Aesthetic of Kpop music Videos

I started to follow k-pop(Korean pop, but I don’t like this title, because k-pop itself contains a wide range of genres like experimental, rock, jazz, hip hop, R&B and more) a year ago and now I am deeeeep into it. I am multi – that means I listen and support more than one group. K-pop industry produces a lot of good stuff not including music.

The idea of the k-pop industry is that it is the essence of many elements, starting with the smallest details on costumes and artist concepts, ending with concerts in arenas for thousands of people and artist’s behavior.
Before I got into this genre after years of listening to rock music I had a bad impression of what it is and I now I can surely say that this kind of entertainment is not that flat as non-fan can imagine after a short glance to most popular performers.

One of the important parts of promoting music is making a music video. I watched a lot of music videos and I think it is the thing that pulled me into it. Almost every MV(music video) contains a concept, plot, details that can be interpreted by fans, theories(plot can include some hints), difficult choreography, amazing camera work, mostly fast-paced editing.


I decided to make my TOP most suitable MV. I refer to only my music and aesthetic taste and that is why i haven’t included some of the most popular MV.

10

Got7 – call my name

I am in love with every shot in Call My  Name, it captures me from the very first frame. A living artwork in the form of a black and white circle of bodies, in some way evokes inspiration.

It is a new MV from the group I didn't like before. It was released at the beginning of November and it gave me the whole mood of autumn. It is shot to a high-quality camera, that allows shotting amazing without setting bright lighting. Music and video are a complete match. 

Green is the main bright colour in the MV. There are some shots with light blue lighting but green has more impact on the atmosphere.

9

Zico - balloon

This is an animation with a good plot, nice visual range and meaning. I can’t imagine better MV for this calm song. 

8

iKON – I'm OK

It is so aesthetically pleasant that i wont even comment.

7

Triple H -365 fresh

This MV is made of every deadly sin you can commit in South Korea. The way it is shot inspires me a lot – the story is simple, but something about warm colors and character feels special.
Girl commits murder, one of the guys is a criminal, second - suicidal - and that's our main characters.

6

EXO – Lotto, Monster

I decided to put these two MV in the same place, because of similarities in concept and pretty much linear plot. What grabs my attention here is a dark concept and all the violence shown in MV. Colorful light makes the image look suitable for the situation and all the shots look dirty even though beautiful.

  

    

5

iKON – Love Scenario

In addition to good music, this video has combined and circular shooting, light colors that add a special charm and comfort. Choreography is interestingly interpreted than just filmed using long shots.

4

BTS I NEED U'  (Original ver)

The atmosphere of this MV is mildly depressing. I consider this song and video as a very bold decision and one of the strongest works of BTS. Killing a father with a bottle of one of the characters is the strongest moment of this music video. Almost all of the characters die in this MV, so it is difficult not to sympathize with them.  I want to mention that almost all MV of BTS can be considered as art, but I NEED U is the strongest emotionally.

3

Taemin – Goodbye

I see that graphics in this MV is in lack of quality, but for me, Taemin charisma, his ability to show passion and emotions through choreography compensates everything, however, I really like the style of MV. Usually, k-pop artists in MV have a lot of outfits and location, here we have only three locations and all of them makes me feel contradiction – a fight between different emotions.

2

WINNER-SoSo
⠀

There is no narcissism for the sake of narcissism (blank stare at the camera, which is very common in this genre), but there are frank, provocative scenes, semantic load and showing of obvious pressure, fear, loneliness. Naked soul on display. Fall without possible salvation. MV itself is very cinematic. It is not typical for k-pop - filmed without studio empty walls and group choreography. In it you can trace the plot that I like best, you can feel the emotions of characters.⠀

Probably it hurts because each person is emotional in his way. Everyone feels pain (any emotion or feeling) differently - this is the main idea. I could say a lot on this subject, as a person, that all life struggled with an overly emotional soul and an equally uncontrollable face that always betrayed me.⠀

1

NCT U - The Seventh Sense

All about colors. This image is satisfying to watch because colors are used correctly. 

I don’t think that red light allowed to make an image sharper, weird angles, lack of focus, shaky camera work, bright colors and hypnotizing music – it makes The Seventh Sense work the way it works. It is NCT U debut song, however, it feels like an experiment like they wanted to show that they can go on risk in this industry.