John Park: Falling into the Right Place

What can I say about John Park? For starters it is safe to say that he is passionate about singing and his participation in American Idol Season 9 and Superstar K2  show that John Park is quite the song competition kind of guy. Unlike American Idol, John Park managed to make it to the top 2 of Superstar K2, but in the end he lost to Huh Gak; unlike Huh Gak who quickly started his career, Park took a little bit longer before he would start his own singing career.

After Superstar K2, John Park signed to Music Farm Entertainment, and not much was known when he was going to debut until his first single “I’m Your Man” was released December 17, 2011. I did not have any idea that he had already debuted at this point, but when I heard he was coming up with a new mini album 2 days before its release, I thought that it would be unimpressive. However after seeing this video I can say that I am glad that I decided to give John Park a chance. On February 21, 2012 Park debuted with his album Knock which includes 5 songs ,and without further ado, here is his official debut song and music video  “Falling.”

Cinematography: 4.5 out of 5

First things first I like how laid back and chill the music video is, which matches the whole vibe of the song. Sometimes we just need something simple instead of a 2NE1-style in your face kind of music video.  Even the storyline (if you can call it that) was simple. The storyline is John Park literally falling from an airplane to the ground, and you know what, I loved it, just flat out loved it. Even though 98% of the music video was in a cargo box, the music video was worth watching and was aesthetically pleasing.

If you did not catch it, there was some symbolism within this music video. The cargo was a representation of his heart. When he was in the airplane, he was in the dark, but when he sees the light through the holes in the cargo box, he awakes from his emotional slumber. The items within the cargo represent his memories and among others, the wine that was rolling specifically represented John Park and his significant other’s past relationship and their good times. Then Park begins his process of falling for this girl when the airplane drops the cargo out to the sky. When he finally lands that’s when he starts to open his “heart,” with the water, and in the end the cargo box opens for him to walk off and find his girl.

The symbolism was a great bonus to this music video, but what makes this music video worth watching are the effects. We aren’t getting the cliche 360 degree freeze shots (Cough SM) or the eye spazzing effects ( I’m looking at you Core Content Media), but what we do get are effects that actually enhance the music video. The airplane cut scenes were actually believable, and I was almost ready to believe that they actually dropped Park off the airplane. My favorite part of the music video was when Park was floating in the air. The shoots when he was in the air were perfectly placed, and the anti gravity effect is believable and brings “Falling” to life, but granted I think all of the cargo would be floating with him as well (I’m not an aerospace major, so if I’m wrong then take it with a grain of salt). Lastly I thought when he landed into the water was perfectly placed with the song because during this time Park sings, “Even if I endlessly fall, even if I fall to the ground toward you, I’m falling for you” (한없이 추락하더라도 바닥까지 떨어져도 그댈 향해 난 falling for you). Realistically, water would fill the cargo quicker, but I’ll let it go because we don’t want to end up seeing a dead singer that drowned in the ocean.  Overall the cinematography was almost flawless.

Execution: 3/5

No dancing, no over dramatics, and no cheesiness, instead we got just simplicity. Like I said, that is how this music video should be. John Park did not really do much, but he did not need to, although I still wish there was just something a little more from him. I don’t exactly know what, but maybe there is an extra push or oomph he could have put into the music video. Even with it’s simplicity there should be some soul-grabbing feature, or an attention getter, but I did not get that vibe from John Park himself. I don’t really have any other gripes with the execution part, but on the flip side I don’t have any huge praises for him either; therefore this section gets a 3.

X-Factor: 4/5

This song is about falling in love again or rekindling the love that he had in the past. Talk about perfect timing with Miss A, but John Park takes a different approach than Miss A did with “Touch.” Instead of the Gothic style, Park gives us a calmer side of this topic. I love both the songs but I think “Falling” does a better job being optimistic about falling back in love versus “Touch.”  I did not rate this a 5 because I’m pretty strict with giving a 5 unless you make me cry or something AMAZING beyond AMAZING happens, but I think that “Falling” does a solid job tugging at our hearts.

To be honest, I did not want to like the song, and in fact I was expecting to harp on this song and music video. The reason  for all this is that John Park doesn’t seem really likable in my opinion, and I thought he could not really sing. I felt like I just want to not like him, but having said all this… I like the song, and I like the music video, so John Park, I am sorry for being a hater. I like the song and the effects, and I will remember to check out your material whenever I get the chance.  If you keep having  awesome songs like this, who knows I might just be a fan. Overall I learned an elementary lesson in this process: don’t judge a book by its cover.

What are your thoughts on this? Does John Park have you falling or does he just leave you hanging?  Leave your comments below.

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