang’s ‘Simply K-pop’ or their ‘Music Bank’. Doing would
make the music video seem more like a stage performance rather than a music
video. I noticed that there a lot of long shots and mid shots of the members standing.
This is done because they are able to get the whole of the member in the frame
without seeming too far away from them because of the music video being portrait.
There are a lot of close ups throughout the music video. But because the music
video is portrait, the close ups are able to get their whole face in the frame whilst
having very little background behind them. Doing this creates uniqueness as no
landscape music videos can do this because part of the face will always be out of
the frame or there would be too much background to pull off the same idea. Despite
the music video being portrait, there is one interesting two shot that is used between
the first and second verses. J.Seph, the male who sings the first verse, walks behind
BM, who is the male singer of the second verse, as BM’s vocals begin. I found this
interesting because even though there is only enough room for one member in the
frame, they are able to create an interesting two shot that no other music video can
do because they are all landscape.
the whole music video.
This enables the
audience to focus on
what is going on in each
shot and to clearly see
the facial expression, if
that is what is being
shown. The use of slow
motion also suggests
that time is going slow
for the members
because the lyrics are
about break ups and
moving on. This slow
motion suggests that
the members are
struggling with that.

Lighting
The lighting during most of the music video is low key lighting. The use of low key lighting
suggests a mystery. This mystery comes from the lyrics as they mention things about what a
partner is up to after they broke up. This low key lighting creates dark a contrast between the
dark and the light. This contrast is most easily seen on the face of the members during the
close ups as the audience get to clearly see the face of each member, the use of portrait
makes it easy to see all of the face clearly without distractions from the background. Low key
lighting is also used during the dance scenes.. This is unconventional for K-pop or any dance
scene because high key lighting offers the most light so that the audience can clearly see the
dance. But this doesn’t happen here. Doing this creates a sense of uniqueness as not many
other music videos will do this. Also, during most of the music video, there are different colours
used at different points. For example, a red light is shown during some of the dance scenes
and blue is shown for some of BM’s first verse (the second verse of the song). These colour
present different emotions and feelings. So the red can suggest danger or fear and the blue
can suggest sadness, all of which are explored in the lyrics. I noticed that during most of
J.Seph’s scenes, he has these vertical lights around him (the still under this text on the left).
None of the other members have these lights around them. Doing this suggests that he has
had a different experience with his break up to the other members. Perhaps he understands his
break up more than the others because of there being more light and he never asks questions
in his lines/verses whereas the other members do.
Performance
There are two performance elements in this music video:
the dance routine and the lip syncing. Dance routines are
conventional for K-pop music videos. Most K-pop music
videos will have at least a few shots of a dance routine and
it is rare to find one without any dance routine. For the
dance routine, one location is used but two costumes are
used for each member. Doing this allows them to have
action match edits because the same moves will be done
but the different costumes make it seem as though it has
changed. No graphic match edits are made because the
moves don’t quite match the shot previous and it would
create a jump effect, which would ruin the effect of having a
graphic match edit. So action match edits are used more
commonly. Having the dance scenes in the same location
suggests that all of the music video takes place in that one
building. This is unconventional for K-pop music videos
because they will often use different locations and are
unlikely to stay in the same place for most of the music
video. Like the rest of the music video, the dance shots are
using low key lighting to continue a mysterious atmosphere
that has been created
throughout the rest of the
music video. There are a
lot of lip syncing shots.
The convention for lip
syncing across all genres
is to use close ups. For the
‘Rumor’ music video, this
is done. But there are
some lip syncing shots
that are done as mid or
long shots which make it
harder for the audience to
see them lip syncing. The
lip syncing is also done
during the dance routine.

Styling
The most obvious thing to notice about the styling is the use of a portrait music video rather than the landscape music video like every other music video I have ever
watched, regardless of its genre. An obvious reason for this is for uniqueness, especially since they are a new group and they would officially debut after the release of
this music video. But another reason for doing this might be that they have been made the global ambassadors for the LG G6 smart phone series, the logo of which is
shown before seeing the name of the group at the beginning of the music video. The reason for changing from traditional landscape music videos to this portrait music
video is that it would be viewed on a mobile device portrait, rather than rotating the device, making it a more unique viewing experience for the mobile users which would
support the new LG G6 smart phone series. Another unique styling point this the fact that they are a co-ed group, meaning they have both males and females in the
group. This is not a common group type to see in many genres, especially in K-pop due to the segregation that most children experience during education in South
Korea. Entertainment companies, especially larger companies such as SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment or JYP Entertainment, are unlikely to debut a co-ed group
because they understand that they are hard to create suitable concepts that work for both genders. DSP Media is the company that K.A.R.D debuted under. The
company is not as well known as others, but they have debuted a few well known groups, such as April and KARA. With DSP Media being a smaller company, they are
able to take more risks in debuting a co-ed group because it will not effect the company in a large way if the group wasn’t successful. However, if one of the larger
companies debuted a co-ed group and they weren’t successful, the company would face some problems. So being able to debut a co-ed makes the styling of everything
different to that of other single gender groups. Whether this is a styling idea or a problem is unclear but looking at all of the music videos that they have released, I am
yet to find a narrative. Most K-pop music videos have a narrative of some kind, sometimes even a very loose idea. But with their music videos, I can’t seem to find any
narrative. They could just be doing this for styling reasons and uniqueness but it does seem odd to watch their music videos because they have no narrative, simply just
a load of shots of the members edited together. But this might be done because the makers of the music videos might be finding it hard to find a suitable narrative for
both genders. However, their most recent release (their official debut song ‘Hola Hola’) has a very loose narrative, but it still seems like the music video is a load of shots
of the members. Because most K-pop groups are single gender, the members are often dressed in a similar way to each other, especially girl groups where they wear
almost the same costume. But with K.A.R.D it is harder to do that because of the presence of both genders. Even though there are two of each gender, each member
gets their own costume style that is different from the others, some of which having the same colours such as the orange which all of the members wear at some point in
this music video. Being able to do this creates a sense of uniqueness because no other group is able to do this as they have done and this applies to all of the music
videos they have released.

I guess I wanted you
to be unhappy
As this is said, the
J.Seph is walking
slowly by himself to
suggest that he is
now unhappy and
alone because they
have split up with
each other.
Look me in the eyes
right now and tell
me
As this is said, the
camera focuses on
Somin, who sings the
line, and makes eye
contact with the
camera
My phone screen is
filled with our old
pictures
The dance routine
has the members
create a phone
symbol with their
hand as it is said
There isn't a lot of connections between the lyrics and the visuals, but the
lyrics themselves are not easy to show through visuals. This means that
the ‘Rumor’ music video is not an illustrative music video. This is a
convention for hip hop music videos because it is often hard to interpret
the lyrics in a way to show them visually for the audience. However, it
seems that it is neither amplification nor disjunctive. Amplification uses
performance and narrative to create the meaning of the song. Although
there are a few shots of performance the rest of the music video makes no
sense with the lyrics of the song. Little narrative is created even with the
lyrics. But because of these few connections, it means that it is not a
disjunctive narrative either. Perhaps this music video is combination of the
three, as it uses parts of each type. This is typical for hip hop music videos
because the lyrics are hard to to create visuals for but some lines can be
used for it. They usually have a narrative or performance (often being lip
syncing and dance routines). But not a lot of narrative is developed in the
‘Rumor’ music video.
The connections between the music and visuals is not conventional for hip
hop music videos but there are others that use a similar idea. Most hip
hops music videos have a bouncy sound to the song and this is supported
by having a light or bright looking music video, such as BlackPink’s ‘As If
It’s Your Last’ or Twice’s ‘Cheer Up’, but the ‘Rumor’ music video has a
dark look. The reason for this darker look might be because the song itself
is not as happy sounding as other hip hop music videos. This idea is
similar to that of BEAST’s ‘Ribbon’ music video. Although darker visuals
for hip hop music videos are not that conventional, a visually bright and
light music video would not suit the sound of the song. Also, because the
lyrics are about break ups, a bright and light visual would seem
inappropriate because bright colours suggest happiness but the break ups
that the lyrics are talking about are not positive so a darker visual suits the
sound of the music and the meaning of the lyrics.

Close upsAs a company, they demand the use of close ups in their
artist’s/group’s music videos and that is done in the ‘Rumor’
music video too. Even though DSP Media are not well known,
they still understand that having close ups in music videos is
important because it allows the audience to clearly see the
members and recognise them. It is even more important for
the music video makers to do this because K.A.R.D is a new
group and they need to gain an audience and close ups will
help to do this effectively. Most of the close ups throughout the
music video are used for lip syncing shots but some close ups
are used just to show the members. However, the close ups of
the members’ faces are different to that of other music videos
because this music video is portrait rather than landscape.
This use of a portrait music video rather than a landscape
music video allows the music video makers to get the whole of
the members’ faces into the whole of the frame without
missing any things off of their faces and with little background.
The lack of background allows the audience to fully focus on
the members’ faces and they are more likely to remember their
faces since they are forced to look at their faces during these
close ups. As I have watched the music video many times, I
noticed that all of the members have one or two black and
white close ups a part from J.Seph (the bottom left). I also
found it interesting that he is the only member to have the
vertical lights around him (shown in the lighting section). As
discussed in the lighting section, this use of the other
members having a black and white close up but not J.Seph
emphasises the idea that he did have a different break up to
the other members and he understands why the break up
happened since he has colour in all of his close ups.

Oh Nana Don’t Recall
Hola Hola
Oh Nana
Don’t Recall
Hola Hola

The ‘Rumor’ music video doesn’t have a narrative and after watching their other music videos,
I found that they don’t have much of a narrative either, ‘Hola Hola’ being the one with the most
obvious narrative but it is still loose. However, I did notice connections between all four of
them. Their first music video release, ‘Oh Nana’, has a dark visual throughout, which is the
same that is done for the ‘Rumor’ music video. I also saw that red lighting is used in ‘Oh Nana’
during some dance scenes like it does in ‘Rumor’. Their second music video, ‘Don’t Recall’,
also uses this red lighting and blue lighting during some of the music video, ‘Rumor’ uses both
colours. The intro before the vocals of ‘Don’t Recall’ is black and white. This reminded me of
the black and white shots of the members in ‘Rumor’. ‘Hola Hola’ was released after ‘Rumor’
and the key point of the ‘Rumor’ dance can be seen during J.Seph’s first verse (the fourth
verse of the song, after the first chorus). The still on this page is taken from the ‘Rumor’ music
video and I saw a similar two shot in their ‘Hola Hola’ music video which is shown on the
previous page but they are facing away from each. other Many artists’ and groups’ music
videos include parts from their other music videos in order to make it seem like they are all
connected and are by the same people. However, I did notice that ‘Rumor’ is different to their
other music videos. The first thing to notice is that ‘Rumor’ is portrait whereas all the others
are landscape. But when I saw that all their other music videos had cards shown at some
point, I thought that it would make sense for there to be cards shown in all of their music
videos since their name is K.A.R.D (or Kard). Each member also has their own card (BM is the
K for King, J.Seph is the A for Ace, Jiwoo is the Coloured Joker and Somin is the Black Joker).
However, no cards are shown in the ‘Rumor’ music video. I don’t really understand why cards
weren’t shown in the ‘Rumor’ music video other than the loose idea that they are cards
because of the close ups and the fact that the music video is portrait like a card is.

Intertextual referencesAfter watching the music video many times, I found it hard
to find and intertextual reference. But then I saw the text on
Jiwoo’s top (the stills on this page) and read that it said
“rebirth” and “birth”. Since there was no other text in the
whole music video other than LG G6 and the name of the
group at the beginning, I thought that this must have some
meaning. I saw that the font is similar to that of the manga
and anime ‘Death Note’ font. ‘Death Note’ is about a
teenage boy called Light Yagami who finds a Death Note
where he can kill any one by writing their name in this
notebook. During the mange/anime, he comes obsessed
with the idea of a rebirth of the world as he tried to kill all of
the criminals in the world. Even episode one is called
‘Rebirth’. Since a lot of Koreans watch Japanese anime, I
thought that this connection might be on purpose. Then I
read the English translation of the lyrics and saw the line
“I’ve killed myself tying but my heart just can’t let go”. I
understand that this song is about break ups but this line
relates to the manga/anime because he ends up dying
because he can’t let go of what he believes in, much like
many people who break up but not in a literal sense. Also,
the top she wears with this text on is red/orange which also
relates to ‘Death Note’ because of it being similar to blood
and red is often a symbol of violence. But also because
throughout the manga/anime, red apples are seen through
out.

Music video anaylsis

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Music video anaylsis