#also the extent to which we’ve broken containment is mind boggling to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

plasticflowering · 3 years

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veeee i want your input on something because you're smart... what's up with the black mirror teasers being so boring? this isn't hate, they look great and the concept looks cool, it's just that the photo and video teasers are cycling through the same two-ish outfit sets, same two mv sets, the same section of the song, even! such a limited scope compared to the teasers for something like banbakbulga (which granted was kind of buckwild when it came to the styling, but still). so DO they have more in store for us and are just keeping a lot of things under wraps? or is this just gonna be a lower-stakes, lower-budget comeback? genuinely unsure. feel free to ignore if you don't necessarily like speculation/negativity about these things! and have a nice day :)

You’re definitely not alone in noticing this. And before I answer further re: my own speculation, I’ll just say that I don’t think this is a bad thing, either. In fact, I think it’s rather novel and I appreciate it to an extent.

Gonna break this down into three sections because I’m feeling wordy.

What we’ve gotten used to from ONEUS’ film language We are used to a few key things from this group’s visual milieu, and I’ve taken a look back at teasers past to try and crawl inside of why the Black Mirror teasers feel so off. The first thing that immediately came to mind is film language that conveys atmosphere. Twilight, ASWE, TBONTB, Come Back Home - all had a cinematic visual language that included open spaces, natural elements, some breathing room to take in the story and film language that made it clear there was a story to be taking in. Even when there wasn’t atmosphere, there was scope. Valkyrie, LIT, and BBUSYEO were all compact MVs with a few rotating setpieces, but they still managed to convey a feeling that we were outside looking in on something much larger. The angles, the composition of shots. Many scenes in Lit and Valkyrie specifically contain lots of wide shots and perspective shots. The film language for BBUSYEO is, while approaching a more constrained reality, very sitcom/drama. Lots of the shots there are conversational, and the editing absolutely pulls us along for a story with movement and scope. BBUSYEO is without a doubt ONEUS’ most explicitly story-telling MV, and the film language supports that. No Diggity is in a class all its own, imo. The atmosphere is very claustrophobic, but this feeling is broken up amongst several different set pieces for each of the characters, and the camerawork is disorienting, the editing breakneck and wild. No Diggity is at once every overwrought “more things = better” K-Pop MV while also being very clever with the way it tells a dynamic story for each character via film language choices (for instance: the camera seems afraid of getting too close to Hwanwoong and Leedo. It orbits around Keonhee warily, reverently. It does not know what to do when Seoho is onscreen and goes wild. It’s comparatively intimate with Ravn. It approaches Xion carefully and slowly).

Why the Black Mirror teasers feel off Now look at the Black Mirror teasers. The first thing that absolutely, monstrously stands out is the lack of movement and atmosphere. This camera is stationary, these sets are black boxes. We are cramped, we are trapped.

There’s a practical explanation for this, but it seems too convenient: it’s very difficult to shoot on a set full of mirrors. The logistics of building dollies and tracks, of moving a camera rig through a mirrored space without exposing them is mind-boggling, and for them to even attempt a mirror concept has me thinking “hmmmmmmm” right off the bat. Because ONEUS, and RBW in general, have never really been the “phone this one in” sort. I’m not saying that I believe there’s a lot more they’re keeping under wraps, necessarily, but I am saying that I think this MV might be more than meets the eye. For them to go here right after No Diggity brought them so far is an interesting choice, to say the least.

But then, I also have a final point to make:

The sustainability of ONEUS K-Pop has a sustainability problem. Groups and companies feel the need to constantly be different, better, bigger. Dance in K-Pop goes harder and harder every year and the jury will always be out on whether it’s about technical skill or flashy entertainment (because a metric ton of technically mind-blowing choreographies get overlooked every year). Groups are boxed into concepts. Every group reaches a tipping point, and the groups that establish a baseline of “blockbuster comeback” will always have a harder time living up to the general public’s expectations.

So, say you’re a company with an up-and-coming group that has come to be known for doing its own thing. Going against that grain, experimenting, thriving in their artistry if not in the industry. They just had the most bombastic, over-the-top, frankly uncharacteristic release of their careers. It was successful. Lots of new fans came on board. So what to do now? Continue on that bombastic, over-the-top approach? Or pull these new fans in under your arm and say “ah, yes, but we’re also this,” and show them that this is a group you will never be able to predict or pigeonhole or box into a concept. Not even a film language concept. I think it’s brilliant, personally, because I would never want to see ONEUS struggling to keep up with blockbuster comeback expectations.

Just my opinions, obviously. Feel free to disagree! I love talking about this stuff (obvs obvs obvs)

#v.opinions #v.asks

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