Tag: seokjin

The Neverland Project – Episode 5 “Delirium” Breakdown

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Trigger warning: this episode talks about heavy themes, including suicide and abuse. If you are in need of immediate help, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

The fifth episode of my fan series Neverland is finally done. I wanted to get into some of the side plots at this stage, plots I’d hinted about for a while but hadn’t actually covered in detail. In this case, it was Jungkook and Suga’s story – it’s one of the few stories that we actually get detailed scenes of, and can form a narrative around.

It’s pretty straightforward what happens between the two of them as far as the videos are concerned; however, there are so many scenes that are scattered around that refer to the plot, it was hard to make decisions about them. I ended up having to cut a shot I desperately wanted to keep, one that was at the end of the Run MV. But that’s what editing is about, trying to decide what best suits your story.

The title of the episode, “Delirium”, comes from a dystopian book series of the same name. The series, written by Lauren Oliver, was about a world in the not too distant future where love is deemed dangerous and illegal. To prevent people from falling in love, or even experience parental or friendly love, a procedure is done to get rid of the capacity for those emotions. It’s all about the beauty and danger of love, and it’s an excellent read if you have a chance. Back to Neverland, love is the primary theme of the episode – specifically, the risk of pushing people away.

The episode starts with one of the hyper-saturated sequences (so presumably a dream or other version of reality) where Jungkook is on a train. He flashes back to a memory of himself sitting on the floor, seeing the other members partying around him, but when the camera pulls back, no one is there, and the colors are sapped from the world. You may notice, as per usual, Jin is glitching black-and-white, but someone else also seems to be suffering the same affliction…

We then get flashback glimpses of a scene between Jungkook and Suga (indicated by subtle changes in the color grading, as well as Jungkook’s hair because I am unfortunately limited in my editing prowess) where we see just what kind of a relationship they have.

It’s not 100% clear what kind of love Jungkook and Suga have, be it agape or philia or pragma or what have you. Nevertheless, it’s clear that there is love between the two in this story, so when editing I tried to capture that as much as possible. The scene in question is when Suga has been drinking and starts destroying everything in the little apartment they’re in. Jungkook physically tries to hold him back, but Suga pushes him away and into the ground.

Interspersed between these clips is Jungkook walking alone outside, when he accidentally runs into someone. The guy picks a fight wit him, pushing Jungkook around in a very similar fashion to Suga. I want to compliment Jungkook for his acting in the original music video because wow the pain in his face feels so genuine! I was genuinely impressed seeing this in the original “I Need U” music video and I’m impressed to this day.

Anyway, Jungkook eventually collapses on the ground. In the saturated dream sequences, we see him running through a darkened train, which opens out in front of a motel with the name Omelas. (Please see my article on Episode 1 for an explanation of the reference; the short version is that Omelas is a sort of paradise.) As soon as Jungkook runs towards it, we catch a glimpse at reality, where he finds himself looking straight into an oncoming car.

Suga’s story, meanwhile, is very solitary and lonely. He breaks into a music store and plays on a piano, but falters partway. Then he hears a whistle – the same whistle repeatedly associated with Jungkook. He goes to follow it, and sees a coming, so he jumps out of the way. Based on the context clues, this is the same car that Jungkook saw. He runs towards the crash, blood staining the ground, and the music store has been destroyed. He still hears the whistle, but it’s far away and hollow. The flames that engulf the piano turn black and white, while the rest of the world is still in color.

In the final scene, Suga is in bed, playing with his lighter. Eventually he pours gasoline around himself and lights the room on fire, bearing one last pained expression. Meanwhile, Jungkook, in his black-and-white world, puts together a letter and looks ahead, wings spreading in his shadows, and his world starts to turn color again.

In this story, Jungkook and Suga are meant to symbolize innocence and experience, or rather innocence and self-destruction. Jungkook tries to be there for Suga while he becomes violent and self-destructive, and stays that way until the end. He takes beatings, he barely fights back, because he wants to see good in Suga. Suga is on the opposite end – he symbolizes self destruction. Even with Jungkook around, he’s a tornado of conflict, causing havoc wherever he can. The moment Jungkook is gone, he spirals out of control, and can’t handle it. He makes active choices, but they end up causing pain for others and himself.

The relationship between these two characters, from the glimpses we get in the music videos, is like a Shakespearean tragedy. They love each other, but it ends up being painful. One constantly shows his love, but he never gets through to the other, who shows his love too late. The essence of Neverland is meant to be bittersweet, and in this episode, we get the bitter.

The Neverland Project – Episodes 3 and 4 Breakdown

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TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE

Sorry about the delay on this article. I’m bundling episodes 3 and 4 together because these in particular follow a continuous story, because they pull a lot from BTS’s “Prologue” video, which has a fairly consistent narrative arc. To avoid rehashing the story and to leave certain things open to interpretation, I won’t be covering the story itself, just particular choices I made while editing this.

Starting with “Death in the Afternoon,” the title doesn’t actually reference a death that occurs in the episode, because no such death occurs. I have been maintaining a convention of using literary references to address plot points. “Death in the Afternoon” is a reference to a book by Ernest Hemingway, where he talks about Spanish bullfighting. However, Death in the Afternoon is also a cocktail, made up of champagne and absinthe, and invented by Hemingway. Absinthe is a highly alcoholic spirit, often associated with hallucinations (though this is not substantiated by scientific research.)

We actually see Namjoon drinking absinthe in “Blood Sweat and Tears” – absinthe is often vibrant green, and served with a sugar cube. Typically, you pour water over the sugar cube to dilute the absinthe and mix the sugar in. However, Namjoon lights the sugar cube on fire to melt it and we never see the water. This likely means that Namjoon did not dilute it and is drinking it effectively raw. This is not the first or last reference to mind altering substances in these music videos.

The second episode is called “Crossing the Water,” which comes from a poem by Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath was a brilliant poet who committed suicide in 1963. There is a line from this poem: “This is the silence of astounded souls.” As you’ve probably noticed, much of Neverland is done without dialogue, but in some moments there is almost complete silence. These are moments to reflect on what the story might entail.

Building on the idea of hallucination and alteration of the mind, there’s a scene in the middle of the episode that acts like a montage, set to “Run”. There are moments that occur squarely in reality, signified with a camera filter (we see Jin running around with a camera several times.) But then there are foggy, vibrant sequences, where characters are partying. It’s not so much that the scenes are not reality, but they’re not the same – it’s a perception of reality.

I also focused heavily on Jungkook and Jimin. This is because, as you’ll see in other episodes, they are often victims of circumstances caused by others. I hinted at this through a number of things – the blindfold sequence with Jimin, and Jungkook on the swing and drinking absinthe from his finger (and eventually flying.) Namjoon and V also get some screen time in this sequence, as Namjoon’s character falls into escapism and V is shrouded and self-isolated.

Building on the theme of perception, Jin is constantly flickering in and out of black and white. I have mentioned in other articles I use color as a means to tell story and say something about a character. Jin exists on a plane of existence separate from the others, as signified by the grayscale environments he’s seen in. But when he’s around the others, he flickers in and out, like a broken TV. This shows maybe he doesn’t see himself as being on a different plane, even though he is.

There are numerous moments where the colors attributed to Jin change in order to indicate an alteration of perception. In the museum scene, the painting and world around Jin turns black and white. When Jin is “summoned” to see the other members again in the normal plane, Jin’s black-and-white world turns vibrant and he begins to glitch out. He stays entirely black and white at night, and generally stays colorful at the beach. And when V knocks down his house of cards, once he sees the vision of V underwater, the people around him change into black and white as well.

The main plot point throughout this arc, however, is V coping with the death of his father in the previous episode. We start with him crying on the phone to someone, then move to him meeting his friends. They have fun for a while, and in another dream sequence, V sees a puppy, signifying his hope. But a cage falls around him, and the puppy leaves – he becomes someone without hope.

At the end of the video, V is on top of a tower by the beach. He looks towards his friends, then just before he jumps off, he enters the same plane as Jin – he turns black and white as well. As the video fades out, the colors become vibrant again.

As I’ve mentioned before, I intend to leave much of Neverland to interpretation for my viewers and readers. Do I have clear ideas of where I want it to go? Yes. But the thing about film, particularly fan films made out of existing material, is there’s fun in ambiguity. The symbols I pick mean something to me that could resonate differently for others. If you have your own theories or ideas of what the story says, you are welcome to comment, be it on this article or the videos. I hope that you are able to find your own meaning in this story, particularly as it unfolds in the coming installments.