So I was bored yesterday during recess, because nothing much was happening on AFF. I decided to tap on my youtube app on my phone, and as I was scrolling through the recommended videos, my thumb accidentally clicked on a video, No More Dream by BTS (view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3HHLZ4yjMw because I don't know how to stick the video in here, sorry><). This video was posted more than two months ago, but I'm forever outdated like that. xD

Well. I found I really really liked the video, because I enjoyed the little imagery (whether intensional, or it's just me reading too much into the details) scattered throughout the video.

Here's by breakdown and analysis of the video. (WARNING: MAJOR BRAIN VOMIT IMMINENT)

In the first twenty seconds, the idols, dressed like delinquents (read: normal kpop boyband garb), crash a schoolbus, thich they have (presumably) hijacked, into a stack of cardboard boxes, sustaining a few scratches to the bright yellow paintwork of the vehicle. Weird?

Maybe not. Here's my take on this scene. The significance of this scene may be that on the outside, an accident involving a schoolbus is terrible, and really dangerous for the kids aboard, and because of this, the parents freak out when they hear of such incidents. However, the actual damage to the actual schoolbus is minimal, and nobody gets hurt--the kids are just shaken up inside. This may indicate that although parents may think that following one's dreams and breaking away from the norm (note the ganster gear that one doesn't really see the average person don in the street) is dangerous for the kids' futures, the damage will not be that great if the kids do "deviate", as seen from the fact that the bus is still in great condition to continue the journey onwards. Also, the fact that the obstacle that the schoolbus crashes into is a pile of cardboard boxes may show that the hardships that stand in the path of the kids living their dreams only look intimidating--actually, with enough determination to live the dream, and with enough courage to keep ploughing onwards towards their own goal, the obstacles will not bar the kids from success, and will give way easily.

The set of the music video consists of three locations: a narrow alley where individual members sing/rap/dance infront of the yellow schoolbus; a posh-looking neighbourhood the boys start to trash; an already pre-trashed classroom.

At 3.58 into the video, the viewer can clearly tell that the boys are indeed standing in a (very messy) classroom (this isn't as apparent in other shots of this scene). Chairs are strewn everywhere, graffiti scribbled on the walls, and what appears to be a skateboard ramp is also set up there. Pause at 3.58, and take a look at the stuff that's written on the blackboards in the background. There are countless math and physics formulae scribbled on it, and the numbers and sequences overlap with other formulas. Notice that there isn't any math/physics problem that is solved properly? This is probably to show that the vast amounts of knowledge that is pummelled into the kids' heads on a daily basis is overwhelming for them, and it confuses them. Nothing makes sense.

The boys (and backup) start to destroy chairs and tables at the end of the music video (in addition to wrecking havoc in general, in the posh-looking neighbourhood). This could be in rebellion to the fact that chairs and tables are items used in schools to keep the students in their assigned places, keep them under the control of the teachers. In addition to this, a bright orange traffic cone is bashed repeatedly against the floor (I know. A traffic cone. I wonder where they got that from too). This may also be in retaliation as traffic cones are related to enforcing traffic laws.

Overall, there were lots of brightly coloured objects appearing in this music video (eg. bright yellow bus, colourful posters in the bus, traffic cone, etc), but the lighting used in this music video is cold (blue-ish), and that tones the bright colours down. This could indicate how the cold indifference the adults show to the kids' bright aspirations for the future smother the unique and eyecatching dreams, subduing the children, washing their colourful dreams out, making the dreams become drab and stereotypical.

The schoolbus they presumably hijack, and then crash, has a few posters pasted inside. Even so, the overall feel inside the bus isn't haphazard, in comparison to the blackboards in the trashed classroom, where the scribbled solutions fail to make any sense to the viewers. I believe the bright posters (some of which have BTS written on them), symbolise the kids' dreams. This could show that the bright, hopeful dreams of the children are easier to follow and understand than the uncomprehensible problems thrown to them by teachers (or just adults in general), that confuse and frustrate.

Towards the end of the video, the lighting becomes dimmer and dimmer, until one beam of light brightens everything up again.It is the police helicopter that hovers overhead. The fact that the helicopter is shown to be flying above may indicate that the adults are still in control of the boys' lives, and are the most powerful in the societial hierarcy, the dominant party.

It kind of spells out the sad truth for the boys: that there truly is "no more dream".

Like I said, the jaded me really liked watching this video because it made me think quite a bit (I'm sorry I had to regurgitate it all here though--my friend I usually analyse videos with was ill today, and I had nobody to debate with, and my head's so full of ideas that I can't think anymore T.T). Tell me what you think of the video? And if you agree with my points? Please??

That's all! And if you've been bearing with me till the end of this lengthy and wordy post, you're amazing.