Twice – More & More
Here's the video I reviewed:
Here is my review where I give my thoughts on why this is such a good music video:
0:00 The video starts with a sequence of beauty shots which are popular within Korean music videos. The shots are consistently cut to the beat of the song which I find boringly repetitive. Each shot is similar in what it’s showing us so the amount of interest I have in this beginning introduction to each member is nothing. I feel like skipping the whole way through. The only thing I like about this is the fact that it gives us an introduction to all members and a taste of what the video will be like.
0:27 The next part before getting into the song I really like. The idea behind this whole video is about experiencing fantasy and then facing harsh reality so I enjoy the red colour as it conveys the evilness of the real world. The snake also helps represent evil and harsh reality. The atmospheric sounds on the shot of the snake also goes well with the environment and what we are seeing. It would have felt empty without the use of sound. To finish with this shot, adding the title of the song here is simple but a solid reminder to watchers the name of the song they are about to listen to. The font used here also goes really well with the fairy tale theme.
0:30 This section is so smooth and goes well with the song. I love the one take aspect and shows every angle of the setting before the section ends. Each slow turn of the camera is to the music so it’s satisfying to watch. The amazing choreography also makes for an incredible spectacle and the amount of colour is vibrant and adds to the constant fantasy theme and just looks stunning. The quick digital zooms at the end help break up the current slow pace and matches up with the two record scratches which I love.
0:49 The next section with one member, Tzuyu, is simple but does a great job of bringing in a new set and a fresh way of keeping to the theme. The cuts that go from close up shots to wide shots makes the scene interesting and lets us see Tzuyu well and also the Leopards (I think!). The shot is well framed throughout with the big cut out in the set. I don’t have much to say about Momo’s scene except that it’s framed nicely through the use of shapes much like Tzuyu’s scene was, and the new perspective keeps the watcher engaged. The use of colours is beautiful yet again. However, cutting on the beat is become all too familiar and cheesy now!
1:06 This is when the editing really goes all in and there is much to talk about. We are blasted with heavy editing and visual effects that gets us invested in the video just as we were potentially getting bored. This is so clever; I definitely wasn’t expecting it. This demonstrates amazing pace changing in the video and is exactly what keeps us intrigued throughout. The beginning of the video was slow, and this section is overwhelmingly fast. This video is like a journey though all kinds of weather and I love it. I won’t go into the editing as I’m not qualified to, but you can check out video editor Jordan Orme’s video where he broke down all the editing in this video.
What I will say is that this whole section is fantastically crazy and uses many elements to keep with the theme. We witness the transition from peace into madness, but we see reality is still far away. Now, instead of being stuck in calm fairy tale land we see the video has taken a quirky turn and everything is odd but whimsical. The patterns used and the multiplication of members make this brain numbing but it’s clearly intentional. The members multiplying also matches with the lyric ‘more & more’. Due to the amount of energy this section has, I feel a lot of energy too and as I’m watching I feel involved with the video and song much more.
1:15 During this short part after, we get story development. By biting into the apple, it shows that they are taking a step out of fantasy and into reality. This means we are entering the first step of change. Plus, the burst of colour that blends out into the next scene is really pretty, sticks to the colourful theme and I also appreciate the addition of the lyric popping up as it matches the up with the song perfectly and hits us in our face as if to say, ‘we really do mean more’.
1:25 The next section is the chorus, and we see a whole chunk of choreography. The point of this scene is to make the dancing pop and create energy from the dancing by the way it’s filmed and edited. I love the fact that it starts with a close up shot and comes out into a wide as it works as a great reveal for the setting. This also gives us a chance to see every member and the choreography properly. Then we go into a sequence of digital zooms that punch in and out repeatedly. This builds a lot of energy and creates a bouncy feel which therefore makes me want to dance, let’s try not to imagine that though! As well as this, I find the use of digital zooms satisfying and fun to watch and amplifies the dancing. Because of all these reasons, digital zooms are actually one of my favourite techniques, so I love this section a lot. Digital zooms are frequently used in Korean music videos as well. After this, the camera goes into a state of showing many different angles with each cut. High angle, medium shots, shots that start close and come out into a wide, shots that scan along from one side to the other to show each member. This is great because it stays within the same scene without match cutting to other scenes (which is frequently done in Korean music videos, so this is refreshing to see) and maintains a lot of variety which creates an interesting video. The use of lighting is evident too as the light gradually dims and appears again with the next cut or starts with dimmed lighting and gradually brightens up again. This creates an interesting visual. I have used the word interesting a lot now, perhaps more than I would like, but that is the key to all these videos. Keeping the watcher’s interest is constantly important and a factor that needs to be maintained throughout the whole video. Thankfully, this video does a great job at this. This section finishes with more digital zooms which I like for the same reasons as before.
1:42 This next part is amazingly creative as the colour textures used in this shot change on beat with the song, but it never cuts. The framing stays wide which shows off the choreography and effect that is happening. The scene where Jeongyeon is sitting is framed well through the use of a circle shape. The next scene with member Chaeyoung is similar in pace and reveals more other-worldly things into the video that intrigue us as a viewer, and during the shot of choreography more colourful effects are used to match the theme of the video.
2:00 On the two record scratches there is a long transition into the next scene. This goes well with the music. Throughout this scene, the shots consistently switch from close up to wide which gives a nice continuous change of perspective. Between all of these, a dissolve transition is used so the cuts aren’t harsh and it adds to the dreamy feel of the video.
2:10 The softness of the video continues for this section as rack focus is used and the shot doesn’t change throughout. The focus changes on each ‘ahhh’ so this is satisfying to watch and goes with the song well. It’s also used to reveal the horse (no, it’s not a unicorn) which is the first thing we’ve seen that is from the real world so it’s evident that the transition is progressing.
2:18 This pre chorus shows the members multiplying much like the first pre chorus (this part is therefore, again, matching the lyrics!) but in a new way. This takes away any form of repetition. I loved how the same idea was conveyed here but it was shown through the choreography rather than editing. To go along with this, we see the camera starts as a close up shot and digitally zooms out on each ‘more’ and shows each member as they reveal themselves which is a great idea as it makes each reveal smooth but also impactful, as it puts into perspective just how many of them there are. Yes, 9 may seem a big number but that will all change when you find out that boy group Seventeen consists of 13 members! Anyone else overwhelmed?
2:22 Here the girls are experiencing the final push into reality. This is a great transition into the following scene and provides story development. May I just mention that the colours here are brilliant and it gives good contrast as they step from bright fantasy world into the plainer green world. We can also see more digital zooms on the dance scene to add energy and the same effect from earlier with the colour textures changing to the beat of the music. To bring us into the next scene the ‘more’ lyric is placed over lots of colours which is an effect we’ve seen already. Keeping on theme is important!
2:36 There is so much space here, so it is put to great use by taking lots of wide shots which portrays the sense of freedom and shows the vast landscape well. Also love this as the new setting and outfits grasp the watcher’s curiosity.
2:54 I so enjoyed the match cut into the new scene as we haven’t seen many yet. The effect done to the music at the beginning of this dance break was clever. New outfits and setting are introduced which keeps the video interesting. The white theme is refreshing to the eye as we haven’t seen that colour scheme yet. Digital zooms are used during any time a base drum hits to make for a more hard-hitting dance performance – this also matches the music, so I liked that as well. In this section, there are loads of match cuts which is really good since we haven’t seen many throughout the video yet. Cutting to different scenes during a big choreography section is a good idea as it would be much less exciting with just one scene. To finish the scene there is a glitch effect which goes perfectly with the ‘zzzz’ sound in the song.
3:12 Here we have one final section of ballistic editing that makes me say “Does not compute.” There are many elements I love about this which are all thoroughly explained in Jordan Orme’s video. Thank you Jordan.
3:28 This section is the last chorus. It begins with a zoom out where activity in the frame is minimal. This is very much like the calm after the storm, so I really appreciated the change in pace here. The song becomes minimalize here to and all we can here is the high note, so, it also matches the song yet again. Then, the video starts cutting to the slow zoom out shot between choreography shots to vary what we are seeing. This acts as a nice outro as the members are slowly revealed until the last shot of the video in which all of members are revealed and the song ends. The final shot in this video is good as every member is visible, it shows the title of the song, and the postproduction jolt of the frame goes with the falling apple. I loved how the text changed colour when the apple was heard hitting the ground. That was a nice visual addition. The sound of a snake is heard and the text changes colour with the sound which is satisfying to watch. The red colour represents evil and leaves us suspecting things since the video was very bright and happy. Will the next chapter of this story be dark?
To conclude, this video is great because of the consistent matching to the theme and song. It shows varied shots, editing, pace, sets and outfits so it does a great job at keeping interest. It has good story development throughout. The colours are exquisite, and the dancing is well amplified. The video produces a lot of energy which means that it’s more fun to watch. One of the best videos from this year.
