2. Background info
• BTS (Korean for Bangtan Sonyeondan) is a south-Korean boy group
consisting of 7 members put together by Big Hit Entertainment.
• The group debuted in 2013 and have become one of the most
successful K-Pop groups in history, winning a total of 47 awards
including an Mnet Asian Music Award for artist of the year and a
Billboard music award for top social artist in 2017.
3. Members
BTS currently have 7 members within the group between the ages of
19-24:
• Jin - Vocalist, visual
• Suga - Lead rapper
• J-Hope – Lead rapper, main dancer
• Rap Monster - Leader, main rapper
• Jimin - Lead vocalist, main dancer
• V - Vocalist
• Jungkook - Main vocalist, lead dancer
4. Camera Work
Flashbacks are used throughout that each member is having
whilst making the decision to board the train and start their
new stories, showing how each and every member is
important and cannot be left behind (hence why some are
constantly searching for the others).
A variety of different shots have been used in the music
video which helps outline its uniqueness and the narrative
of the video.
During some scenes, two members are seen
constantly making a rectangular snap-shot with their
fingers, this relates to the group wanting to hold onto
their memories and continuing to be in a state of
dreaming as they think back to their past. This is a way
of the group doing their own ‘camera work’ by trying to
take a mental photograph of what is happening
Sound
At the beginning of the music video
the audience can hear the member (V)
walking in the snow and onto the train
tracks with the sound of the upcoming
train cutting in straight after V places
his head on the tracks (diegetic). The
music starts after this short intro but
the diegetic sound of waves crashing
in can also be heard when the beach
scene is on screen.
5. Editing
Flashbacks are used throughout that each member is having
whilst making the decision to board the train and start their
new stories, showing how each and every member is
important and cannot be left behind (hence why some are
constantly searching for the others).
A variety of different shots have been used in the music video which helps outline its uniqueness and the
narrative of the video.
The pace of the video is relatively slow but
progressively gets faster throughout
As for the mood, the MES, camerawork and
mainly editing combine to give the video a
nostalgic and insightful atmosphere. The group
are considering both their past and future and
are not overly joyful except in the flashbacks
A linear narrative is used to put together the narrative-
however, there are some flashbacks.
In one shot, the rule of thirds has been used in which the sky takes up most of the screen, with the horizon
line just below the middle and one member is centred- empathising his importance.
6. Mise-en-scene
One member (Jimin) is seen carrying a pair of shoes with him both along the
beach and towards the end when the whole group are walking towards the
tree. The shoes symbolise the memories each member is holding onto as
they are making their journey. It also suggests that out of all the members, he
may be struggling the most to let go as he is having to be comforted by
another member when they are all on the train. The shoes are worn out
which show their importance in BTS's lives as the group have been known for
going through many difficulties both before and after they had debuted.
At the end of the music video,
a close-up shot has been used
to capture the shoes hanging
off of a tree branch. This is
very symbolic as in many
cultures, the hanging of a pair
of shoes symbolises death. In
terms of how this relates to
the song and overall
narrative, it signifies the end
of BTS's youth having made it
to their final destination on
their journey.
When they get off the train in spring, Jimin finally releases the shoes he’s
been carrying by placing the shoes in a tree; preserving the memory of youth
forever, but allowing himself to grow away from it. In so doing, he honors the
loss of youth. Cherry blossoms begin to swirl around the members, and they
can all finally find some form of peace in one another.
7. Mise-en-scene
Flashbacks depict youthfulness and innocent as the members find even the simplest of tasks enjoyable
when together. Their purity is further portrayed in a scene where two members (V and Jin) are sitting
against a plain white wall with lamps just above their heads that give a halo like effect. The lights are
switched on and radiate above the two connoting their innocence as they have been given the images
of angels
The video becomes self-referential when Jung-Kook is standing in front of a
carousel which reads ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. This is the name of their
repackaged album and therefore promotes the album within the song. It
becomes reinforced as the shots of the carousel are shown in between shots of
the group as a whole walking together. This shows their strength together as a
group
There are also
several
references
towards
intertextuality
within the video…
The limited colour palette is used to depict the theme of loneliness as jimin is in A
place that all looks the same whereas his bright pink hair makes him stand out which
further displays A sense of alienation as he is the only thing that appears to not
‘match’. The colours in this shot indicates to the journey they are having to take;
everything is the same other than them
8. Audience
The persons reached by a book, radio or television broadcast, etc.; the public
Their audience and fan base consists of mostly females from the ages of 13-25. This is exploited in the video as
there are many close ups of each member and they all directly address the camera- this appeals to their
audience as they connect with the band and feel like they’re conversing with them.
Also, being a Korean group, their primary market is South Korea. This is addressed in the video in multiple
references to The Snowpiercer (a South Korean thriller film). The train tracks in the video are very similar to the
tracks in the film and a direct reference is made to the film in the lyrics “My heart makes time run like a
Snowpiercer left alone. This intertextual reference adds an element of postmodernism to the viedo.
As well as this, the references to wanting to move on and establish a new image (which is what the symbolism
of the train is and the transition into a new season represents) will resonate with their audience as they grow
up too. Their music is growing, just like BTS and their audience are.
9. Narrative
The persons reached by a book, radio or television broadcast, etc.; the public
Spring Day is not a narrative video. Instead it is a combination of a performance video and a conceptual video.
As a result, it has multiple metaphorical meanings and is open to the viewer’s interpretation.
However, there is a metaphorical narrative- the video shows the members all in different locations and in a
state of being confused and lost, until they find one another and board the train together. It matches the lyrics
of the sing in a sense that the members are trying to move on whilst they are looking back at their journey so
far as a K-Pop group. They begin standing alone as they are in wintery locations and then go towards the
beginning of spring all as one.
The actual song is about the love between the members of the group in which the lyrics continually
mention snow and winter along with the season spring as a way to express their emotional state. The
song also discusses the journey they have gone through over the past years since their debut and
how they have changed in terms of their musical style/genre and how they have grown together.
10. Genre
The conventions of this genre are the use of Korean and the performance element
of it. It also uses bright colours that are often found in K-Pop videos; only here,
they’re more toned down.
A class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like
The Korean language of the song clearly identifies the song being of the K-Pop
genre.
11. Theories
Firth
• According to Firth the most common type
of music video are performance based ones
in which the video shows the artist
singing/using their instruments at a concert
setting that conveys authenticity and shows
that the music is the most important
element to the artist as images of them
performing the song are shown.
• Conceptual videos take a poetic and
metaphoric form creating a mood and a
feeling to be evoked in the experience of
viewing. These videos can often infer
different meanings depending on how the
viewers interpret it.
Schwichtenberg
• Another type of music video characterisation
are narrative videos – these tell stories and are
mainly love stories in which gender is
stereotypically portrayed with the males
dominating the story and the females following
the sequence of events.
12. • Jhally- sees music videos as a chance to harness some new technology and
exploit new market opportunities
• Goodwin- There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens
within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of
the female body (feminist perspective)
• Goodwin- There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes,
other music videos etc) (postmodern perspective)
• Goodwin- 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) (marxist perspective)
• Althusser and Gramsci- the music video is an advertisement to promote
specific commodities (songs or artists) as a means to involve and
manipulate the viewers. (marxist perspective)
