Director Shin Woo Seok explains his intent + the story behind NewJeans' 'ETA' MV
Director Shin Woo Seok has responded to a fan's request asking him to shed light on the complex story of NewJeans' "ETA" MV.
First, the director wrote, "Hello. Thank you so much for enjoying the music video. However, I do not prefer to explain every detail of my projects once they are completed, and so I'm afraid I cannot respond to every mystery and speculations surrounding them. To shed light on what I can, I hoped to depict a story of 'rumors' in 'ETA'. In modern society, we all come across truths that we did not witness for ourselves, and we must each determine the grounds to believe these truths. During that process, many truths become distorted and exaggerated. NewJeans, who happened to be delivering the rumor in the story, were also subject to these processes."
Director Shin then addressed two key points. First, "If you break down the time line of this music video, you can see that the time when the woman driving the car picks up the phone, and the time when the NewJeans members make the call, do not match up. The hair band, which was placed next to the phone, does not make an appearance until after the story has begun to unfold. In fact, the woman has already murdered the man, and she is on he way to dispose of the body," the director wrote.
Second, "The music video does not tell you whether or not the man actually committed an immoral act. The kiss scene is only a delusion in the woman's head that she begins to see as she refuses to pick up her phone," Shin elaborated
Finally, he commented, "We are exposed to too much information in this day and age. Yet, we do not think to confirm the validity of this information before we deliver it to others. Thank you once again for your interest in the music video."
The fan who made the inquiry responded by writing, "Ah.. so that was the meaning behind it. In the age of information, it contained a necessary message meant for many fans of NewJeans who are users of the iPhone. Thank you for your reply!!".
Now that you've learned director Shin Woo Seok's intent behind the music video, are you interpreting the story of "ETA" a little differently?