B1A4 “What’s Happening?” Music Video Review

I think this may be one of B1A4’s best videos yet.

Song

I think this is one of B1A4’s best songs.  I enjoyed nearly every moment of it.  The talking in the beginning and throughout the song was done very well, following a hard beat with a bit of attitude in the voices.  Normally I don’t like talking in songs, but the way Jinyoung and Baro said those few lines followed the joking nature of the rest of the song and fit in very well.  It was a really good way to keep the audience’s attention throughout the video.  My absolute favorite part of the song was Baro’s and CNU’s slow parts right before each chorus.  They switched up the beat of the song, but still sounded related.  The sound was so unique and fit the robotic, doll theme of the story.  I also really like the ending lines.  Even though they were also different from the rest of the song, they kept a similar tune and was so much fun.  This whole song is a perfect demonstration of B1A4’s talent and singing really fun songs.  All of the changing parts kept me interested in the song, and left me feeling very satisfied by the end.  The only reason I wouldn’t say it is a perfect song is because the very beginning “Every day” line seemed a bit too childish.

Score: 4.9/5

Story

At first glance, this video seems to have little to no story, yet after watching it carefully, I realized that there actually is a story, and it’s a pretty funny one.  There is a girl (Barbie) trapped in a room with a boy (Ken).  Ken is keeping her there to be his special girlfriend and Barbie tried calling B1A4 to help her escape.  Throughout the video, the members try to see into the room, get Barbie out, and harass Ken.  Finally, they break into the room and kill Ken, only to begin fighting each other for a chance to be with Barbie.  It was your typical crazy, childish B1A4 story, but I found it to be entertaining and hilarious.  While at times it was hard to follow, it was a lot of fun.

Score: 4/5

Cinematography

The cinematography of this video was pretty good.  The dollhouse theme was really fun and made for some pretty cool screenshots of the big crazy house.  I loved all of the colors and crazy-looking rooms.  The video cuts matched the sound of the song which got me really engaged in the experience of watching the music video.  I loved how Barbie and Ken joined B1A4 in the dance at the end.  It signified that the video was ending soon and that while there was a story, the whole point of the video was just to have fun.

At times though, it was a bit hard to follow what was going on, just because of the sheer number of rooms and scenes.  I also don’t like that when B1A4 finally does break into the room, Baro is nowhere to be found until they are actually inside.  Based on other scenes of him trying to saw a hold in the ground, I’m guessing that he came in from the ceiling, but it was still unclear.  Even though it is just a short moment in the video, the climax of the story should be the clearest part.

While there were some flaws, it overall made the video very fun and enjoyable.

Score: 4/5

Wardrobe

There were A LOT of different outfits in this video.  While some of them were nice, like Gongchan’s rescue outfit and the outfits in the first clip of beige dancing scene, overall, they were way too crazy for my liking.  In the blue dancing scene, there were so many different patterns and colors for it to look like one nice, coordinated wardrobe.  Gongchan looked like a referee and CNU looked like a painter, both characters who have no relation to the plot or anything else in the video.  The lighter outfits in the beige room were also unfavorable.  Sandeul is wearing some sort of flowery jumpsuit while Baro, Gongchan, and Jinyoung look like hospital workers, and then CNU is randomly wearing a bright blue shirt.

Then there is the rescue scene.  Aside from Gongchan, I could not stand those outfits.  They looked like they were coming out of a circus with their patterned suits.  None of those suits looked attractive.

I did like all of the hats in the video, and the colors were good, but the actual patterns and style of the outfits didn’t go together and didn’t look good.

Score: 2/5

Dance

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I really liked this dance.  Every single motion matched the beat of the song.  Even during Jinyoung’s talking parts there were fast moves to match the rhythm of his voice.  Even though there weren’t very many advanced, complicated movements, the timing of each movement was perfect and made the dance equally as entertaining as a complicated one would be.  I liked how the dance moves changed from quick and jerky to slow during Baro’s and CNU’s parts, and then picked up again with each chorus.  Even though the dance was obviously choreographed, the moves were easy enough and became more free by the end making it seem more like a well-rehearsed dance party that includes the audience than a performance meant for just strictly watching.

All of the stomping in the beginning became a bit overdone, and I wasn’t a fan of the shimmying during the chorus, but I loved the rest.

 Score: 4.5/5

Overall, I loved this video.  It may have been a bit crazy at some parts, but I enjoyed every moment of it.  B1A4 demonstrated their gift with “What’s Happening” at making such fun songs and videos.  They prove that you don’t have to have a perfectly put together video to have fun and give the audience something to enjoy.  While “Enjoyment” is not one of my categories, B1A4 brings this element in to make up for the other slightly lacking elements.

Overall Final Score: 4/5

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Question of the Day:

Was anyone else slightly creeped out by the doll masks?