Week 2: You got my bet

26 August 2019 – 1 September 2019

• BET BET MV analysis
• Prepare for Segno Concert in Kuala Lumpur

The title for Week 2’s project update is “You got my bet”. Like I mentioned in my very first project update, I will be attempting to name each of these updates with something that is NU’EST-related. The reason for this week’s title is actually pretty simple. I decided to use a line from NU’EST’s song, BET BET, because for this week’s task, I am doing an analysis on its music video.

I have always wanted to do an analysis for a music video because I was often mesmerised by the use of imagery and symbolism in K-pop music videos (MVs). In recent times, I realised that K-pop MVs are no longer just collages of unrelated images without a coherent narrative. While some MVs still focus on portraying a cool and sophisticated image for their idols using spectacular lighting effects and studio setting, some have evolved to include a carefully considered story to tie all these seemingly irrelevant images together. Since BET BET is one of those MVs, coupled with the fact that I am personally a fan of the group, I have decided to do my very first MV analysis on the song.

While I am used to doing literary analysis, a music video analysis feels like a different ball game altogether. I was therefore understandably feeling a little overwhelmed at this challenge but I was also excited for this task. However, I soon found that I need not have worried because there were other NU’EST fans out there who had already done their own analysis of the MV, be it in the form of blogs, Twitter posts or YouTube videos. I have included the links to their works in the MV analysis so do take a look at them too!

Their works were really great references and the writers provided insightful points that inspired me to expand them with my own ideas. I thought about how I could add new content to the discourse rather than just repeating what has already been said. After reading these materials by other fans, I came up with a content page which first teases a summary of the MV universe that has been established in NU’EST’s past works as well as BET BET. On top of that, I thought of how I have not encountered any formal analysis of the MV title and its significance. Thus, despite having seen comments about it on YouTube, I thought to include a section on the significance of the MV title, named “What’s the BET?”

Next, I wanted to explore the parallels between the characters of the knights in the BET BET MV and the real-life personalities of the NU’EST members themselves. I have read some writing by fans who studied the characters of the knights in NU’EST’s past works like Overcome and NU’EST W’s Dejavu but none have actually stated the links to the traits of the NU’EST members in reality. Furthermore, to my knowledge, there was also no attempt made to show how such links are sustained throughout the narrative universe. By doing so, I can contribute something new to the fandom discussion and I was extremely happy when I managed to achieve that. I also included a reference to NU’EST’s earlier MV, Good Bye Bye which was before the whole narrative universe in BET BET started when trying to explain the significance of the colour purple, something that has not been done in current analyses of BET BET. Finally, I offered an alternative view to the concept of a happy ending or Utopia, as used in the BET BET MV and concluded with the importance or position of BET BET as a K-pop MV in the industry. 

Once the scaffolding is completed, I had to fill in the gaps. To me, this was the most difficult thing to do because while the picture references can easily be found, they were not organised in the way I had planned to present my MV analysis. As such, I had to pick my references selectively and in cases when the most representative shot in the MV for the point I would like to bring across is not available, I had to take my own screenshots or make my own GIFs. Although this can be troublesome at times, it provided another interesting learning experience. In the end, I think my hard work paid off because within an hour of posting the MV analysis, it has received a ‘like’ from a WordPress user, for which I am very grateful. 

All in all, doing the MV analysis was a refreshing and fulfilling experience. I got to fulfill a wish I had before embarking on the task and managed to satisfy my fangirling heart. In fact, throughout the process of writing the MV analysis, I had increased appreciation for NU’EST past MVs and songs as well as the BET BET MV since I had to rewatch all of those numerous times for the purpose of giving an accurate description of the scenes. I was made a bigger fan and on hindsight, the lyrics, “You got my bet” is truly the best title for this blog update as it perfectly encapsulates this personal development of mine. Once again, NU’EST has snatched my hat and got me to love them even more. They got my bet and this is reciprocated by NU’EST for their fans too. I am sure they love their fans and trust them enough to bet the future of their career on the love of these fans.

On a side note, while penning this update, I got to know that the director of the BET BET MV added it to his portfolio on Instagram as vishoplee after seeing a comment by a Twitter user. Now that I am aware that he was the brain behind such a meticulous and an intricate MV like BET BET, I will be sure to take note of his subsequent works from now on.

To end off this update, I would like to include just a little preview for next week’s update. As stated in my very first project update, I will be attending NU’EST’s Segno concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next weekend. I am super excited, especially since I was doing this music video analysis while preparing for the concert. Currently, I am anticipating the live performance of BET BET even more and I cannot wait to listen to their other songs in person as well. Do stay tuned to my update next week to see how everything went!