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[FEATURE] K-Pop Music Video Production: The Art of Visuals

K-Pop offers more than just exciting music and captivating visuals. Just like how artists and fans go hand in hand, one cannot separate aesthetically pleasing high quality music videos with promising directors and production houses in the industry. In this article, we will delve deeper into the hotshots that adds on further to the life of K-Pop with their Midas touch!

Seo Hyun Seung

BLACKPINK Kill This Love (2019), 2NE1 I Love You (2012), Weki Meki I don’t like your Girlfriend (2017), BIGBANG BANG BANG BANG (2015)

Seo Hyun Seung made his directorial debut in 1998 after graduating from Seoul National University of Arts by directing SECHKIES’ Road Fighter music video. He has been solely directing music videos ever since the mid-2000s. He is known for directing music videos that feature fancy sets rather than computer graphics. His latest work includes TREASURE’s music video for MY TREASURE.

Seo Hyun Seung loves to incorporate digital zooms such as punch in and punch out techniques, as seen in BLACKPINK‘s How You Like That MV. These editing techniques were done on the beat to highlight the intensity of the music and choreography. He also emphasizes the speed ramps editing technique, which speeds up and slows down on particular video shots to create a dramatic effect, such as in BLACKPINK’s DDU-DU DDU-DU MV.

Other music videos produced by Seo Hyun Seung:

Sa Min Han from DEXTOR LAB

LEE HI No One (Feat B.I) (2019), Gain The Last Day (2016), BLOCK B Shall We Dance (2017), JENNIE SOLO (2018)

This Seoul-based director has been studying Fine Arts for 10 years, making her one of YG Entertainment’s favourite music video directors, along with Seo Hyun Seung. The first music video she directed with YG Entertainment was BIGBANG’s Love Song in 2011.

Sa Min Han‘s signature style for music videos contrasts Seo Hyun Seung’s and features cool tone with soft edges. She is responsible for bringing out the melancholic visual aspect in her music videos as most of her projects are slow-paced songs. Her recent music video for YG Entertainment is ROSÉ’s On The Ground.

Sa Min Han frequently shoots her music videos either in big luxurious sets or actual locations. Her shots comprise slow motions to convey emotional portrayal by having scenes like running in despair or feeling helpless. Symbolism such as destruction is found in most of her directed music videos. She usually portrays fire explosion elements as resentment, rebel and regret while fireworks signify being hopeful and break-free.

Other music videos produced by Sa Min Han from DEXTOR LAB

NAIVE

ITZY Not Shy (2020), IU BLUEMING (2019), THE BOYZ Giddy Up (2018), iKON B-DAY (2017)

NAIVE is also a Seoul-based video production house established in 2011. Their music videos usually feature bright colours and heavy use of zoom technique to emphasize their dance points. NAIVE also uses similar colour palettes for their music video to distinguish their work from other production houses. They also incorporate the use of wide shots and cut to another shot right between dance moves for a subtle flashy zoom in effect. HyunA’s I’m Not Cool is his newest MV up-to-date.

NAIVE likes to experiment with their concepts, but they do get a little repetitive. TWICE’s Like OOH-AHH and PRISTIN’s WE LIKE share the same flow of shot. Repetitive editing could also be found such as the endless door transitions in TWICE’s Heart Shaker and Cherry Bullet’s Love So Sweet MV.

Other music videos produced by NAIVE

LUMPENS

INFINITE Last Romeo (2014), SISTAR I Like That (2016), SPICA Tonight (2013), BTS Blood, Sweat & Tears (2016)

Newly established in 2014, LUMPENS stands out a lot with their top-notch music videos. Darker undertones, grim lighting with long close-ups, and seamless fast-cutting are their trademarks. LUMPENS always delivers the best way of interpreting the storylines while incorporating symbolism and artistic narrative. GFRIEND’s recent music video for MAGO is directed by LUMPENS.

LUMPENS does a great job in visualizing the metaphor incorporated in the lyrics into the storyline, which explains why dystopian themes seem common in their music videos. The lighting composition and shadows give strong points to the music video’s direction. In BTS’ ON music video, cinematic references from The Maze Runner, The Lion King and Noah’s Ark add depth to the story execution.

Other music videos produced by LUMPENS

VIKINGS LEAGUE

Apink Dumhdurum (2020), BTOB I’ll be your man (2016), MONSTA X Shoot Out (2018), Girls’ Generation-Oh!GG Lil’ Touch (2018)

Formerly known as VISHOP, this production house started by directing K.will’s Day 1 music video in 2014. Back then, their music videos were simpler, with shaky shots to create an intense feeling. VIKINGS LEAGUE often incorporates black-white filters between shots in their music videos to show contradictory images. The subtle camera rotation movement is also one of their trademarks. VIKINGS LEAGUE’s projects have mostly been with MONSTA X and WJSN. Their most recent music video is IZ*ONE’s Panorama which features seamless transition and clean camera movement.

VIKINGS LEAGUE seems to favour several aesthetic elements in their works such as fisheye filter in JOOHONEY’s PSYCHE and BVNDIT‘s JUNGLE. Rainbow flares and prism effects are also commonly seen in music videos such as IZ*ONE’s Panorama, NU’EST’s BET BET and WJSN’s SAVE ME, SAVE YOU. LED lights and contrast lighting were used a lot for aesthetic back then but recently, the production house focuses more on their editing style to distinguish themselves.

Other music videos produced by VIKINGS LEAGUE

SUNNY VISUAL

OH MY GIRL 5th Season (SSWFL) (2019), Dreamcatcher Deja Vu (2019), JIYEON Take A Hike (2019), INFINITE Tell Me (2018)

This production house is pretty underrated among non-fans, but their music videos are magnificent! Usually seen working for idols with dreamy concepts, it is not a surprise that Woollim and WM Entertainment often work with them.

SUNNY VISUAL’s music videos are usually cinematic, with twisting zoom-ins and overhead shots as their signature. It is amazing to see how SUNNY VISUAL portrays the contrast between OH MY GIRL and Dreamcatcher’s concept — two groups with vastly different fantasy concepts. SUNNY VISUAL lives up to fans’ expectations again recently, with ONF’s Beautiful Beautiful MV.

ONF’s recent music video which focuses on cyberpunk and sci-fi concept creates a whole new standard for SUNNY VISUAL. Hyojin danced while wearing a motion capture suit for the robot flash mob scene in the music video using a 3D shooting technique. SUNNY VISUAL keeps up with top-notch visual effects as their unique selling point. It was also revealed that The Avengers’ CG team participated in making the visual effects for the music video!

Other music videos produced by SUNNY VISUAL

DIGIPEDI

IZ*ONE Violeta (2019), AB6IX BREATHE (2019), LOVELYZ Now, We (2017), WINNER SENTIMENTAL (2016)

DIGIPEDI has been in the K-Pop music video industry for 14 years. This production house is the epitome of in-box music videos and incorporates surrealistic directing, unique colours, and experimental videos. Songs with cheerful and comical concepts go well with DIGIPEDI, as they prefer bright pastel colour backgrounds and oversaturated filters. Their balance of internal and external shots with fluid camera movement makes them so established in this field. Their latest work is Epik High ft CL & ZICO’s Rosario.

Quick cut editing, prop close-ups, and quirky Wes Anderston style; deadpan flat shots make up DIGIPEDI’s distinctive image. LOONA Chuu’s Heart Attack fits perfectly with DIGIPEDI’s signature look, but the production house takes an interesting turn from their usual route with LOONA Gowon’s One&Only, where they experiment with the aspect ratio of portrait mode for the music video.

Other music videos produced by DIGIPEDI

These production houses may have their own signature editing styles and filming techniques but they all produce beautiful works for us to enjoy! Cheers to all the creative teams for their hard work in producing these amazing music videos that are simply visually stunning.

Written by: Nur Hidayati
Image by: Winnie

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