no two snowflakes are the same

there's something that pops into my mind every once and again. 

do you guys remember sm's remastering project? 

they'd take some of their old music videos and remaster them, to cement their older artists' status as trailblazers in the industry. and that makes sense, it's rather honorable, but the way they went about it was... strange, to say the least. and my mind isn't all here right now, so i'll only cover a couple of differences i've noticed. if i notice more, i'll let you know.

also, my main point of comparison will be dbsk's rising sun. here's a fan remaster to compare with sm's, if you're interested in seeing where i'm starting from. 

first off (the less serious one): why did they change the intro and outro music? this goes for every mv, which is such a shame. the intro and outro music is really a part of the era it was in, since it also fits with the era's conventions. it set the mood right, and usually served the group's identity better than... what we have now.

personally, i think the most egregious version of this is what happened to gee. WHERE IS THE SAXOPHONE!!!!!!!!!!! GIVE ME MY DREAMY SAXOPHONE!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGEEEEEEEE--

like, why did it have to change? were the sound files for those little snippets lost? that's the only explanation i can see, even though i think it's sorta weird. from what i understand, sm holds on to everything. groups will get old demos from older groups that are many years old. but then again, maybe they saw these snippets as so unimportant that they were deleted soon after. that's a bizarre lack of foresight, but it's the only explanation i can see right now.

second: why, oh why did they have to edit the idols themselves like that...

one of the weird things about these remastered mvs is that they were edited to fit the standards of today's idol appearances. why. dear cod, why. WHY DO THEY HAVE RUBBER SKIN????

the first time i saw the fan remastered version of rising sun, i almost gasped from how much more beautiful jaejoong was. i could see how watery his eyes were, i could see the lines and pores in his skin, and his little moles, and all the shadows in it (how his skin catches the light in gen). like... sure, there's still makeup, but he's stunning stunning. stunning in a human way. stunning in a way that feels so close.

and this goes for all the members! you can see every speck of sweat on yunho and junsu (ok, sure that sounds gross, but stay with me for a moment), the nostalgic graininess in changmin's face as he stands in the club. watching this with all their human details really made the music video feel like the full cinematic experience it was meant to be!

there's beauty, and skill, and dramatic lighting and notes of salvation and determination dripping from the lyrics, and it all. looks. so. real.

and then you go back to sm's new version, and everything feels wrong, you know? those little details are lost and smoothed over, and it sort of leans into uncanny valley territory after you stare at it long enough. it becomes soulless... 

it's just... it's something i think about a lot nowadays, having to contend with the ever-changing beauty standards of the world. we're reaching visuals that aren't even human, that are impossible to reach. it warps our perception of the world around us, of people around us, of our worth and our own beauty. what was worthy of being called beautiful can be no longer, and even such must be changed. at what point will it end?

anyway. those are just my thoughts. what do you guys think?

also, please do watch the fan remastered music video. even if you don't like the song, i hope you at least enjoy the visuals somewhat. watching it reactivated the gargoyle story potential in my head; perhaps you'll see where 13 year-old me was coming from too, lolz. 

sleep well. 

 

sotd: learning curves by a great big pile of leaves