#love yourself serendipity comeback trailer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

heybaetae · 1 year

Note

hello kelli! such a big fan of your instagram gfx through the eras, i tried really hard not to screech too hard in my tags haha i did want to ask, since i am mostly on tumblr via mobile app, for whatever reason i am not able to read your detailed explanation :( is there another way to access it? i would love to read it during my work break tomorrow! ♡

thank you so much! so i made the post private and accessible via the link, which i recommend opening in a web browser on either your phone or a desktop, but i know some people might still run into problems, so i will copy and paste it under the cut on this post as well. 💜

Hello and thank you for clicking through to this post! I decided that if I was going to make a gif series this intricate and time consuming, I’d break it down for anyone who was interested in all the fine details. Please see further comments at the end!

School era

Icon: Dark & Wild (studio album cover) Posts: 45 unique tracks across era Followers: 51k - “It went on to sell 51,655 copies by the end of that month” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: Dark & Wild concept photos

First row:

1. No More Dream MV 2. 2 Cool 4 School (single album cover) ↳ Mouse hover effect: 612k likes - June 12th, 2013 760 comments - “2 Cool 4 Skool sold 760 copies in its release week” 3. We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2 MV

Second row:

4. O!RUL8,2? (mini album cover) / Swipe effect: N.O. MV 5. Boy in Luv MV 6. Skool Luv Affair (mini album cover) / Swipe effect: Skool Luv Affair special addition (repackage album cover)

Third row:

7. Just One Day MV 8. Danger MV 9. War of Hormone MV

Youth era

Icon: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever (compilation album cover) Posts: 21 unique tracks across era (excluding remixes) Followers: 164k - “164,868 copies were sold within the first week” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever concept photos

First row:

1. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Part One (mini album cover) ↳ Mouse hover effect: 429k likes - April 29th, 2015 274k comments - “The EP ended 2015 as the sixth best-selling album of the year in South Korea, with 274,135 copies sold” 2. I Need U MV 3. Dope MV

Second row:

4. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Prologue short film 5. Run MV 6. Swipe effect: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Part Two mini album cover & concept photos

Third row:

7. Fire MV 8. Save Me MV 9. Epilogue: Young Forever MV

Wings era

Icon: Wings (studio album cover) Posts: 18 unique tracks across era Followers: 1.8m - “They [Wings/You Never Walk Alone] sold a combined 1.8 million physical copies worldwide” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: Wings concept photos

First row:

1. BEGIN short film 2. LIE short film 3. STIGMA short film / Swipe effect: FIRST LOVE short film

Second row:

4. REFLECTION short film / Swipe effect: MAMA short film 5. AWAKE short film 6. Intro: Boy Meets Evil comeback trailer Third row:

7. Blood Sweat & Tears MV 8. You Never Walk Alone (repackage album cover) / Swipe effect: Spring Day MV 9. Not Today MV

Love Yourself era

Icon: Love Yourself: Answer (compilation album cover) Posts: 30 unique tracks across era (excluding remixes) Followers: 1.51m - “the first six days of the pre-order period for Love Yourself: Answer, iriver Inc reported that the album had sold more than 1.51 million copies” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: Love Yourself: Answer concept photos

First row:

1. Serendipity comeback trailer 2. Love Yourself: Her (mini album cover) / Swipe effect: DNA MV 3. MIC Drop MV

Second row:

4. Euphoria short film 5. Singularity comeback trailer 6. Love Yourself: Tear (studio album cover) ↳ Mouse hover effect: 518k likes - May 18th, 2018 1.5m comments - “news media revealed updated numbers showing that pre-orders had actually crossed 1.5 million copies” Third row:

7. Fake Love MV 8. Epiphany comeback trailer 9. IDOL MV

Map of the Soul era

Icon: Map of the Soul: 7 (studio album cover) Posts: 21 unique tracks across era Followers: 4m - "On February 6, Forbes reported that the album had surpassed 4 million pre-orders worldwide.” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: Map of the Soul: 7 concept photos

First row:

1. Persona comeback trailer 2. Boy With Luv MV 3. Map of the Soul: PERSONA (mini album cover) ↳ Mouse hover effect: 412k likes - April 12th, 2019 3.07m comments - “According to iriver Inc, the distributor for the Map of the Soul: Persona, stock preorders for the EP surpassed 2.68 million copies over the first five days of the preorder period. The number was later updated to 3.07 million on April 11, the day before the EP's release.”

Second row:

4. Make It Right MV 5. Interlude: Shadow comeback trailer 6. Outro: Ego comeback trailer Third row:

7. ON Kinetic Manifesto Film 8. ON MV 9. Black Swan MV

BE era

Icon: BE (mini album cover) Posts: 8 unique tracks across era + 7 members = 15 (to max out the grid) Followers: 2.2m - “Be debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart with over 2.2 million copies sold in its first week.” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: BE concept photos

First row:

1. Dynamite (digital single cover) / Swipe effect: Dynamite MV 2. BE Jacket Shoot Sketch 3. BE Comeback Countdown

Second row:

4. Life Goes On MV 5. Grammy Nomination Night Bangtan Bomb 6. MTV Unplugged Presents BTS ad / Swipe effect: Telepathy MTV Unplugged performance Third row:

7. Blue & Grey MTV Unplugged performance 8. BE-hind ‘Full’ Story 9. Dynamite Grammy performance

Butter era

Icon: Butter (digital single cover) Posts: 2 unique tracks across era (excluding remixes/instrumentals) + 7 members = 9 (to max out the grid) Followers: 2.5m - “The single album version of the song, sold nearly 2.5 million physical copies in South Korea in July” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: Butter single album concept photos

First row:

1. Butter MV 2. Butter (Hotter Remix) MV 3. Butter (Cooler Remix) MV

Second row:

4. Permission to Dance (digital single cover) ↳ Mouse hover effect: 709k likes - July 9th, 2021 140k comments - “Permission to Dance" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, on the issue dated July 24, 2021, earning 15.9 million streams, 1.1 million radio airplay impressions, and selling 140,000 copies in its first week of release.” 5. Permission to Dance MV 6. Butter single album Jacket Shoot Sketch Third row:

7. Butter feat. Megan Thee Stallion (digital single cover) / Swipe effect: Special Performance Video 8. Permission to Dance: On Stage poster / Swipe effect: Permission to Dance: On Stage opening VCR 9. Butter Grammy performance

Proof era

Icon: Proof (anthology album cover) Posts: 48 unique tracks across era Followers: 2.7m - “On its release day alone, Proof sold over two million copies worldwide. By the end of its first week, it sold a total of 2,752,496 copies.” Following: 7 members

Story Highlights: Proof concept photos

First row:

1. Swipe effect: Proof concept photos 2. Yet To Come MV 3. Proof LIVE

Second row:

4. 2022 BTS Festa Dinner 5. Proof Music Show Promotions Sketch 6. For Youth Inkigayo performance Third row:

7. BTS @ The Fact Music Awards Episode 8. Run BTS @ BTS ‘Yet to Come’ in BUSAN performance 9. Run BTS Dance Practice

Credits/Disclaimers:

BTS Chronicle - You may have noticed I took some creative liberties regarding what is listed as the “Dynamite Trilogy” on this website. Though I acknowledge that the three English singles served a purpose across the pandemic in 2020-2021—for the sake of this set and per my own understanding of these releases—I personally chose not to lump them all together as its own era/trilogy considering Dynamite was, in fact, an introduction to the BE era (and included on said album) while Butter and Permission to Dance were sold together on its own separate physical mini album the following year. I hope you’ll understand my thought process behind this and my decision to include Dynamite with the BE era, in addition to considering Butter/PTD its own era in and of itself.

BTS Discography - for all album imagery

BTS Wikipedia - for album sale statistics

Hybe Labels - for music videos

BANGTANTV - for Episodes, Bangtan Bombs, and live performances

namuspromised - for Permission to Dance: On Stage opening VCR

Instagram Template

From School era—MOTS era, I hope the way I’ve curated each panel makes sense in that the profile photo and story highlights of each “account” correlates to the final studio/compilation album within its era. Instead of having its own “post”, the top of the page represents the last release and overall profile. Eras with more than one mini/studio album are mentioned as a bullet point list in the “description”, while eras with one studio album have a lyric from one of its title tracks. Although real Instagram posts are shown in reverse order from newest to oldest as you scroll down, each release here is shown in chronological order from top to bottom to make it easier to understand and with the intention of the eye circling back up to the profile photo for the final release.

From BE—Proof, with fewer music videos and mini albums to include, some improvisation was necessary to encapsulate those eras during the pandemic. For example, BE and Butter each have less than nine songs, so their “post count” being 8 and 2 respectively wouldn’t have made sense with a visibly nine post grid. So I simply added seven to those numbers to max it out. The “posts” themselves consist of the corresponding music videos of each album, big career moments, behind the scenes footage, promotional TV appearances, or concerts.

Furthermore, I made the extremely difficult decision to exclude BTS’ Japanese releases from this set due to lack of room and not wanting to gloss over their incredible Japanese music by trying to shove them all into one panel or awkwardly squeeze them into their respective eras. I thought about making individual panels for their Japanese compilation albums, but I wanted the concept of this set to stick to era-per-panel as opposed to specific albums. I mean no disrespect to that body of work as some of my favorite songs by BTS are from their Japanese discography. For this reason, please look forward to a separate set entirely dedicated to BTS’ Japanese work in the future!

Comments:

Thank you if you’ve read this far! This project gave me an even better understanding of BTS’ work during Chapter 1 of their career and I hope this Instagram inspired layout helps put it into perspective for anyone else who might be new to their music. However you categorize their eras is completely up to your own interpretation and this set is simply a reflection of how I see it in my head, not a definitive way of looking at it. You are not obligated to agree with the way I arranged this set, that’s okay! Any mistakes are entirely my own. I have plans to continue this series as Chapter 2 proceeds to roll out with the members’ respective collabs and solo albums, so stay tuned!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. <3

Please do not steal or repost my work. I did not watermark this set because I felt it would be distracting.

Lastly, and at the risk of sounding desperate, please support your fandom content creators! Projects like this are quite taxing, so if you’d like to help motivate gifmakers to keep creating, please utilize the reblog button. If you feel so inclined, you can also buy me a coffee. Your support is appreciated!

#ask

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miannedomusings · 6 years

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SINGULARITY: Bittersweet and Sexy

SINGULARITY EXPLORED: Masterpost | First Impressions | Lyrics 1 | Lyrics 2 | Bittersweet and Sexy

A/N:This is the longest of my Singularity posts but also probably the most interesting one.

I could ramble on and on about what I like about this song musically. Given that I don’t really “understand” music, it wouldn’t make sense to you, and it wouldn’t make sense to me, but by-golly would I ever run out breath trying to find the right words to describe the things that I like about this song. Now that being said, I do think this song is best when listened to with the video and the lyrics. It's a good song - I like its musical flavour - but I do think that the lyrics and video elevate it to something better than it is on its own.

So, foregoing the convoluted attempt I could make at describing this song as if I understand anything about music or music production on a technical level, I’m going to talk about this song and how its three parts (music, lyrics, and video) complement and contrast each other. Now, full disclosure, I’m going to be talking about this song in isolation and this isn’t going to be some heavily researched analysis where I reveal all the potential literary and cinematic allusions that are probably hidden in the lyrics and visuals. I’m talking about this song all on its lonesome! Just whatever this song made me think of up front... and there's a lot. In fact, that's one of the things that makes this such a strong video to me. I think that a full and interesting interpretation can be made for this song and video without having heard or seen anything else by this group or any of the stuff it maybe references.

One of the things that I really like about listening to music in a language that I don’t speak, is that I get to choose if and when I want to engage with the lyrics. For me, I care way more about the music than the lyrics. So not surprisingly, my first encounter (and the second and possibly the third) involved no lyrics at all. And I’m so glad I did that. I think that all three elements of this work together very well, but I also thing that what makes them such an interesting final product is that I wouldn’t necessarily predict this video based off of the music, and I definitely wouldn’t predict these lyrics, and yet they fit together very nicely. I think most people who have listened or watched this video would agree that this song pairs well with a bottle of wine and some mood lighting – by that of course I mean that it’s a fucking sexy song. Part of that comes from the pacing (this song takes its time), the low reverberating base, and V’s velvety voice. All of which create a very purposeful and intense momentum that carry you through the song until you jarringly reach the end and you’re forced to wake up out of the trance it lulled you into. And then of course there’s the jazz and R&B elements of the music, and a whole-lot-a smolder...

This song makes quite the impression. And if you watch almost any reaction video online you’ll see that just about everyone winds up in the same place:

(BRISxLIFE)

(RobertIDK)

But, given this first impression, the lyrics are really something surprising. The day after this song came out I read the lyrics separate from the music and video, and I was struck by how different they were on their own. It’s easy to interpret the music and video as being dark, the word “haunting” gets thrown around a lot for this trailer and I agree with that evaluation. But what first came off as dark and sultry, when the lyrics get added in, feels dark and destructive. Some noteworthy lines include “Have I lost myself/ Or have I gained you” and, “I dumped myself into the lake / I buried my voice for you… A thick ice has formed…There’s my face in it/ Please don’t say anything” – that’s some dark shit! ...Honestly the urge was there just to quote the whole thing…

Clearly this is a song about changing yourself for someone else. Given the choreography and how this song oozes sex (pardon the visual), I’m going to talk about this as if it’s specifically change for a romantic someone. It tells a story of someone who has buried parts of themselves in order to complement the other person better, but spring is coming, the ice is cracking, and their truth won’t be able to remain buried once the ice thaws. Having the lyrics in the back of my mind and watching the video again I remember being so confused by some of V’s acting. I couldn’t help but think – why is he smiling so much? Is he flirting with the camera right now? Lyrically, there is nothing to smile about. At best, one could say that when he says “Have I gained you” he’s expressing the positives of love, but even that – it’s a question, and the alternative is a bleak loss of self.

And yet, in the video they pair a line like “My agonizing phantom pain is still the same” with a cheeky smirk and raised eye-brows.

And this brings us to where I think the different elements of the song really come together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. Because of course, if the masks he put on in order to be with this person are awful in every way, he wouldn't have done it. The lyrics, the seductive music, and the opening dance sequence of the video, tie all of the pain and torment with longing, needing, and wanting. That smirk when talking about phantom pain says there’s something delicious about it.

In the opening shot, you see V dancing with a coat wrack. At first there’s the obvious metaphor for his relationship with this lover being a fantasy; it’s not real, it’s hollow, there’s no substance to their love, etc. This is also mirrored in the sparse sets. Overall the video has a very minimalist feel to it, with lots of cold concrete and harsh neon lights. It's possible this is meant to show the emptiness of the dream he's living in, or how he's reduced himself for this lover...

This is especially interesting given that the busiest shots in the video, appear to be occurring in "spring" after the ice has melted and his buried self has returned. And maybe this was just an aesthetic choice, but given that spring means the death of his fantasy and this relationship, it's a nice touch that in the spring shots V's wearing all black as if in mourning.

I really love all the ways this video plays with the theme of falsehoods and fantasies. It's all over the place – the fake dance partner, the masks that surround V, the backwards roles of winter and spring, I think even the other dancers may be there to represent the different versions of himself. I mean, BTS has had their other comeback trailers feature only a single member, so why in a song called Singularity did they choose to call in the troops? There's a lot of ways to think about the title of this song. We've got the imagery that he is one with his lover (sharing an arm in the opening dance), but also that his relationship is just a fantasy and in reality it's only him. There's the idea of removing parts of yourself, but ultimately becoming your whole self again in the end. And also the inevitability that with the return of his "voice" he will certainly lose his lover and be alone. ...But back to that opening dance. So you see V being caressed by some disembodied arm, and then (maybe it takes more than one go through the video) you see that the arm that's caressing him is actually his own. This visual fits so with the idea that there is something fake about the love they have. And it's more than just a neat choreography gimmick, the idea hat it’s his own arm filling his partner’s sleeve also plays into the idea of phantom pain and losing himself to gain someone else. A piece of him has literally been replaced by them: he has lost his arm and gained theirs. But it's just an illusion (literally so for the viewer). The dissonance between his dream and his cruel reality is expressed really well in the video. When you watch the opening sequence there's clearly a lot of conflict – he accepts the touch of his lover but then pushes it away. The desire and want in his face and body language is exceptionally clear, but he keeps rejecting the loving arm.

He knows it’s not real, and he knows that it’s something artificial that he created and can’t possibly maintain. But the idea of it is so sweet. The pain he’s created by removing pieces of himself to fit better with someone else are agonizing, yes, but also exactly what he wants. The contradictory nature of his feelings are all over this song. It's in the starting and stopping of the music, in the sections of fast-paced dance over a slow beat, the confusion that can be read in the lyrics, and throughout the visuals. As sweet as his fantasy is he can't remain in the dream any longer now that the ice is cracking... Independently, the music of this song sounds dark and seductive. The video carries on the sultry vibes, but adds a little more longing to the mix with the cold sets and the absence of a partner with any substance. The video certainly suggests that there is fantasy here, but maybe this song is more of an invitation for a partner to join him - I mean just look at the way he flirts with the camera! The lyrics on the other hand tell a dark story, where dark no longer means 'tall, dark, and handsome', but instead makes you want to turn on the lights and check over your shoulder. They're full of fear and desperation. It is only when the three components of the trailer come together that you get the full story. The lyrics ground the visuals and the music; they bring your attention to the cold concrete and the deep baseline. The visuals and the music dress up the pain in fantasy and desire.The way that this trailer ties everything together is what makes it my favourite BTS music video so far. There are plenty of videos that are visually stunning and that carry on interesting plot lines (here's looking at you Blood, Sweat, and Tears), but Singularity presents a cohesive and interesting final product that sticks with me much more. It's minimal, but striking, and all the little subtleties tell you there's more going on here than you first think.

Since writing this, I’ve noticed some really cool ways the music ties into this narrative thanks to some of the things a music producer (Joey Nato) had to say about it. So I’m just going to tack those thoughts on here. Now because I’m referencing musicy things that I don’t know how to describe, I’ll link to moments in the m/v as I go.

The first thought is a simple one, it’s the sound used to make that lovely little plucked melody that interrupts the sparse chord and beat sequence. From what I’m told it’s a distorted harp sound, and as Joey describes it, they way they’ve distorted it transforms it from something elegant to something edgy. This fits in beautifully with the twisted fantasy the song is describing. Love should be lovely, but there’s something about this love that has an edge, that points to the reality beneath the mask.

A more interesting element in the music are those fat chords that take up a lot of space in the track - the ones that sit at the bottom of the scene and spread outwards like fog rolling over a landscape. They make the song feel cozy. They envelop the space you’re in, and feel comfortable. But when they are then played with the wah-wah effect on them it feels like they’re coming in and out of focus (by wah-wah, I mean the way the sound wobbles). The fog that reminded me more of clouds and plushness now feels more like haze. This is an awesome way to express the comfort of the illusion that the protagonist experiences behind their mask, but also that it’s conflicting and it isn’t clear what’s real anymore. Something’s a little off.

Another element used is the unpredictability of the music. While drifting along in our comfortable haze, the song introduces shocks. This is done with the sharp sound of the rim shots on the snare drum and the moments where the music is abruptly halted with the sharp jab of a chord that is followed by absolute silence. The jolt created by the chords is even more jarring thanks to how unpredictable the song is - you expect a nice soft wavy chord to cushion you on the next beat and instead you get a chord that strikes and then leaves you float alone in the void.

This is, I think, a big contributor to the unease that this song brings out. Overall, I think it’s easy to ignore the edge the song has, take it as a moody, but ultimately smooth and sensual song. But there is an edge. It’s in the distorted harps and the shocks of silence. It feels like they’ve captured those moments of doubt, when reality catches up with you, and you’re suddenly forced to question your choices. But then as soon as it comes, the moment passes and you are lulled by new chords again, like the voice in your head that smooths over the cracks and reassures you.

Even the bass that comes in to follow the silence in the pre-chorus reminds me of the hasty reassurances we give ourselves, shaking our heads in the hopes that the nagging doubts will fall out, and listing all the reasons the lie is actually the right thing to do. What a cool way to express how we lie to ourselves! And the way that the song ends abruptly and doesn’t give us that final comforting reintroduction of music. Nice.

In my initial analysis of this song I certainly picked up on the dark moodiness of it, but it wasn’t until I considered the lyrics that the music took on a properly ominous edge. It’s really interesting now noticing these story telling details in the music too.

SINGULARITY EXPLORED: Masterpost | First Impressions | Lyrics 1 | Lyrics 2 | Bittersweet and Sexy

MUSINGS MASTERLIST