Chapter 130: Objective Achieved

ow seen the finished MV, and their initial interest and anticipation for Ji-yeong's proposal of a "one-shot" filming have been replaced with satisfaction, amazement, and a strong sense of ambition.Lee...The two songs in 《O》專,《lht》and《Take Aim Sniping》, are mainly edited from some MV shooting and studio bloopers.

In the previous few albums and singles, most of the footage focused on the title tracks, with limited coverage of the B-sides. However, "O" is a bit different. As a B-side track, "Aiming Point" achieved impressive chart performance and significant influence among young people, even surpassing the title track in some aspects. **'s production team for behind-the-scenes content was quite perceptive and included numerous clips of "Aiming Point" in this particular segment.

However, since there wasn't an MV filmed for this song, it mainly consists of behind-the-scenes footage from practice sessions.

After the relatively light-weight "O" project, we arrive at what many are most interested in: EXO's second regular album, which has achieved good results and remains popular today. The highlight is the title track from the "L" project, a production behind-the-scenes look at "".

The female vocalist for the chorus of “” has been decided to be chosen internally. What are your suggestions... Jingyuan, who do you think would be most suitable

This opening scene is similar to the behind-the-scenes footage of , immediately plunging us into a meeting inside the company. Just like before, everything is heavily obscured with virtual effects and pixelation. The only visible faces in the entire conference room belong to Chi Jingyuan and Li Xiuman, while much of the dialogue and suggestions from others are muted out.

During the meeting, some female celebrities' names mentioned, like Taeyeon and BoA, were erased by the post-production staff to avoid potential controversy.

"Hmm..." Ji Jingyuan hesitated on camera, after weighing his options, he tentatively suggested: "Wendy..."

Originally, it was Ji-seong who suggested that Sun Seong-wan sing the song "BWL" as a feat

After seeing this surprising insider information, before I could consider it too much, the screen immediately darkened and went to the next screen.

"Yeahyouakaboywithv…"

Before even the screen lit up, the music from "boywithv" began playing along with the sound of footsteps scuffing against the wooden floor. Then, as soon as the screen brightened, a direct view of the practice room appeared.

I thought it was an XO member practicing, but when the audience took a closer look, they realized it wasn't EXO's practice room. The group of people in sight were all unfamiliar faces. Judging from their attire and movements, they seemed to be **'s dance instructors.

"Hold on."

At that moment, a familiar voice came. The camera panned to Chi Jingyuan standing in the middle of the room. He stopped the music, furrowed his brow in thought for a while, then looked at the dance teachers who were all watching him and said, "This part of our choreography, this turning motion...it feels a bit too simple."

"The tone of this song would be more upbeat, and the overall choreography style should lean towards that direction. I think we could modify some of the more structured movements slightly, for example..."

Saying that, he did the choreography from before twice, spun in place two times, and on the third spin, he lifted his right leg high. After standing still for a moment, he blinked with some satisfaction: "I feel like adding this high kick here makes it better... What do you guys think"

Although the choreography for this song is mainly led by Park Ji-sung, with him and a group of dance instructors from the company working on it, in terms of dance level and choreography experience, he actually falls short compared to the current dance instructors. So many times when problems arise, they seek their opinions.

However, if there are any disagreements, everything will still be subject to Chi Jingyuan's opinion.

"Indeed... quite good."

The several dance teachers present tried learning it as well, and also nodded in agreement with his point of view.

"And here..."

Saying that, Chi Jingyuan walked over and adjusted the playback progress of the song, directly skipping to the latter half:

"With those wings you gave me back then..."

"Here."

They directly jumped to this part. Several people heard it and immediately started dancing the original choreography together, then stopped and felt it for a moment.

Chi Jingyuan pondered for a moment and said, in a tone similar to before, "Just like what I mentioned earlier, the repetitive back-and-forth motion is a bit monotonous. It lacks agility and vibrancy. I think it needs some improvement..."

"Want another leg raise"

"What if we add a few more footwork changes when switching tempos" After some thought, all the dance instructors came up with suggestions even they hadn't considered before.

After trying out a few ideas people suggested, I still felt like it was lacking something.

Chi Jingyuan stood with her arms crossed against the wall, tilting her head as she thought for a long time. She seemed to have come up with something and her eyes lit up. "Why don't we just skip choreographing this section Since we want it to be lively and playful, why not add a short dance-like game instead"

"Hmm..." He felt his proposal was quite good, and the more he talked, the better it sounded: "Just line up all the members in a row, and then the person at the front comes out to count heads, just like how elementary school students do…"

As they watched the screen, Ji-yuan became more and more excited as he spoke, no longer arguing. He directly led the choreographer to start working on it. Starting with a framework, they gradually corrected it until it became the iconic captain count choreography in "boywithv" that many people found interesting and classic. Thinking back to the song that swept the charts now, even a month later, its popularity remains high. Countless viewers can't help but feel deeply involved.

After the behind-the-scenes footage of choreographing, there are some dance practice scenes. However, in this part, there's no chance for Ji Jingyuan to show his face. Although he led the choreography this time, to be honest, his level is just average. And his constant problem is that while dancing, his mind sometimes goes blank and he forgets the moves. So when teaching members how to dance, he doesn't participate at all, and even has to learn it again from scratch along with them.

Jin Jong-in is the fastest learner among all the members. He grasped almost half of the choreography after watching it twice. In the behind-the-scenes footage, while many other members were still memorizing the moves, he was already able to teach others how to dance. He truly deserves the nickname "dance machine."

Next up is shooting the pictorial and MV segments.

Originally, the staff also wanted to add some behind-the-scenes footage from the recording to the compilation. However, after reviewing the filming material, they found that in the released clips, Park Ji-sung, as the producer, appeared slightly stricter towards the members and Sun Seungwan who came for a feat. He was very serious and dedicated to his work. Although he didn't yell at anyone, sometimes his sarcastic remarks were a bit too direct. If these were released publicly, it might not be appropriate and could lead to dissatisfaction from fans of the other members.

After looking for a suitable clip for ages, I just cut in a few images and skipped it altogether.

"Hello, everyone. This is Suho."

Scene one changes, Jin Jun-mian's big face appears in the camera. He is holding a small camera and starts filming behind-the-scenes footage again.

This behind-the-scenes compilation not only includes footage shot by the VJ on set, but also many clips captured by the members themselves during filming.

We are filming the MV for the title song "boywithv" from the album "L". This is where we are filming, the set is already built, and I'll give you a tour.

"...It's a background setting similar to a movie theater, and there are many movable walls inside. The staff really put their heart into it..."

"This time's lead song "boywithv" lyrics tell some words to someone who is loved and important, it's a very lively, playful, and also gentle song. I especially like this song, both the choreography and melody are great... Oh, by the way, let me tell you guys a secret, this song was also written by Jingyuan..."

"Yuanxi!" Kim Jun-myeon, with a camera in hand, strolled around and happened upon Ji Changwook sitting on a bench by the edge of the set, playing on his phone. “Come say hi to everyone,”

The captured Ji Jingyuan looked at the camera and blinked, put his phone behind the camera, and then smiled and waved: "Anihaseyo, I'm XO's Yuan."

“So formal… Oh my, I see Yuanxi has finished styling his hair. It’s a brand new gemstone blue color. Is this something we can publicly disclose” Kim Junmyeon feigned shock and pointed at Ji Jingyuan's newly dyed hair, then made a scared expression, as if he had done something wrong.

With a sigh of resignation, Ji Jingyuan looked at the treasure-seeking captain with an odd expression: "Brother, by the time your footage is released, our song will have already been out for ages."

"Haha, so that's how it is" Kim Jun Myeon chuckled and shifted his attention to Park Seoham's hair color, bringing the camera closer. "Yuanxi received a lot of praise for his ash-grey hair in CMB, so what do you think about this blue hair style in BWL"

"Well... I feel like it's pretty average."

When it comes to this, Chi Jingyuan's expression became a bit uncomfortable, tinged with bitterness. He lightly tugged at his bangs: "I don't particularly like this hair color, and dyeing it is too much trouble. Although Dy Nu said it suited me... I feel the overall effect is just so-so."

"Plain Has Yuan's aesthetic gone completely haywire I think his blue hair style is really cool!"

Seeing this segment, many viewers, even fans, couldn't help but react:

"Yes, especially the glance back at the beginning of the MV, it could be chosen as one of the most classic and coolest MV shots in boy group history."

"Ahhhh, is he pretending Is he putting on a show If his look is just average, what are the other male idols"

"My previous dream was to live a day with Chi Jingyuan's face and figure... but now I'm starting to hate him!"

Of course, Ji Jingyuan couldn't have expected that his heartfelt words on camera, which he finally spoke so sincerely, would elicit such a huge reaction from the viewers.

Even though he might get scolded for saying it, that's exactly what he thought.

The MV filming process for 《boywithv》 is very detailed, showcasing many behind-the-scenes stories to all viewers.

"...Brother, this 'love' sign..." In the scene, Ji Jingyuan pointed at the movie theater set up for the shoot, specifically the top sign that read "LOVE": "Can we make these four characters a bit more abstract or artistic Like, making the three horizontal lines of the 'E' longer to go through the vertical line, so when you look at it backwards, it becomes 'EXOL'. I just tried imagining it, and I think it could work."

“Park Jung-won, stop playing games and come over here quickly, it’s time to start!” Park Chan-hyeok shouted loudly, which made Ji Kyoung-won, who was lounging with his legs crossed playing a game console, jump.

“... Ugh. ...” Wu Shi-hun glared angrily at Ji Kyeong-won in the camera. The words he reflexively blurted out halfway through were swallowed back, and then he stared fiercely at him: "How many times have you stepped on my shoes now You couldn't possibly be doing this on purpose, could you..."

"Suho!"

The MV director held a megaphone and shouted loudly, “When you’re calling out the names of people in this segment, lift your foot slightly… And everyone else remember to bend your waists even deeper at that moment, especially Chanyeol, J-Hope, and Sehun… Remember Don't laugh!”

"Hahaha..."

"...If Seungwan appears too much in the MV, there might be some controversy, but her feat is sung so well, it's not good to not show her face either." A group of people were discussing Sun Seung-wan's appearance setting in the MV around PD. Ji Kyeongwon glanced at Sun Seung-wan who was standing obediently beside him with blinking eyes, and after considering for a moment, he suggested, "The last shot of the MV is the classic scene from 'Rain Song', how about we design a small bridge..."

One after another, little stories and behind-the-scenes anecdotes appeared before all the viewers, leaving them dazzled and incredibly entertained. A strong sense of comfort filled their bodies, making them feel like they weren't watching a boy band's bloopers, but rather a television drama or a meticulously produced variety show.

By this point, the time flies by but isn't excessive at all. This behind-the-scenes collection for EXO’s 2nd studio album is almost coming to an end.

In comparison, the behind-the-scenes footage for the two songs added in the regular second edition, "ifyou" and "exod", is noticeably less. This could be because these two songs aren't as popular as the earlier major hit tracks, or perhaps there was simply less interesting material, or it hasn't been edited yet.

"We are one! Anihaseyo, we are EXO!"

The entire behind-the-scenes collection concluded with all nine members of EXO standing shoulder to shoulder, facing the camera and giving a thumbs up while saying their iconic introduction phrase.

Until the very end, when EXO and **'s logos appeared, many people were still reminiscing about the moments they had just witnessed.

And the click-through rate of videos is also increasing, and the various comments below are constantly increasing like a screen refresh. It seems to be even more lively than when EXO released their title song MV before.

"Wow, I only learned how much Chi Jingyuan contributed to this album after watching the behind-the-scenes footage. I've always thought the choreography for 《BWL》 was both cool and interesting, especially that leader counting part is so memorable. It turns out he and the dance teacher came up with it together"

"Yuan's dancing skills aren't actually that great, and he's not even the best in the team. But he has a lot of ideas, and many of his spontaneous moves are just so effective. That's also true for his previous work 'Roar'. You can't help but be impressed."

“I watched the MV for ‘boywithv’ and every time I saw that ‘love’ sign, I felt something was off… Turns out when you look at it backwards, it says EXOL My god, this little Easter egg is so exciting! When I saw that part, my whole body was covered in goosebumps.”

"The upstairs person, actually this little menu was discovered by fans a long time ago and videos were uploaded. And there are many similar easter eggs. This time EXO's regular second album is not only of good musical quality, but also very thoughtful in all aspects. I recommend you take a look."

“The EXO Oppa's are so fun to watch when they work! They're all very serious and hard-working when it's time to be, but they're also really playful and good at joking around with each other. Their team spirit is truly amazing!”

As a Red Velvet fan, especially a Wendy fan, I'm really grateful to Yuan for suggesting Wendy, and to ** for giving her the feature opportunity on "BWL". Thanks to this hit song, Wendy's popularity has increased significantly, both in terms of heat and search volume. It's much higher than before. Thank you so much... However, can the OngSeongWu x Wendy pairing (音銀CP) get off the ship soon I don't even dare to watch "Music Bank" anymore.

Usually, when a management company releases behind-the-scenes content for their idol group's album preparation, they mainly compile clips from recording sessions, photoshoot and MV filming, along with some specially conducted interviews.

Basically, everyone in the industry does it this way, so it's pretty much the same across the board.

Making these behind-the-scenes clips is very simple, just cut out the shots from the album photoshoot and that's it. Mostly, it's for giving back to fans. Average people wouldn't be that interested.

But **'s approach to this EXO behind-the-scenes production is unlike any other. It has reached the level of a planned project, involving meetings and designated personnel. From the very beginning, they've had dedicated individuals filming non-stop. Every meeting, every recording session, every practice – there's always a VJ silently documenting everything like a ghost.

This uploaded video, rather than being just a behind-the-scenes look at an album's production, could easily be considered a documentary. Especially considering EXO's skyrocketing popularity in the current reality, revisiting this video collection feels like a romantic documentary about EXO's fiery rebirth experience.

Such careful crafting has yielded excellent results.

This is just a behind-the-scenes video, but within just a few hours, its click count has already surpassed that of some second and third-tier, even first-tier group's official comeback title song MV. Its popularity instantly overshadowed several girl groups who had just made their comeback, topping the entertainment section's hot search list and becoming a topic of discussion for many people.

And it's not just fans and casual viewers outside the circle who enjoy watching it, many industry insiders are also seriously watching this behind-the-scenes compilation. Because of EXO's massive success this time, many people are looking to see if they can learn from their experience, hoping to learn something from it.

Unfortunately, some of the most important parts, such as key speeches during meetings discussing the project and things related to recording and song production, were specifically removed by **. These people could only see the general process and progress of EXO's comeback album preparation after looking at it for a long time, and nine members with Ji-sung Park as the main focus. It looks like behind-the-scenes footage from the album, but in reality, it's various shots taken from the side to show off their cool demeanor.

After watching for a long time, I still didn't gain anything. In the end, I could only attribute my lack of success to EXO being too popular.

It's really popular.

** company chose this time, just ten days after the official release of the second album, to publicly release this carefully crafted behind-the-scenes footage. The primary purpose is also to boost sales which have somewhat stagnated.

From the start of its pre-order sales on the 1st to the 10th, the sales figures for 《EXO-L》 have reached 980,000 copies. Since its release, both Korean versions of this album have firmly held the top two positions on the G chart and H chart, never dropping out.

But I guess it's because the previous singles were a little too harsh on the fans, emptying their wallets. It could also be that with the current situation where the physical sales of albums for idol groups on the peninsula are limited to a certain extent, it's difficult to increase the sales figures further at this point.

And the golden period for each combination's album sales is always the first week, and sometimes even just the first two days. Even EXO is no exception to this trend. So since a few days ago, the sales of the second album have started to rapidly decline. Although the number of albums sold daily is still relatively high compared to other groups, for EXO who wants to hit one million, the growth rate is indeed somewhat slow.

So ** just jumped out and pulled this stunt.

However, the company's goal this time was achieved. This release of behind-the-scenes footage allowed the group, led by Ji Jingyuan, to re-enter the public eye through another avenue. Through their unique, professional, approachable, hardworking, and humorous qualities showcased in the behind-the-scenes footage, they attracted a large number of new fans.

Driven by a significant amount of discussion and high viewership, the sales for Season 2 saw a considerable boost. Real-time online sales data that day showed a noticeable increase, even surpassing the album's first two days of sales.

Until 11 PM, a milestone announcement finally came out.

EXO's second regular album, "EXO-L," reached a sales milestone of one million copies eleven days after its release.

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First released by the Traditional Chinese Novel Networke-grid formation, arranged in three rows. Facing the light, their features were unclear, but each one shone so brightly. The huge maze logo reappeared behind them, followed by an unstoppable wave of s...