Late Follow up to 그리고, 남겨진 것들 (And, Things Left Behind) M/V [Nell]

 

Left to Right: Top row (4:42/4:44/4:56) Bottom row: (5:15/5:23)

 

I should be studying right now for my final, but whatever here goes something productive out of my procrastination.

“When you are away, you are nevertheless present for me. This presence is multiform: it consists of countless images, passages, meanings, things known, landmarks, yet the whole remains marked by your presence, in that it is diffuse.” (78)

_then we see the death, soon followed by conspicuous disappearance of the dead body in subsequent scenes, and all of its power of absence congeal upon the single frame of the camera screen. Because what the audience observes and appreciates (i.e. The MV) is that of stylized product—in that, it is cut, edited and spliced together to make a coherent, although non-uniform in temporality, whole—and what the camera within the MV has captured, if we think about it for a second, is a single take. There is no cutting involved in simply setting down a camera and talking. Editing comes after-wise. However, in that moment of freeze-frame, the moment of pre-post-production, the image that is congealed onto the digital camcorder is that of a video reel, singular and forward whole.

In short, the MV represents this diffused being, the fragments of memories. The flagrance of flowers, the taste of fresh brew of coffee, drinks, the texture of the utterance of poems against one’s ears. All of these are stopped, arrested and adhered against the camcorder screen.