Chapter 142 Preparations
At first glance, they are all exquisite photographs, but upon closer inspection, one can discover that they are arranged according to a certain pattern. As one photograph is viewed in sequence, one can feel the emotions conveyed by the photographs progressing continuously. The static photographs contain immense energy. Meng Fanxi looked at them repeatedly, and it was as if he was not in the photographs, but someone else.
The same goes for the video. Even Wei sent a message praising it, saying that the video was worthy of being directed by a great director. It told a complete story in less than a minute and developed another aspect of Meng Fanxi's character—melancholy, sentimental, yet shrouded in mystery, making people want to explore it.
Meng Fanxi privately thanked Director Feng, but Director Feng waved his hand and said it was nothing and that they should keep in touch.
The past few days felt like a dream. The director he had looked up to in his past life was now telling him to practice more. Meng Fanxi decided to sleep a little longer to calm his mind.
The schedule for the new album and concert has been moved up.
Hsu Yu once said that Will Company is actually a company with a strong desire for control. It plans every step of the artists' lives in a very clear way, so that everyone can move steadily along the predetermined path.
But under Wei Ye's leadership, things had long since deviated from the established rules.
After Wei Ye successfully orchestrated VIER's debut, the scales tipped in his favor.
Later, Wei Ye's plan helped VIER move in a better direction and silenced some executives who wanted to interfere and make VIER take on more gigs.
This new album and concert were entirely sponsored by VIER. Compared to his debut album, which featured most of the songs by top Chinese composers and lyricists, this album tells everyone that they can open their minds and immerse themselves in it wholeheartedly. This will be an album in which everyone participated from beginning to end.
Wei is confident in saying this, given their debut album's success and their current abilities.
During the album discussion, everyone shared their opinions and discussed the concept and direction of the album. Wei also had the team record the event on video. Since they started posting behind-the-scenes glimpses of VIER's work on social media from time to time, the fans' positive feedback has been increasing, and the already high level of fan loyalty has increased by several percentage points, with amazing results.
This time, he plans to include various exclusive behind-the-scenes clips from VIER's production of the album in the album, along with other online clips, as part of the pre-release promotion.
After discussing the album's content for a while, everyone roughly decided that the overall musical style would be sunny, positive, and optimistic. It could contain 1-2 experimental tracks on new trendy music, but most of the songs had to be very catchy, ideally creating a large-scale sing-along effect at future concerts.
Meng Fanxi really enjoys the process of having complete control over the album content. "We even designed the cover. How about that? It doesn't need to be a particularly professional design, as long as it expresses the part that resonates most with our fans and listeners."
Xu You's eyes lit up as he looked at Wei Ye: "Is it okay, Brother Ye?"
Wei shrugged: "How do you know that the album design hasn't even started yet, and you haven't even found a designer?"
Wei Ye's words gave everyone a boost of confidence, which also meant that they had absolute control over the album.
We need to be extra careful at this point, and we must not let the album get out of control because of this great degree of freedom. Everyone's face showed a serious expression.
Starting with the album's core concept, everyone offered suggestions.
Lin Ruohe: "Our album concept should be a consistent line or a progressive layer, with each album having countless connections. This would make it more meaningful."
Meng Fanxi nodded: "Agreed. Our debut album is perfect, so we can look for inspiration from the concept of the debut album and see what concepts can run through our group, such as the Milky Way or the tree."
Zhang Yang is equally cautious about the album, and at this moment he is also seriously considering it with great interest. "That's right, Fanxi, both of the ones you mentioned are very suitable. The concept of the Milky Way is more expansive and can be traced back to our original 'eternal six stars', while 'tree' is also a very vibrant concept. I think they are both very suitable for us."
After discussing it for a while, the group was still torn between "the Milky Way" and "the tree," and then decided to vote.
The concept of "tree" was successfully selected.
Because everyone felt it was more practical, the concept of "Galaxy" could give people a sense of impracticality if not handled properly. They had their own ideas, but they were more concerned with the long-term development of the team.
Wei was very pleased to see their discussion. In fact, this was a very risky step. There are many self-important artists in this industry who call themselves artists. If you let such people make an album, the result may be that the audience does not like it, but they are still immersed in it and turn around and blame the audience for not knowing the value.
The six people in front of us are undoubtedly capable, and their ideas and personalities far surpass those of their peers. But their most valuable quality is that they are willing to prioritize the feelings of their fans and respect the ears and eyes of the public.
In the days that followed, they began to systematically visit various pre-selected locations to experience nature, discuss album content, find inspiration, and create songs.
After all, I've already made a promise to perform the new song at the concert, so I can't just let everyone down.
The concert planning was also a collective effort. Meng Fanxi had never held a full concert in his previous life. At most, he was given a song at Baihe Company's family concert, and that was a duet with someone else.
This experience was quite heartbreaking, but it didn't stop him from attending many concerts, except for VIER back then. He was deeply hurt by that experience and hesitated about whether to go to VIER's concert, but ultimately chose not to. Little did he know that that concert would be VIER's only tour ever.
He never imagined that he would be holding his first concert as a member of VIER.
In his impression, most idol group concerts follow the same formula, and some don't even bother to carefully decorate the venue. For fans, the best stage is just for the idols to appear on stage, but this means that the effect of the concert is limited to the fans.
Meng Fanxi believes that a truly good stage is one that can engage everyone, make fans more passionate, and allow ordinary people to participate with the thought that "watching their concert is definitely worth it," thus creating a virtuous cycle.
So when Wei Ye said to disregard the budget and boldly plan the concert, Meng Fanxi expressed all her pent-up ideas.
They were sitting in a formal conference room, which was filled with cameras pointed at them.
If the footage shot during the album discussions was behind-the-scenes footage, then Wei also plans to make a behind-the-scenes documentary about planning the concert. The length will definitely satisfy fans, and it will also become an important source of information for future 'archaeological' research.
Meng Fanxi was oblivious to the cold, mechanical gazes of the machines; his attention was entirely focused on the matter at hand. "I hope our stage isn't one of those ordinary, round or square stages that just extend outwards."
He described the scene he envisioned: "The electronic screen in the center of our stage backdrop is designed as a giant tree with thick branches extending out. Correspondingly, the stage itself is also in the shape of a tree. It looks like a tall tree standing tall and its shadow cast by the light."
Ren Yuchen listened with great interest and added, "This is a great idea. The stage is very interesting. The stage extends from the main stage in different tree trunk shapes, so our position on this stage is like standing on the branches of a tree, and the distance between us and the audience is also different. It's very novel."
As Meng Fanxi described it, everyone continued to use their imagination.
Xu You: "Just this morning, Brother Wang from the design department was asking us for our ideas on the light sticks. Why don't we make the handheld part of the light stick look like a branch, and the light-up part like three-dimensional leaves? That way, when all the audience members in the inner and outer fields raise their light sticks, it will be like adding branches and leaves to the trunk of the stage tree."
Gu Huailang perked up, "If that's the case, we might be able to capture a picture of a lush, vibrant tree from the air using a drone. How interesting!"
Meng Fanxi thought of the branch stage, but hadn't really thought of the light sticks yet. However, as everyone added their suggestions, the feeling of the stage concept gradually being perfected was really great.
To illustrate the idea more vividly, they connected their computer to a large screen, found the necessary equipment, and drew a venue, starting to hand-draw its contents.
Meng Fanxi: "If we make the trunk bigger and its branches more numerous, then the longest branch can extend straight to the outermost area, so that we can take into account their feelings during the performance interaction."
Lin Ruohe: "Yes, if there are more branches on both sides and the angle is wider, we can take care of the audience in every corner and deepen their experience to the greatest extent."
At this point, a marketing manager involved in the concert preparation raised a small question: "I understand your desire to cater to the feelings of everyone in the audience, but the current price difference between different areas of the concert means that fans in the inner circle who have paid more money are looking for a better experience. If you spend a lot of time in other areas, those fans who have paid more money may be dissatisfied."
Meng Fanxi: "If our stage plan is feasible, then reducing the price difference between different regions is inevitable."
The marketing manager paused for a moment, then said, "You mean, raise the prices for the outdoor area and lower the prices for the indoor area?"
Meng Fanxi shook his head: "It's about lowering the overall price and reducing the differences between each region."
The marketing manager paused for a moment, "Well, this company needs to make money."
At this moment, all the members of VIER stood up and sided with Meng Fanxi.
Hsu Yu spoke with rare earnestness, saying, "You can't put your first concert after your debut on the mindset of making money. You have to make your fans feel that it's worth every penny in order to have a sustainable future."
Lin Ruohe: "Our considerations are also a solution to the potential unnecessary disputes you mentioned earlier. If you have a better one, you can also suggest it. Or do you think our stage plan needs to be changed?"
The marketing director fell silent. He couldn't bring himself to say that the stage design was bad; in fact, he was quite satisfied with the fresh and unique idea.
Meng Fanxi glanced at the marketing director's expression and knew he couldn't give a good answer, since he wasn't the one who could make the final decision. So he said to Wei Ye, "Why don't we go back and discuss it and see if there's a solution that combines both approaches? Let's move on to the next part."
Wei Ye exchanged a glance with the marketing director, nodded, and continued with the following content.
The entire planning meeting was a great success. They put forward many ideas, which were all recorded and are very likely to be adopted.
In the midst of his busy preparations for the new album and concert, "Yunzhou Travelogue" was scheduled to air. In addition to attending classes, he also had to participate in almost every promotional event for the TV series, since Feng Mingxu personally called him and said that he must go.
He only understood the reason after watching the film in advance.
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