BTS Lights MV Review

Following on from our reviews of "Lights", BTS' latest Japanese release here is the review of the MV by one of our team.

Lights MV Review

by

Louise Worthington

The beginning of the music video starts off with a distinct absence of light. Only until the Jimin and V open the door does light feature. Often when the members are subdued in darkness, they tend to be by themselves. This suggests that the light symbolises the presence of others or something. The only real constant feature of light is the cinema screen playing an array of scenes. For the light to truly shine as bright as it does there must be a level of darkness which is significant on a functional and figurative level. This becomes more apparent with J-Hope’s lyrics “I’ll face my loneliness, colour my life...” Life, development and growth entail sadness too, not just happiness. From these, strength can be derived and be a learning curve. Many shots from the sides of the boys faces show them with expressions of longing and wonderment. This emphasises the idea that something is missing and that is the focus: the light, whatever it symbolises or is, is the missing component.

The editing involves some freezing and time stopping. As soon as some of the boys touch a frozen member that member comes to life. The very literal life jumps back into the said member’s body and a scene of comfy laughter follows. This technique has been used to project visual imagery: to give the ideas and meanings of light in this song a tangible face. Later in the MV, the first real use of CGI appears. The light of the cinema projector dissipates into sparkling firefly like flares. On closer inspection as we pan to the boys laid on the floor, they are surrounded by orbs of bluish lights. This effect reminds me of the embers of a campfire: something strangely familiar.  The colouring of the video is very muted and soft. This reflects the music and the entire feeling of the piece. The colour scheme evokes a nostalgia that’s hard to pinpoint or explain. it’s not quite a sombre feeling though its not completely bright in spirit either. It’s a weirdly wonderful combination of both that evokes an intangible feeling of longing. 

Overall, the music video is of an incredibly high quality. The storyline, meaning and message are not shadowed by the high-level production; both work in tandem to create an emotive piece. Something I would like to note is the good acting from BTS in scenes where they aren’t performing. It helps the audience connect to the feeling of the music video and music more. Another fantastically constructed video that conveys BTS’ message wonderfully. 

Source: UMG Japan

We hope you liked our review, what was your favourite part of the MV? Perhaps you had other thoughts? Why not leave a comment and let us know. Look forward to more articles from the BTS Radio UK team.

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All images taken from BTS Lights