The Changing Lenses in SEVENTEEN’s Music Videos

This is the fifth in a series of essays exploring the many dimensions of SEVENTEEN’s discography!

SEVENTEEN keep their music videos fresh by literally seeing things from new angles time and time again. They alter the perspective of the cameraperson, add 3-D graphics on the screen, and tend to a multitude of other details that make the production value of their projects top-tier. Below are just a few of the many ways SEVENTEEN use lighting, camera angles, and other elements of filmmaking to bring their stories to life in consistently unique ways.

Lighting

As fun as SEVENTEEN’s more colorful music videos are, some themes call for a more simple visual aid. In the cases of “MY I” and “HIGHLIGHT,” the trait that needs highlighting at the expense of any other is the choreography, which maintains the audiences’ attention thanks to a lone spotlight. There are zero distractions to prevent being mesmerized by both dance routines.

The use of spotlights amid pitch-blackness serves both aesthetic and story-related purposes. These scenes draw attention both to pops of color in the videos and specific details in them worth noting. For example, a lone spotlight shines on Wonwoo in “TRAUMA,” as rain pours down on him and the members sing things like “Feeling used to being forgotten.” 

And in “Fear,” Mingyu stares up at a ray of light shining down on him, from which red flower petals fall, as the members sing about clinging to the remnants of a relationship: “I know nothing is forever / But I still can’t let go.”

The lighting does not always serve to complement a different symbol; sometimes the lighting is the symbol. In “Home,” the members who were once scattered in different locations unite in the same room after Seungkwan turns on a light. The scene then features countless other bright lights, all turned on at the same time. This room is downright glowing compared to the lighting in the rooms where the members had stood on their own. Fittingly, the room that radiates warmth and a welcoming spirit is the one resembling home. 

In “Ready to love,” the traffic light the group dances in front of goes from yellow to green to yellow again to green again. As the members sing about finally reaching a point where they can open themselves up to love, the “green light” they have given themselves wavers as they also struggle with lingering insecurities and doubts.

Screen Adjustments

Sometimes, SEVENTEEN have a music video scene in black-and-white as a way to separate it from the rest of the scenes, storyline-wise. For example, in “HOME;RUN,” The 8 cruises down a street with a stolen diamond in hand in a black-and-white scene, as if playing a role in a movie within the video. 

This appears to be the idea behind a scene in “Happy Ending” using a different technique: what at first looks like a scene featuring the members at a fancy dinner party is revealed, after the camera zooms out, to just be a dinner party scene taking place on a TV show Jun is watching. 

Alterations to the presentation formats in SEVENTEEN’s videos sometimes have the opposite goal: the changes tie together separate parts of a story. For example, the video for “THANKS” starts out from the perspective of whoever is behind the camera lens, and it shows the members falling asleep on a bus. The final scene in the video ends the exact same way, with the cameraperson's perspective and the members asleep on the bus, except now, the scene is in black-and-white. By bookending the video with the same scene and tweaking it only slightly, SEVENTEEN reinforce the song’s message to their fans: “Thanks, thanks, thanks again / For waiting, for longing for our memories.” They might be organically changing as they grow up, but they are still the same SEVENTEEN fans know and love, and the relationship between SEVENTEEN and Carats stays unchanged at the end of the day, even if it looks a little different as time passes.

Changes in Speed

SEVENTEEN routinely play with the passage of time in their music videos. They sprint through scenes in “VERY NICE,” “Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Pinwheel,” “THANKS,” and “Left & Right.” In some cases, this sprint is in slow-motion. Other videos feature slow-motion partying (“CLAP”), levitating (“Fallin’ Flower”), and jumping (“Adore U,” “HIT”). These adjustments keep listeners on their toes about what comes next, and they emphasize the members’ ruminations on time feeling too fast or too slow. They sing about fearing they do not have enough time in “24H,” feeling like time has stopped in “Happy Ending,” and seeing time as a mystery in “Don’t Wanna Cry.” 

Showing the “Behind-the-Scenes” Action

SEVENTEEN’s music videos are mini-movies, shows within shows. They sometimes come across as “real life,” but they break the fourth wall on other occasions. Their inner machinations are in clear view in videos like “Happy Ending,” where camera operators stay in the shot, “Adore U,” where the use of green screens is made no secret of, and in “CLAP,” where the rooms they perform in are revealed to be just sets built inside a larger location. Other cinematic finishing touches include end credits (in “HOME;RUN” and “Left & Right”), a song title appearing on a television set, as if a part of a theme song (in “CHANGE UP”), and a movie reel countdown (kicking off “Healing”).

Conclusion

SEVENTEEN treat their backgrounds and camerawork as an extra opportunity to put on a show-stopping number. Their show-within-a-show concept gives them leeway to mix up their filming style from time to time without breaking character, and their toying with speeds and sights epitomize creativity. SEVENTEEN are emblematic of what putting on a show is all about, and their high-energy, memorable, and immensely enjoyable music videos attest to that.

For further elaboration on this argument, and to read about SEVENTEEN’s discography from several other angles, check out an upcoming 17 Carat K-Pop episode, and catch up on past SEVENTEEN episodes and essays here!