On the night of the official online concert, Liu Ruoying lost sleep. At 4 am, she secretly posted a Weibo to tease herself: "Okay, insomnia, nervous, deserved it."
The Weibo was deleted after dawn, and Milk Tea said, "This is my most nervous concert ever."
However, what is more exciting is the results of this live concert, the whole network 150 million people to watch, Weibo topic reading 721 million, Liu Ruoying Weibo increased powder 270,000, live search 5 times within two hours, which is the rare broken circle performance of online live concerts before.
Liu Ruoying Online Concert Report
After all, according to the original plan, during the period from March to April, Liu Ruoying was on the way to the "Flying Day" concert tour. But it was also during such a special period that a new way of milk tea and fans and audiences accompanying and healing each other came into being.
The concert of milk tea ended, but the form of online concerts was still fermenting. "Believe in the Future Benefit Performance" allowed the audience to see the other side of the artists’ performances when they left the stage, and more and more artists paid attention to online performances.
So on the 20th day after the "Accompany You" concert, the entertainment studio talked to the executive director Zhong Qiquan and asked him to tell everyone the madness behind the concert, so that more people could really see the whole picture behind the concert that touched 150 million audience.
Behind-the-scenes photo of the concert, source Weibo @Liu Ruoying, she also wrote: No team, nothing
The following is the self-report of Zhong Qiquan, the executive director of "Accompany You" Concert, based on the interview transcript.
The task of this concert is time-consuming for us.
In fact, the original intention of the concert was very simple. She really wanted to sing and loved to sing. She used to sing and listen to herself with a microphone at home, and then she learned from our staff to use Pro Tools to record at home. In addition, she had some feelings during this time, and her desire to sing became increasingly strong.
Later, Sister Yang straightened out her thoughts with Duke Yang (Zhou Youyang) and Chen Jianqi, and wanted to record these songs. Unlike the previous touring concert audiences who only saw the content of the performance, the form of Recording this time needs to be more detailed, and with the current form of Cloud Live, it is possible to pick up little by little, and determine such a presentation state.
When Yang Gong passed this message to us for specific implementation, I clearly remember that it was March 19, and the original concert date was April 10.
"Oh my god, what should we do? There were only 23 days, how were we going to plan a concert?" At that time, the information about the concert gave us only one idea and a few keywords: Live Recording, concert decoding, wanting to find the original intention, retro theater. "In such a short time, can we really complete it?"
Image source Weibo @Liu Ruoying
What’s even crazier is that about this concert, she even thought about a 24-hour live broadcast – the milk sister wanted everyone to see the whole concert from scratch, starting from the first truck entering the venue, the first object being carried off the bus, and the overall construction, rehearsal, and performance were photographed. After the end, the stage was dismantled, and the last item was dismantled and put on the car, the truck drove away, and the live broadcast ended.
After hearing this thought, "My God, what should I do?" Shocked again.
She wanted to share the details behind the scenes of the concert. In addition to the performers on the stage, there were also many hard-working staff members who were working hard. This was actually very heartbreaking.
According to past experience, it took at least three months to prepare a concert. Of course, there were some more professional details such as stage construction, which were not needed for this concert. The preparation of this concert was not as complicated as that of a large concert, but it was still under pressure in less than a month. In addition to the special period, there were many difficulties in the execution of the operation.
Image source Weibo @Liu Ruoying
What’s more special is that in previous concert tours, everyone would meet to find a proposition, and then make a series of expansions based on this proposition, including the choice of playlist, etc. However, this time the original proposition was Live Recording, and we knew very purely the motivation of the milk sister to sing and the mood she wanted to share.
Then look at the songs that my sister wants to sing – there are many possibilities for who to sing and who to sing for. We summarized the themes of "For You", "For Me", and "For Family" based on this. Finally, my sister chose her favorite theme, and the concert was set to "Accompany You For You". This process is more like a generalized mood.
Image Source Weibo @Milk Tea Chinese Network Official Weibo
After the theme was set, what we were most worried about was the venue. Assuming three weeks of work, the venue for the concert would have to be determined in that week, and then the venue could be designed for the venue.
Those musical instruments were actually a regular touring concert. After being stuffed in, there would be more audio equipment. In addition, the photography technology also had to pursue the film quality, and the live broadcast had to be broadcast.
In a week, we probably saw 3 to 4 venues. Time was tight and it was a special environment. The venues we could actually see were very limited. We originally thought of a bigger theater, but during the epidemic, we couldn’t show us the venues. After seeing all the limited venues, we chose the current Hsinchu Neiwan Grand Theater, which was also relatively difficult.
In fact, this theater has been converted into a restaurant. If you look at the pictures on the Internet, you can also see rows of tables, and even the smell of cooking at the concert scene. When the milk tea was singing "Should We Talk", sitting next to the old-fashioned folding chair was the restaurant refrigerator we covered with black cloth, and there were many drinks in it.
Liu Ruoying online in the theater of the concert
But the vibe of that retro theater was still there, and after evaluating it, we felt that we could make it feel the way we wanted, so I thought we could take a shot and take down the modern things and bring back the original retro theater.
The three rows of old audience chairs where the milk tea sat and sang were all carried from Taipei to Hsinchu. It was really difficult to borrow. After borrowing it, it was placed in that venue. In fact, it had to be combined with the lighting to avoid some staff, because about 3 meters behind the milk tea, there was a staff member who was typing on the keyboard to send lyrics and subtitles. In such a small venue, every type of work is a test.
Liu Ruoying online in the theater of the concertThis theater still retains the basic configuration of an old-fashioned theater, with a stage, a loft, and a box. According to these existing configurations, it can basically be imagined in which scenes the milk tea will sing.
If I just sing in one scene, I will feel a little tired, so in addition to the most intuitive scene of the main stage + movie screen, we designed the staircase area and the grandstand area on the second floor with the mood of singing different songs with milk tea, which is the box area of the old-fashioned theater in the past. The second floor has a higher perspective to see the movie screen.
We even thought about whether to have that projector replay the film, to cast it on a first-floor film screen, or move the projector to simulate the projection state, but it turned out that it could not be depicted realistically, so we might as well give up the idea.
Liu Ruoying online in the theater of the concertAccording to the experience of previous concerts, after setting up a retro theater, we will habitually add a lot of elements to it, wanting to show it more richly, such as the use of this projector, such as whether there are any movies showing today outside the theater, ticket prices, or even the pictures of small vendors. However, Yang Gong kept reminding us to simplify and be simple, and these ideas were finally removed one by one.
Finally, the concert was scheduled for April 17th, and our staff were all on site at 9:00 in the morning to start preparations. Milk tea arrived at the scene around 10:00 and began to be groomed. Her agent ordered a drink for each of the 87 staff on site.
The on-site milk tea needs to take a lot of flat photos, because there is a need for MV, and some pictures need to be taken in advance. Due to time reasons, we didn’t even have a complete rehearsal before the opening, so we could only take milk tea and musicians in five different fields, dancing one by one.
Even five minutes before the show started, she suddenly said, "My son doesn’t know if he’s going to watch Live. He’s been wanting to hear me sing’Party Animals. ‘Can you print a copy of the lyrics for me?" After we finished the lyrics, we put them on because no one knew when she was going to sing live. The real start-to-finish performance is only the one during the live broadcast.
Liu Ruoying in the rehearsal, photo source Weibo @Liu Ruoying
It could be seen at the scene that the milk tea and the state of the musicians were exactly the same as the video of the training room she posted on Weibo, and even the carpet on the ground was brought directly from the training room.
The music stand in front of the milk tea seat was also requested by her. In fact, there was a teleprompter at the scene, and the lyrics on her music stand were not necessary, and sometimes the music stand would block the face and not look good, but she said, "Just restore the appearance of the training room." The form of Live Recording is to restore the situation when we recorded live.
Liu Ruoying during rehearsal in the training room, picture source Weibo @Liu Ruoying
In fact, the form of the live broadcast did put a lot of pressure on the milk tea. We especially told her, "Sister, you don’t have to be afraid, just like how you feel in the training room."
So we didn’t mind the so-called "wear gang" in many previous performances. It was like before, the voice of the live director could only be heard by the artist, but this time we deliberately pushed the voice of the director Mai to let the whole world hear it, so that the audience could feel that this was the state of the live performance.
The nurse’s knee is injured, and it will be a little inconvenient to go up and down the stairs. We asked her, "This time when you walk, do you want to shoot some other places first?" She said, "Just follow me, and I can shoot wherever I go, it doesn’t matter." In fact, she just wanted to do something very real.
Including singing and singing, forgetting the words and stopping, or the nurse’s heartbeat is so fast that she wants to stop for a while and can sing after stabilization. These are all things that happen during the practice group. Maybe everyone is used to the format of the concert and thinks this is a mistake? In fact, it is not, this is the charm of Live Recording itself.
Liu Ruoying in an online concert
According to the regular concert process, it is essential to rehearse one night in advance. The night before, all the staff arranged in a row, and the artists asked their own questions; there was still some room for adjustment during the day the next day; the performance started at night. This live broadcast completely omitted this process, and there must be worries, but I have repeatedly told you that this is the state of everyone in the training room, and then the live broadcast will be broadcast. The more at ease we have, the more confidence we will have in milk tea.
In offline concerts, we can immediately sense the audience’s emotions from the audience’s voice, while online, we will understand it in stages. For example, bullet comments are actually very direct, but we can’t directly connect these messages to the artists, which will only make the milk sister feel that the amount of information is exploding, and even more uneasy.
There is still a difference between the text of bullet comments and the real emotional feedback on the spot. But from another perspective, online concerts are more like one-on-one conversations between artists and the audience through the camera, but they will have a more private feeling, which is completely different from the atmosphere of the concert scene.
Liu Ruoying in an online concertAt the end of the live broadcast that day, there was no so-called celebration banquet. Because during the epidemic, we couldn’t gather the crowd, everyone was doing "bird and beast scattering", and many staff had not slept for a few days. Later we found out that Milk Tea went to the studio with teachers Chen Jianqi and Huang Shijie, and the MV "Mom" was on the shelves the next day. The online concert "Accompany You" was really crazy.
postscript
Originally thought to be just a live concert, the result continued to ferment, and two MVs were put on the shelves + a recording album was released. Fans said, "This is a super after-sales service". What’s more surprising is that the "Accompany You" online concert and the future "Flying Day" tour concert will also have some "echoes", which is another Easter egg left by the milk tea to fans.
Liu Ruoying in an online concertThere was a special performance in a special period, and Liu Ruoying’s "Accompany You" online concert really made the market see more possibilities for online concerts. Looking back at the preparation process of the entire concert, there was not much deliberate design, there were no complicated interactive sessions, and there was no extra chat from the host. Only Milk Tea and her team presented a quiet or emotional performance for the audience.
Of course, online and offline performances cannot replace each other, and Liu Ruoying’s concert has supported the current production level of online performances. According to Zhong Qiquan, "The online concert of Milk Tea has received a good response from everyone, and it has indeed made more artists or agencies think about the possibility of such performances."
An online concert is more likely to be constantly excavated, the epidemic is not over, do you want to see an online concert of your favorite beans?
Liu Ruoying in an online concert
