Musings On MUSE

Musings on MUSE

Long post below the cut. Overall, I do like the album but this release has definitely been a journey for me, that's for sure.

First, let's check in on the rest of my theories:

Open Locker Meaning: Nope, I don't think there was any meaning to this. It was fun to theorize though!

Sound Effects Interlude: Nope! I'm still kinda bummed about this. I talk more about it in the Showtime section below.

Rooms Going from Dark to Light: Yes, I still think this was intentionally done for the purpose of helping us realize that MUSE was such a departure from FACE

SGMB as an Actual Band: Yes, confirmed. I talk more about this in my Final Thoughts below.

The Emoji Poll from the Insta Chat: Honestly, I now think the company did intend each of these to reference the different songs...which is disappointing to me as a marketing tactic for the reasons I stated in the theory. Oh well.

So, some right, some wrong. It was definitely fun to participate in the theorizing this time. And as Jimin said, he wanted us to come up with all sorts of ideas for the meanings.

Ok, now let's go through some thoughts on each of the tracks:

Rebirth (Intro)

I remember being actually surprised by how much I was liking Rebirth on the first listen...and then it ended. I had to remind myself that it was intro and likely would be not as complete as a full song but even now...I just really can't get over it. This would have been an absolutely lovely song if fully developed. I'm not saying the way it ends is bad, but a big problem I have with it is that it's an intro that doesn't deliver.

The next track is Showtime...an interlude. But an interlude from what? All we've had is an intro. A beautiful intro, don't get me wrong but both of these tracks are used to set up what comes next. And Rebirth just doesn't have anything next. It's just such a shame there wasn't a song in between. I've put other songs (usually Slow Dance) in between these when I listen and it absolutely makes everything better.

Interlude : Showtime

The first time I heard this on the album, I had some choice words for our beloved trickster. Little did we know that we'd already heard a good chunk of this as the intro on SGMB's video (see it IS an intro...anyway, I'll stop bringing it up). Once I got over that, I still couldn't help being a little disappointed that we weren't in fact getting an Interlude like Dive on FACE. Dive was such a great storytelling point and I loved that Jimin recorded many of the sounds himself.

Initially, I didn't think I'd be listening to it much except when doing full album runthroughs but do y'all hear Jimin's absolutely lovely humming in this track?! Oh it absolutely hits my brain in just the right places. This may be one of my absolutely favorite things we got from the MUSE project...definitely top 3 at least.

Smeraldo Garden Marching Band

I don't have much to say that wasn't in my SGMB post. The little tidbits we've gotten of Jimin interacting with Loco were beyond adorable.

Slow Dance

I am so conflicted about Slow Dance. I absolutely love the overall tone of the song, the pacing, Jimin's performance. I think it's a great song with one exception...I really don't care for the featuring artist. I don't know anything about her beyond this track but hearing her on this is easily my least favorite thing from the whole MUSE project. I knew to be wary going into it as women's voices generally don't appeal to me but I wasn't expecting to dislike it this much. It's that much worse on a song that I think would have been my favourite without her. Oh well. She's very talented, absolutely performs her parts well. It's just not to my personal taste.

The live performance video has some of the absolutely worst camera work and cuts as well. I realize they were trying to show off the skyline as the backdrop and intentionally used the band as cut points so they could edit better takes together but it just doesn't come off well. And they have such awkward chemistry live, which I fully blame on the weird obsession people seem to have with seeing members interact with women. Jimin is very specifically measuring his interactions with her to prevent as much drama as possible.

Be Mine

Be Mine is actually pretty forgettable to me. It's not bad but not great. I was expecting to do another english lyric comparison post like I did for Like Crazy but I just can't yet find the motivation to. Maybe that will change in the future but for now, probably not.

Who

There is so much to talk about with Who. I was originally going to make a separate post for it but I'll just include everything here:

The Song: It's a fine pop song. I do actually enjoy listening to it but that's all. There's no depth to dive deeper. Again, it's fine. I don't think pop songs are inherently less because they lack depth. This song accomplished exactly what it needed to. As far as actually listening, I do prefer it over Like Crazy but LC has other things going for it.

The Music Video: I hate it. It's so very amateur and I expect more from this production. The bad CGI. The overt vhs effect with no actual storytelling purpose. If you took all of those out, it'd be a fine performance video. But no, it's the 'official music video', they have to try to make it bigger than that...emphasis on try... Also, I adore our members but I'm so over these mumbling-lip-syncs. I don't know how else to describe it but it's just bad. If you're doing the music video 'sing along', do it right. If not, don't do it at all. This non-commitment just comes across as incomplete.

The Perfomances/Choreo: I think this choreo is absolutely perfect. It accomplishes everything this song needs. They were able to take advantage of the fact that it's not getting performed in front of an audience and the staging is so perfect for camera. The camera director of the dance practice absolutely killed it. The lighting of the Jimmy Fallon performance was stunning as well. I was reminded of how much I loved the lighting in many of the Golden performances. My favorite part of the Who choreo is the little jumping-leg-cross move.

The Remixes: I think I'm in the minority here but I hate all of them. Yes, there is a legitimate industry tactic to releasing these and I don't begrudge them for running a business but I'm so over remixes that are just a reinstrumentization of the original song. I do think these are well produced and some do highlight different aspects of the song that make for great moments...but it honestly comes across to me as not being able to make up their mind about who the target audience is. If they're looking to get rock-lovers, release an actual rock song...not a pop song that's put on a rock costume. I was hopeful for the acoustic remix at least but there is something off about it. I haven't been able to figure out what bothers me about it but it absolutely doesn't speak to the acoustic-loving part of my brain.

Closer Than This

I spent a LOT of time evaluating CTT as potential context for FACE in this post but we've now learned this was written AFTER the FACE promotions so I'm very happy to see I wasn't completely off the mark with saying that it didn't fit into FACE at all.

I still absolutely love this song. Some of that may be the pure nostalgia of when it was released. It was christmas time, we'd just sent the last of the members for their military service, and this song was exactly the kind of comfort I needed at that time of the year.

Final Thoughts

So, like I mentioned in my Theories and SGMB reaction posts, I do see MUSE as Jimin intentionally showing us what he's capable of. Jimin is the ultimate performer. He absolutely loves being an idol. This career allows him to dive into whatever he needs to embody the music and performance. I stand by what I said previously about MUSE being more of a work project than a personal one like FACE was. MUSE was about breadth while FACE focused on depth. Both good but different. (I have a side post I may eventually release about my thoughts on this as a music fan brought up in the west that's now enjoying kpop but that'll have to be another day).

MUSE was a lovely project and a great tool for Jimin to expand his music catalogue whilst knowing that he wouldn't be able to properly promote whatever was released during this time.

One final point: the pronoun debate is beyond asinine. If people find more meaning in certain pronouns than others, let them be. Arguing over original lyrics vs hiding behind public expectations is childish. This is music that was created with a professional purpose, not someone's diary of their deepest thoughts that we stole from a bedside table. Pronouncing the creator's intention like this reminds me of those bad english teachers that were fishing for specific answers on authorial intent and masquerading the lesson as reading comprehension. Those are a scavenger hunt with one hidden 'answer' and not real life.

This is so pretty!

MUSE by JIMIN (2024) insp / cr namuspromised

ARE YOU SURE?!

Production Notes from eps 1 & 2

At this time, I'm not planning to do full response posts for these episodes. Maybe once I'm done with my Run BTS series but for now here's some production thoughts.

My initial thoughts are they've done an excellent job of merging the concepts for Bon Voyage and In The Soop while also adjusting for a reduction of members from seven to two.

To really understand this though, let's talk about some of the logistical requirements and goals of the previous shows for comparison.

Logistical Assumptions

So I think y'all do realize that there is SOME amount of planning that has to happen for a show like this to be made but honestly...the way some of you talk, it's like you think this footage just magically appears in front of an editor, capturing whatever the members happened to wander into. These aren't self-recorded vlogs. This is a full production with a crew, a budget, and a deliverable requirement; just like any other TV show.

One of the cutest moments for me was at the brewery when JM was teasing JK about a summary of what the show about. I KNOW this was the 5 second explanation that both of them would have had to say/hear dozens of times while pitching the show. That's what's so endearing about the way JM says it and JKs reaction.

They also know that statements like that, captured during filming often end up in promos. All the members are very aware as they're being filmed what footage ends up being used. We've heard them time and time again, 'please use this as the thumbnail', 'please keep this in', etc.

Jimin has always been the most vocal about questioning if the content works for their intended purpose. How many times have we heard him say 'can this even be used?' or 'this will be cut'. Usually it sounds to me like he's aware the footage they're getting in the moment doesn't align with the predetermined plan. But as is common with the footage we getnof the members, even though it wasn't according to plan, doesn't mean it's not releaseable.

The main point of JMs AYS concerns being his sickness. I'm sure he thought the show was in jeopardy of not fulfilling their deliverable requirements since it would be difficult to completely edit out. There is a legitimate concern that if they aren't able provide the agreed-upon footage, the show would never air. I'll talk more about this in my section on the edit.

For now, here's a list of SOME of the basics that have to be managed for y'all to keep in mind when consuming any kind of produced content.

Camera management: How many and what kinds of cameras need to be brought along? Are there special operators required like a drone operator. How often is the footage saved. How is it backed up? When and where are batteries charged? Who locations require early access so the crew can place stationary cameras prior to the member's arrival.

Sound management: Someone is making sure the microphones are charged, and capturing correctly. Being mic'd up is one of the easiest indicators of when the show is actively being filmed or not.

Security: this is BTS. The members didn't go anywhere without a security consultation and discussion of requirements.

Crew management: These are people that have to have places to eat, sleep, and have time off as well. They don't just vanish into thin air as soon as their job is done.

Location approval and tax requirements: Every country in the world has different regulations, incentives, and permits to be managed. The US varies these laws state-by-state.

Budget: Businesses don't stay in business by not managing the finances. We can talk more about this if anyone's interested but there are definitely some interesting points with how much on-screen time we got over the years regarding members' spending on the shows.

There's more but let's leave it at the for the moment and talk more about why I think this show was such a good blend of Bon Voyage and In The Soop from a production standpoint.

What was the initial goal of Bon Voyage?

I believe it was to promote the band and the members to viewers by giving us access to what it would be like to travel to various destinations around the globe. They knew the episodes still needed a catalyst though so there were various preplanned activities and games to motivate the editorial narrative.

BV1 was very experimental as they were obviously managing the challenges of such a production. There was a heavy emphasis on trying to make the members seem like regular ppl and seeing how they would tackle the problems many of us face with travel, chiefly budgetary and managing how to feed all of the travelers with strict spending limits.

BV2 completely game-ified the concept with the mini challenges and breaking everyone into different groups. It's very clear that this is not the strategy they preferred as BV3 was much lighter on the control. There were still some structured activities and events but the members were experienced enough to bring forth some of these moments themselves during the shoot rather than as a completely planned itinerary.

BV4 was a continuation of this with us also getting footage of the members being included in the event planning as well. I'm not saying they didn't have input in the planning of the previous seasons but by this point, production knew the members understood the requirements of a successful show as well as many of the necessary logistics. But it was still a travel show with some key events to fuel the storytelling.

How about In The Soop?

Enter pandemic. They obviously still wanted to do another show once they worked out what was permissible to film at the time. But now the changing of locations would not be a part of the engine. How were they going to ensure they still had a viable show? They did put in place a semblance of their previous formula with that silly daily schedule (that was ignored nearly to the point of being completely edited out) and a couple of events like the 94s mountain hike and vhope's car drive. But overall, they realized they had to rely purely on the members to find story moments and insure they were captured. Their trust was rewarded though and ITS1 was a hit.

Now ITS2 is a more interesting case. I do believe it may have started with the same intent as season 1, but it must not have been long in the pre-planning stage before a new goal was added: controlled access of a BTS tourism destination. I'm sure I'll go further into this topic whenever I do finally make posts on this series, but it's very plain to even the casual fan that the ITS2 location was a planned financial investment.

Enough about the location though, what were the filming objectives? Honestly? Not much. The members were clearly ready for a break and were mired in the uncertainties of the time period. Balancing the focus of the english-solo-songs era with the preparations for ch.2 solo activities resulted in an odd lack of direction for the members, which is evident in the show. Yes, there are great moments and segments but there's no progression and very little footage of all the members all together except during certain meals.

But ITS2 is still hailed as enough of a success that there was justification to add to the franchise with Tae's friendship installment.

But what does all this mean for Are You Sure?

We'd heard from many of the members during ch.2 that they would like to continue Bon Voyage so it honestly wasn't surprising that we'd eventually get another travel show featuring our beloved BTS members. Early in episode 1 of AYS, Jungkook says he's never traveled so loosely before. However this show was justified, it definitely wasn't planned to be another hyper-detailed barrage of JM & JK going from activity-to-activity like early BV but it also couldn't be as aimless as ITS. For as long as the conversation was surrounding the name of the show, we never hear them suggest Bon Voyage 5 because AYS was never intended to be another installment of that series.

This is why I said AYS is a perfect mesh of the two kinds of shows. Granted, the first episodes definitely had some unexpected obstacles due to the unexpected health concerns but I think the production team managed it well. Although, I'm convinced there's at least one activity they did have planned that had to get scrapped to let our poor guys rest and recuperate. I also wouldn't be surprised if by the time they started filming in the US, they hadn't locked another destination and schedule with how unsure JM & JK are when talking about the scope of the show. (And I hope we get some update on the poor motorcycle, I want to know how it got where it needed to be from the rainy grocery parking lot).

The Edit

The overall tone of the show is very lighthearted. Kind of surprisingly so for me. It's not the vibe I would have necessarily expected but it's one of the points that leads me to say they have merged BV and ITS so wonderfully.

A major aspect of BTS's content is usually the chaos and shenanigans the surround the members. Now much of that is emphasized in the context of one of these shows but I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the edit had tried to make up for the lowered member count. Instead, it's a very laid-back edit. The quality and tone of the on-screen captions was world's different from some of the BV seasons (thank goodness!)

Now, about Jimin's illness. There's a reason why the coverage is cut the way it was to only bring us in on the story once both JM and JK started talking about it lightheartedly. If we'd had all of that footage chronologically, we also would have had building tension throughout the day's activities. But this way, we're able to enjoy the show per the original pitch as much as possible.

This show would have been planned during the time when the members were under heavy scrutiny for how successful they'd be as individuals and how their content will be received without the full seven members. Again, the way some of y'all talk about these shows, it's like you don't realize that the members are aware of how this content is structured. They are. They absolutely are.

Also, a big part of greenlighting AYS would have been a discussion of how it could be made with just 2 of the 7 members. JM and JK would have to take on a lot more of the burden since there wouldn't be other member to cut to. The solo vlogs we got at the beginning of ch.2 absolutely would have been used as a proof of concept. There are easy comparisons to make between JKs camping vlog and the camping scenes we got in these first AYS episodes.

Another key justification of the show could have been as promotional material for the current musical releases. While they did highlight quite a bit of both JK and JM's work in these episodes, the narrative definitely wasn't tilted in the direction of promotion. I love that because it's absolutely not what I would have expected.

What am I looking forward to for the remainder of AYS?

From a production standpoint, I'm already curious about the following:

Will there be any tonal shift? Specifically now that JM and JK have some uncertainties about the viability of their US adventure. Will it seem like they're compensating?

We know Tae is going to be in at least the next episode. How is this going to handled narratively and will there be any visible contradictions from that narrative in the production?

At what point was the final quantity of locations and shoots locked down? And when/if will JM and JK make mention of this.

If/How will the music promotion narrative shift? It's clear that this episode could not have been released until after MUSE's release once they decided to keep the footage of JK listening to Who. But when was that decision made?

What are your thoughts on the production of AYS so far?

Editing to add a link to my post on episode 3. Surprisingly I had a lot more to say!

Are You Sure?! Production notes from ep 3.

And there has been even more to say so here's a MasterList link

Are You Sure?! MasterList

Run BTS: 069 | BTS in Toronto part 1

Original Air Date: 30 APR 2019 Episode Length: 32:01 Total Parts: 3 YouTube English Subtitles: No Title Song: Idol

Synopsis: The guys are in Toronto! we'll follow them to visit Niagara Falls and to their lodging for the night. they're going to be given suprise missions by the crew randomly throughout the day for points, lowest points at the end of the day earns a punishment. This part covers visiting Niagara Falls, lunch, and grocery shopping.

Production: This is such a great series of eps. The main production burden is actually on the edit once they have their pile of minigames to rely on. other than that, it's keeping an eye out for opportunities to game-ify what the guys are doing. Since BTS are professional travel entertainers, they know how to work with this kind of set up and it's more a partnership between them and the crew.

Endearment: Like I said above, the guys are pros at this. There was a time where I thought these episodes were their test to see if the guys could put out a successful travel show but this was aired 3 years AFTER Bon Voyage season 1. It's no surpise that they're so good at it but it's still so enjoyable to watch. Some of the minigames are poorly handled or misfairly administered and I dont even care.

Winner/Loser: see final part

Best Cheater: V, absolutely cheating on those cham cham cham games

Member Moments:

RM: RM yelling in Jimin's ear and immediately apologizing

JN: Jin's reaction to the bug in his face and no one else believing him at all

YG: Yoongi putting his hand out for a coin also completely makes the iconic broke millionaire meme

JH: Hobi zipping Jimin into his jacket with him

JM: Jimin being a complete memory squirrel

V: V's iconic Niagara bit

JK: JK's adorable pout at failing his remote-con mission.

Bonus Content: Fun fact, ep.070 was the first Run BTS episode i ever saw. 70 & 71 made such an impression on me as a teeny baby army. When I found out there was an episode before it?? I was in absolute heaven. All three of these episodes are so very near and dear to my heart. I realize I'm completely biased but I absolutely love these. I remember it was some random youtube upload that had the front and the end weirdly edited to not get blocked and for a while I thought all of Run would be following them around their tour stops. Anyway, the actual bonus clips here are great and so iconic as well

CQ Rank: 5

(CQ Eval Date: 05 JUN 2024)

Check out this post for my Masterlist of all episodes and descriptions of how I'm evaluating these.

Previous Episode: 068

Next Episode: 070

I genuinely think the answer they're going for with this statement is 'All of the above'. None of these statements are exclusionary to the others. And it'd honestly be a bad marketing scheme to have one actually be the correct answer as it sets expectations that you have no intention of meeting. So I guess I don't really see the point of this kind of post other than a not-Interesting engagement tactic...imo

MUSE THEORIES

I want to hear every theory every one if you comes up with regarding MUSE. They've explicitly shown they want us to read deeper into it so I want to see EVERYTHING y'all come up with. No matter how delulu, abstract, or just plain wishful, I wanna hear it.

I'll go first:

Is there any meaning to which locker Jimin opens? It's in the 2nd bank, 1st column, 1st row:

Checking the 2:11 time stamp of Closer Than This: Serendipity??

When I think of Serendipity, I think of the choreography. Perhaps we have another Brian Puspos work coming up?? We KNOW the company got a hold of him last year.

Regarding Smeraldo Garden Marching Band, any of you remember The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance? There's a ton of lore that we're not going to get into but the gist of it is that the band is portraying another hypothetical band that's not mcr. Perhaps SGMB will be the same, an actual other band that's not BTS.

(I've never ventured into the mcr side of tumblr before today, definitely a fun journey to find this gif)

MUSE THEORIES

I want to hear every theory every one if you comes up with regarding MUSE. They've explicitly shown they want us to read deeper into it so I want to see EVERYTHING y'all come up with. No matter how delulu, abstract, or just plain wishful, I wanna hear it.

I'll go first:

Is there any meaning to which locker Jimin opens? It's in the 2nd bank, 1st column, 1st row:

Checking the 2:11 time stamp of Closer Than This: Serendipity??

When I think of Serendipity, I think of the choreography. Perhaps we have another Brian Puspos work coming up?? We KNOW the company got a hold of him last year.