Korean Pop music videos

In my last post I talked about how I like Korean (K-Pop) music videos compared to English pop music videos. Here are a few more examples of K-Pop music videos that I really like.

I really like the beginning to Girls Generation's 'The Boys' music video. The beginning of the music video contains many effects such as when the band member Yoona picks up a black crystal reach rises out of her hand and spins slowly round in which we she her reflection. After that the camera zooms into the crystal and showing the other band members walking around in an area with pink rose petals falling in slow motion. Four of the members walk round in a circle and freeze in motion and the camera pans round the girls in the circle and the girls begin to walk again. I really like this effect the most, as its so usual but really effect. After that other member Jessica releases a white dove which fly's off in slow motion.

 

Another video that uses a range of effects is BIGBANG's 'Monster'. throughout the video it is filled with effects that make the video look energetic, dramatic and dynamic. The video has  a bit of a military theme, with lots of explosives and debris flying that make the video look almost 3D. I love the camera angle, tracking of the band members, CTV chots, slow mo's and the lighting. I like how wind, snow and smoke machines have been used  they create a dramatic feel but also make the members looks powerful. I think the eyes lighting white fits the title of the song, as they look as if there turning into monsters. I really love the smashing of the manikins how its been edited to slow motion and how it creates the illusion that that have been kicked with a strong force. My favorite part of this video has to be at 3:37 when the members run out of the building just before it explodes. Each member is shown running individually out of the building in slow motion and is returned to normal speed where it cuts to another member running out. This part is so effective because of the fire, flying debris and smoke all flying across the screen.



What also strikes me about K-Pop videos is the choreography and dance moves. This was more evident this summer when Gangnam Style was released. This song became famous for PSY's horse-riding dance and became a worldwide success in 2012. Other K-Pop music videos famous for their dances are Wonder Girls Tell Me, T-ara Roly Poly and Bo Beep Bo Beep, Kara Step and 2NE1 I Am the Best.





K-Pop videos are also recognized by their outrageous concepts/ themes and don't tend to stick to normal conventions of a pop video. A lot of these conventions are hair, outfits, make-up, locations/ sets and choreography  A really good example of this is G-Dragon 'Crayon'. The video is really random and quite weird but is entertaining for viewers to watch manly because of this and also looks quite fashionable. It also seems to give them an edge on other artists.







However some Korean artists want to reach a English audience and sometimes influenced by English Artists. For example sometimes they will release an English version of a particular song or try to relate to our culture in someway. A good example of this is the Wonder Girls who are a South Korean girl group. On their 2011 Album Wonder World the main single 'Be My Baby' reached number 1 on the Korean charts and an English version was released which featured on the Wonder World album and in the group's first TV movie 'The Wonder Girls', which aired on TeenNick. The music video for 'Be My Baby' was influenced by Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' music video with its black and white concept and strong choreography.

I found this video on YouTube uploaded quite recently which explains about the genre K-Pop and it hitting America after the phenomenal Gangnam Style.