When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

# 161

Forever (3)

That’s how filming began.

The title song of KK’s 4th full-length album was ‘Continue’.

What message can KK, who has now reached the top level in the country, deliver to those who like them and live with them in the same era?

Dowook and other members and the album production team put a lot of thought into that part.

From debut until now, KK has placed more importance on the message that can be conveyed to those in their late teens and early 20s, who are KK’s peers and who will mainly consume KK’s songs, rather than simple love song lyrics commonly sung by singers in the music industry.

I sang about the dreams and passion of those wavering and wandering youth.

However, it was absurd for KK, who had already achieved her dream to some extent, to continue singing about wavering and wandering youth.

So the message we decided on was ‘It will continue.’

‘I still have the passion to reach higher ground and I will continue there with you.’

‘We never end.’

‘Even if we fall, even if people tell us to stop, we keep running.’

Depending on the interpretation, the lyrics could be about KK’s aspirations for the world or about the relationship between KK and her fans.

Simply looking at the lyrics, it could be interpreted as a love story between lovers who hit the wall of the world.

The interlude of ‘Continue’ played.

It was a very grand sound from the beginning. However, unlike the sound in the song, the actual sound was very quiet.

If it had been a studio shoot, the song would have been played so loudly that my ears would ring, and the shooting would have been done while I was intoxicated with the song.

However, the sound equipment brought to the desert could not have been good. The music was going to be added anyway, so as long as the members could listen to the song and do the choreography, that was enough. If you brought an expensive speaker and it breaks down due to sand getting in, it would be a disaster.

In that sense, the filming team had prepared protective gear for their equipment even before it left Sanghala.

Although the sound was barely audible, as soon as the song started, the members took their posture and looked at the camera without blinking their eyes, as if they had been suffocated by a sandstorm.

As promised during rehearsal, the cinematographer began capturing each member in order, starting with a close-up of Do-wook’s face on the far left.

Judging that it would not be possible to use it otherwise, the cinematographer hung the support bar and camera on his chest to capture a close-up image while moving.

The goal of this shoot was to go without as many NGs as possible.

Time was limited as we had to capture a group dance scene at sunset, but the members were not the only ones who had difficulty making NGs. Filming this music video was as difficult for the staff as it was for the members.

“Okay, nice look! That’s right! “More close-ups!”

Director Choi shouted while monitoring the filming screen.

As a veteran of music video shooting who has worked with Director Choi for a long time, the cinematographer was able to capture the movements during rehearsal without error.

The cinematographer’s assistant stood behind him, his feet stuck in the sand, clinging to him as if he were still steady, and suggested which direction to take.

The members and staff were filming with one mind and one mind.

The current filming was the intro scene. Almost the intention of starting with a strong impression was expressed as is.

“First of all, since your face is so strong, you can eat it for nothing~!”

Director Choi smiled with satisfaction, thinking that it was an excellent choice to use Do-wook’s face against the backdrop of the desert as the first scene of the music video storyboard he created.

“Cut! only once! Let’s go one more time~!”

Director Choi shouted and gave each member a little more direction.

“Taehyung, do you think you could look a little stronger? And leader! The leader tilts his head slightly to the right! “It looks sharper on the screen that way!”

One more close-up shot was taken.

Next was the full shot just before moving from the intro to the song.

Drones were used as equipment, and four-wheel drive vehicles with open tops were also used.

A drone filmed the huge landscape of the desert from above and the KK members in it. Then, a cinematographer in a four-wheel drive vehicle quickly drove around KK and filmed the members standing in the desert.

Even after just filming the intro, the members were able to predict that the scale of this music video would be enormous, as Director Choi assured.

‘It will be a music video that will last a long time.’

Dowook thought.

Although the members themselves were filmed without much movement, just standing in poses and making good facial expressions, their outfits were drenched in sweat.

The cinematographer who was carrying the camera seemed to be already feeling dehydration symptoms. A short break was given.

Still, it could be said that the intro filming went smoothly.

The next shoot was a group dance shoot for the chorus of ‘Continue’. The filming equipment was installed in front of the members. It was a photoshoot that captured the members dancing in a group dance.

Even when filming music videos in a studio, group dance filming involved more NGs than individual filming. This was because if one person was wrong, they had to go again.

‘You will be able to do it.’

Do-wook strengthened his resolve in his mind as he thought about the preparations for this group dance scene on the sand.

Although it was a short period of time, the members still found a way to synchronize their group dance on the sand to some extent by adjusting their movements and preparing.

Taehyung Park’s contribution was great.

Taehyung Park, who was worried about whether he could dance, realized that he needed to play the song at about 1.2x speed in order to keep everyone on beat.

Even if you dance to the anchor, since you are dancing on sand, the speed of the dance inevitably slows down. The problem was that each individual’s body’s reaction speed was different, so the group dance became different.

Taehyung Park’s opinion was that if you try to move your body at 1.2 times the speed to the song, only then will you be able to dance properly.

It was Do-wook who complemented Park Tae-hyung’s opinion.

If you try to move at a speed of 1.2 times, it will naturally put a lot of strain on your physical strength and make it difficult to capture the details of the dance.

So Do-wook conversely suggested dancing to the song played at 0.8x speed.

What was important was the accuracy of the dance.

If filmed at 0.8x speed, it would be like on sand, but if the members put in a little effort, they would be able to pull off all the movements accurately.

Led by accompanying choreographers Noh Tae-hyun and Park Tae-hyung, the members practiced the song at 1.2x speed, 1x speed, 0.8x speed, etc. and studied how to best dance together even on sand.

When dancing at 0.8x speed, the accuracy of the movements improved.

Of course, there were cases where some people kept moving their arms at a fast pace, but I had no choice but to be careful while filming this part.

After filming at 0.8x speed, getting it in sync with the actual song was an editing problem. After listening to Do-wook’s explanation, Director Choi readily gave an OK sign, telling him not to worry about that.

“How about three?”

“uh?”

Ahn Hyeong-seo, who was quietly getting his makeup touched up next to Do-wook, asked as if he didn’t know what he was talking about.

“I thought it would be good to at least make a bet…”

Dowook said, smiling softly.

It was true that it felt a little burdensome to think about doing the choreography myself. Do-wook’s thought was that the other members would be more burdened than Do-wook, not less burdensome.

So, I wanted to cheer up the members who were probably worried.

“bet?”

Jeong Yoon-gi showed interest and asked about the word “bet.”

“It’s a bet to guess how many takes will be completed. “The person whose number is furthest from the actual number loses.”

“If you bet, you don’t get it.”

Jeong Yoon-gi, who quickly understood Do-wook’s intentions, expressed his intention to actively participate in the bet. Hyungseo Ahn’s expression also brightened.

“Oh great! good! What should I bet?!”

When Ahn Hyeong-seo announced his intention to participate, Kim Won, who was practicing his arm movements behind him, naturally stretched out his arm and held out his hand.

“me too!”

When Kim Won participated, Park Tae-hyung and Seok Ji-hoon also automatically participated.

“Then the person who lost the bet… should we have a late-night snack during practice?”

Dowook suggested. A late-night snack during practice was nothing more than a piece of chicken. Even when the members ate at the dorm, the standard was one chicken per person, but during practice, the members of the dance team were also included. So, it was a suggestion I made because I thought it could be the subject of a bet.

However, Seok Ji-hoon, the youngest, crossed his arms, rested his chin, and shook his head.

“It’s too weak.”

“Uh… huh? is it?”

Even Dowook was momentarily embarrassed and asked back.

“under. “Let’s share the bizarre photos we took on our phones on our fan cafe.”

As expected, the youngest was strong.

It was clear that he had become stronger through the numerous entertainment penalties he faced while filming ’48 Hours Camping’.

The other members also had a sad look in their eyes for a moment, as if they felt a greater psychological burden from having their bizarre photos published on the fan cafe than shooting late-night snacks.

Once it was revealed, it was for life. It was a bizarre photo that would follow me for the rest of my life.

“Good good good!”

Kim Won shouted and Do-wook also nodded. Hyungseo Ahn was the first to suggest the number of times.

“I… um, not five times!”

“You can’t intentionally make a mistake just to win your bet.”

“What does this guy really think of me?”

Ahn Hyeong-seo glared at Jeong Yoon-gi.

“There is a man named Gao. I’m betting I’ll finish it in one go!”

“omg. “I’m so anxious to lose… because I want to reveal bizarre photos!”

While Ahn Hyeong-seo and Jeong Yoon-gi were bickering, the other members also decided the number of times one by one. The coordinator who was helping me fix my makeup wrote down the information on my phone.

[Kang Do-wook (3) Ahn Hyeong-seo (5) Jeong Yoon-gi (1) Kim Won (2) Park Tae-hyung (6) Seok Ji-hoon (7)]

Hoping to finish filming quickly regardless of the bet, the members gathered together and shouted slogans.

Filming resumed with slogans.

Director Choi shouted, standing behind the camera.

“Even if one person is wrong, we will cover it somehow through editing! “Don’t worry too much!”

The KK members, who were standing at an angle with an air of solemnity for filming due to Director Choi’s nonsensical Internet speaking style, were exhausted and burst into laughter.

The sun that was hovering over the top of my head slowly went down, and the sand was already turning red.

The chorus of ‘Continue’ played at 0.8x speed from the simple speaker.

It was thanks to practice that it was possible to dance such difficult choreography in any situation.

The KK members worked hard and prepared for their comeback without missing a single day, from the time the song and choreography came out to the present day.

It was a time of constant effort.

***

KK’s accommodation a week before her comeback. The members were all gathered in front of the computer in the living room.

A concept teaser was scheduled to be released starting at midnight the day after tomorrow. Before that, the members had agreed to post bizarre photos according to the results of the bet.

“Okay… then it will be time to update the photos.”