Korean Pop, more commonly known by the abbreviation K-Pop, is a fairly recent addition to the music scene, having made its entrance in the 1990s. Unlike Western pop music, K-Pop is energetic to the core, not to say that Western music isn't lively, however, as Mark James Russell said in 'K-Pop Now!', "there is something distinct and special about K-pop. It's like everything is a little bit louder, the images brighter, the style flashier - it's just more."1
I have decided to look into the lively performances of K-pop bands as I would like to understand the ways in which they put across so much energy through dance. In addition, when considering my options for the scenes I could paint as my final piece, concert/performance and dance scenes were within my considered options.
This is one of the rehearsal videos for Mansae by K-pop band Seventeen. I feel that this video is a good representation of the energy that goes into K-pop performances and also shows the talent and bodily fitness it takes to achieve such a style of dancing. For example, the way all thirteen of them move in such perfect time at 1:25 almost makes them seem a singular force of energy. Grouped with the inhuman smoothness and flexibility of every move, an unreal aspect is created which only intensifies the shocking performance of energy. I could take inspiration from this kind of thing and create a piece much like Hiroshige's 'Yoshiwara Nakanochō Yozakura' where the large number of people gives a definite appearance of life and energy.
Here we have the official music video for Mansae, the first thing that catches my attention is the bright colours which, paired with the school uniform and setting, give a light and boyish atmosphere. This atmosphere is important in creating an energetic image as the connotations of being 'boyish' are often the stereotypes of being sporty, lively and fun. These aspects of being 'boyish' are also directly shown through the dance performance, however, I have decided to focus on the mise-en-scene (look of the scene) as I focused on the performance previously.
In the first few seconds of the video our attention is drawn to Seungcheol (person in the immediate foreground), he portrays boyish style through his casual jeans and t-shirt which are stereotypical of boyish image. In addition, the happy smile on his face (or even the sunshine grin of Seokmin at 1:19) creates a positive image which suggests lively cheerfulness. Positive imagery within this video is important as this has the effect of energising the audience whereas negative or sad imagery would have the effect of disheartening the audience or of creating a sombre atmosphere. A negative atmosphere tends to create a sluggishness within the audience and so it is important to keep the atmosphere light and happy. Further positivity is shown at approx 0:40 into the video where the sun seems to glow around the girl, causing her to seem like a positive energy and therefore reflecting happiness onto the audience. Throughout the video, either sunlight or bright in doors lighting is used which carries the positive image throughout the video. In addition to this, at the beginning of the video, the walls of red in the background not only create a more vibrant image but also, referring back to my earlier colour research, cause an increased heart rate and therefore simulate a feeling of energy within the audience.
This is all something which could influence my final piece as I feel the energy of a performance like this is captivating due to the group force. In terms of mise-en-scene, I would like to carry some of these aspects through to my final piece, for example, the boyish energy created by the ever-present red is something I would like to subtly incorporate.
This is a song called Overdose, performed by another popular K-Pop band named Exo. I chose to analyse this music video as it shows a contrasting side to K-pop which relies on visual intensity rather than boyish liveliness. The opening of the video appears grim in all its grey tones, this, however, simply causes the later imagery to seem more intense when compared. The fog shown in the beginning here adds a ghostly movie aspect which evokes a slight fear within the audience as this is the kind of thing you might see in films such as The Signalman, a BBC film remake of the book by Charles Dickens. This film uses fog and grey/dark imagery to make it seem atmospheric which therefore causes the audience to feel fear as their view is obscured by the darkness and the fog, a sort of fear of the unknown I guess you could say. Fear is, in some ways, another way to create energy within the audience, this is however, a different kind of energy. The energy created by fear is more due to the physical intensity - "Fear is a chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals that cause a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles, among other things, also known as the fight-or-flight response."2
I like the idea of not only creating energy through the usual obvious way of lively positivity but also through evoking a subtle fear within my audience. This could make a concert scene of some sort a suitable choice of final piece as concerts often use fog machines to create intense atmospheres, plus other than the lighting focused on the band, an all consuming darkness is present due to the lacking lighting anywhere else.
At 0:40 in the music video, we are introduced to a more vibrant side to the music video. Through out the video, from here onwards, neon lighting is used to create an intensity which is quite unlike the positive lighting of Mansae. I would like to have something similar to the lighting at 2:01 where intense red light is introduced. I like this idea because mixed with fog, this could create an energy evoking intensity while still softly connoting the fun boyish appearance of Mansae.
Again, in this video, the dancers portray energy by uniting as a force and moving as one. The dance is an important aspect in adding energy to a video such as this, for example, the fast movements of each person create an excited appearance, excitement being another effect which holds connotations of energy and liveliness.
Even before K-Pop, in Korea "dancers from the ancient periods mainly tried to express a deep ecstatic power. They were not interested in acrobatic physical emotions, but in expressing metaphysical joy."3 Excitement and joy are things portrayed not only in modern day K-pop (for example, the lively excitement portrayed in Mansae) but were also things shown through traditional Korean dance.
"The Mayako Odori (Cherry Blossom Dance) takes place four times a day throughout April at the Gion Kōbu Kaburen-jō Theatre, which adjoins Gion Corner. Maiko (apprentice geisha) dress elaborately to perform a sequence of traditional dances in praise of the seasons."4 While Korean dance expresses an excited or intense side to energy, traditional Japanese dance such as that of the Geisha, expresses all kinds of emotions and focuses on creating a narrative. The traditional dances of a Geisha are often far more elegant and contrast the boyish energy within dance routines such as that of Mansae.
In this video, we have The Miyako Odori (Cherry Blossom Dance) of April 2015. The Geisha in this video seem as though they are not meant to be seen as individuals but rather they are a singular elegant force of energy. This is portrayed though the repeated use of the same kimono on all Geisha and by their synchronised movements which cause them to seem as though they are one. I feel that in my final piece, the number of people featured may be important as my research suggests that numbers often add a busy atmosphere and so they reinforce the idea of energy due to the multitude of activities or perhaps due to the amount of people doing one thing at once. However, I will need to consider the availability of such a scene, for example, I am unlikely to come across a performance by a Geisha as this is something that is traditionally exclusive to Japan. I also will struggle to find a K-Pop band performing in England as K-Pop is something that although globally popular on a small scale, is mainly something enjoyed in Korea which means that most K-Pop groups tour Korea and on occasion, America. This means that the kind of group performance scene I am interested in would be unavailable to me. However, this does not mean I should not continue pursuing the idea of a performance scene as there are plenty of other aspects which come with performance that create a scene of energy.
I decided to look further into Japanese performance after having researched Geishas and I found out about a Japanese genre of music called Visual Kei. The genre consists of an overall eccentric appearance including costumes which would be considered theatrical, sometimes of a Victorian or perhaps Lolita style. Make up and almost gravity defying hair also stars in the style for this genre. One of the most notable aspects of this genre would be the live performances as these, from what I have seen, always include a theatrical aspect which can range from simply dancing in an eccentric manner or to full narrative sequences.
I recently discovered a Japanese Visual Kei band called Lacroix Despheres who would be best described as a theatrical rock opera band. This is a song by that very band named Tenkei no Hitomi, the video is a collection of live performance clips of this song being performed.
The first thing to catch my attention in this video is the dramatic red lighting which first appears at 0:25 to illuminates the stage and performers. This red lighting immediately affects the heart rate due to the reasons I have mentioned numerously after having researched colour. The fact that the colour red is something that catches my eye each time means that colour is important as it is something which consistently affects my view of the scene. Whether it be due to editing or to a genuine photographical capture of the lighting, I feel it is important that I incorporate red lights in my own scene, especially if it is a live performance as this will look natural due to the expectancy that there will 'flashy' lighting above the stage when at a concert.
I like that the lighting in this video is set up behind those it is trying to illuminate (eg. 0.29 and 0.42) as this not only causes the band to become more distinctly visible in their sharp silhouettes but also causes them to take on a red and somewhat ethereal glow that makes it seem as though they are radiating energy. I am keen to make this effect a feature in my final piece as I feel it effectively puts the lights to use in a way which enhances the energy portrayed.
In this video, there is a complete lack of synchronisation and the camera often focuses on individual people, therefore making it seem that numbers are not important. This video is more focused on the energetic narrative performance that each person is creating rather than how they work as a group. Although the focus is more on individuality, there are wide shots used which effectively create an establishing shot to give an overview of the entire band working to create a narrative through their music, costumes and actions.
At 3:30, we are presented with close ups of selected members which clearly show their lolita/visual kei style. The petticoats and almost gravity-defying styles of hair create a light and fun appearance that gives off connotations of girlish energy, a feminised version of the boyish energy shown in Mansae.
Overall, each of the music videos portray energy through either an excited, childlike fun style of acting and dressing or through group synchronisation. Independent focus on dancers means that the singular person will captivate all attention and so have complete control over the energy portrayed. On the other hand, the rapid and quick motions created within a completely synchronised group causes an intense force of energy as the increased number of people enforces the idea of intense motion multiplied to create energy.
1 Russell M. J., K-pop Now! The Korean Music Revolution, (Singapore, Tuttle Publishing, 2014)↩
2 Layton, J., How Fear Works, http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/fear.htm↩
3 Facts about Korea, (Seoul, Republic of Korea, Korean Overseas Information Service, 1993)↩
4 Lonely Planet, Japan, (Hong Kong, Lonely Planet Publications, 1997)↩
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