SHINee - Lucifer

Having a look at foreign music videos, I decided to analyse a very successful Korean pop band's music video, Lucifer.
Released in 2010

The video is extremely performance based, as the group is usually singing and dancing as though they are on stage. It is popular for Korean pop band to be performance based like this, as they are typically trained for years to perform before they can be released as a group.

The song is about how they feel trapped by a girl's love, as they can't escape and feel like they are no longer themselves.

The beat is very heavy and r&b/pop like, with a specially choreographed dance to go with it. SHINee (pronounced 'shiny') is specially known for their dances for pretty much every one of their songs.



As it is a Korean song, I decided to first look at the lyrics translated into English to see if it follows Goodwin's theory of how the lyrics link with the visuals, however there are only a few signs of the video doing so; there are CGI glows floating about around the group suggesting 'Your undeniable magic is the Lucifer'. Also, they sing about how they feel trapped, which fits in with the members who are all individually are either confined in a closed up place, in a maze, or trying to drive away.


In this music video, the editing is perfect (personal opinion and fact).

In the very beginning of the video, there is fast cuts used at every quick beat, showing the audience very briefly close ups of the members of SHINee. This fast cutting at the beginning tells the audience that the video and song is very up beat, quick and dramatic. The close ups used support Goodwin's theory of how the record label requests loads of close-ups of the artists. The record label does this to please the fans of the group and promote the individual people of the group.

The members would also usually pose, which is a very stereotypical boy group thing; they make themselves seem vein and stylish for their female fans - perfect boy.

Tracking following arms

Straight cuts are used to view the dancing at different angles, following the smooth flow of dance moves and the beat. This also supports Goodwin's theory of how visuals link with the music. The editing here is also complemented by the camera work, as there is a huge range of angles filmed and also tracking helps make it quite smooth.

Near the middle of the video, there are cuts used between two or three scenes of the boy group dancing the same dance but in different clothing and at a different setting. I found this editing technique very effective as it was extremely smooth, as though there was no obvious cut - the dance wasn't out of place, and fitted well together in each cut. I also thought that the editing at most of the beats suited the sharp dance moves, which also went with the beat.

The costume used in this video is rather glamrock/ punk like: leather jackets, silver leggings, fur coats and big boots. By dressing like this they are able to fit with the dark, rough settings and complement their dance moves. Also their clothing isn't identical, which suggests that they may have a personal style (or character style).

Camera Roll

A slow mo effect is used in the video when the members jump in the air: on the part where they sing 'loverholic, robotronic'. It has a similar effect to the matrix: cameras are all placed in a circle and take a picture at the same time. I think it'll be extremely difficult for someone with such a small budget like myself to try to use this technique.

Camera roll movement is used in individual scenes of the members. By doing this they managed to achieve a smooth, hypnotised effect that followed the CGI glows. This could represent how the members feel trapped and lost by the girl (who is represented by the glow).

Jump cuts used at this part

There is a couple of jump cuts used on the group when they are dancing, just by repeating mili-seconds of the same part. This helped create a glitch-like effect, that was also part of the song. This suggests that this group has a modern style, as the dance is manipulated by technology. They however do incorporate it into their dance routine when they perform.

There is 'swoosh' sound effects added in the video at one part of the dance routine, suggesting the speed of their dancing. This kinda makes the group seem rather powerful in their dancing and suggests to the audience that they are so good that they are even able to simultaneously cut through the air at the same time. This supports the fact that the video and even the group themselves are performance based - I've looked at their other videos and all of them has their own dance routine.

I also found that some parts of the dance were more focused on than other parts. For instance, when the members are all in a line and moving their arms to the beat, there is a camera tilt/track to view them straight on but at different angles. This is to help the audience gain the full effect and appreciation of this complicated dance move.

If I was to have a group of dancers in my music video, they would probably have to train for hours every day to be this simultaneous and perfect. That's why it would probably be easier to have single dancers if I include dance. However, I am really inspired by the editing in this video, and would love to try and get it as perfect as this (however, would take a lot of time).

In contrast to English speaking music video's, this one is more up beat and heavily developed in most aspects of the video. Compared to and English speaking boy group such as One Direction, this video and group shows more skill, which helps impress its audience.

(However, to be fair, this one One Direction video was created by the boys themselves for charity so it wouldn't be as polished as their other videos, but their skill in performance (dancing) doesn't get much better).