The K-Pop music video for EXO's 'Call Me Baby' was produced by Lee Soo-Man. The music video was uploaded to YouTube on 30th March 2015 and currently, in October 2015, the view count has over 58 million views. The Korean boy band has won 77 out of the 109 awards they have been nominated for and are now the second most awarded male artists to have won awards on music shows.
The music video opens showing a car park that leads into a warehouse. We then see the artists dancing in a large hall and then a studio with a white background. All of the sceneries are quite bland to consequently draw more attention to the singers. There is contrast between each scene as the car park and warehouse settings are modern compared to the old style hall that they dance in.
The outfits are mostly black and white with a few pieces of red and blue. Skinny jeans, leather/baseball jackets, trainers and baggy t-shirts are the most commonly worn clothes that are featured throughout the music video. The hairstyles are mostly short back and sides but with long shaggy fringes. All of these factors come together to make them seem cool and stylish. This makes people look up to them as style icons.
The singers are lit from behind, casting long shadows on the floor in front of them. This is in the scenes where they are dancing in the old hall. When they're in the studio space with the white backdrop, the lighting is bright and lighting up all around them. The same is for when they're in the indoor car park where they are lit from all angles.
Swish cuts are used frequently throughout the video. This is where the camera turns quickly and creates a seamless translation into the next shot. This gives a smooth feeling to the editing of the video, adding to the cool persona of the group.
At certain points in the music video, the camera zooms in and out quickly to create a pulsing effect. An example of this is when they are singing in a line, clicking their fingers to the beat, the camera pulses in time to the choreography.
Close ups of the artists are featured in this music video. This is so that the audience can start to recognise the individual singers and get to know them separately as opposed to always seeing them as a large group. This benefits the artists as it increases their recognition and therefore their branding.
I think that a handheld steady cam was used for the filming of this music video. A hand held camera would have been best to use because of all the movement of the camera and camera man following the singers around the set. This is usual for Exo as there are so many members of the group that need to be featured.
Slow motion is used at the beginning when the blue 'Level' headphones are shown as product placement. This is to create more time where the headphones are featured, making it more likely that the audience would admire the item.
This music video has longer cuts than usual. This is because the camera is moving about a lot and has longer cuts to show the artist's choreography. Jump cuts are used to move the music video along. For example, near the beginning when one of the band members is sat on a sofa, he gets up to start dancing but the short moment of him getting up is cut out. This takes out the boring parts and keeps in the fast movements of the singers.
Part way through the video, the visuals turn black and white. This is to break up the long choreography scene and to add a slick stylistic look. This would have been done in the edit.
The choreography is the most memorable part of the video. This is an iconic feature of Exo's music videos. The singers are so precise and all exactly in time with each other while dancing that it becomes quite mesmerising for the audience to watch. The choreography amplifies the lyrics of the song. The dance is designed to impress the audience, at the same time they are singing directly to the listener and telling them that they are perfect for them. "You make me exist as myself, you're the only one in my world, you're the one, you're the one, girl you're the one I want." This is appealing to females as the song and music video are made to impress them by creating an artificial connection between the performers and the audience.
The target audience are people who enjoy K-Pop. Exo mainly have an Asian audience but add in English words and sentences to attract an English speaking audience. The age range of the audience would be 15-25 year old females.
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