Episode 168
At this point, PD Kang Seokwoo’s experience began to shine.
Having changed the program’s main concept to “the economic activities of unknown singers,” PD Kang Seokwoo began showing
After showing Lee Ion and Gu Taehwan receiving no response whatsoever while busking, he showed them flying across the stage at university festivals and events.
He showed people on the street passing by indifferently and fans cheering in performance halls, and compared Choi Jaeseong doing a personal broadcast with zero viewers to Choi Jaeseong doing a Three Months and a Hundred Days live broadcast.
Self Made was, first and foremost, a variety show.
The essence of a variety show was the enjoyment the viewers felt, and in order for them to feel that enjoyment, they needed to want the cast members to succeed.
But if the cast’s strengths were emphasized too much and it started to look like a promotional video, it would become contrived.
So PD Kang Seokwoo, as if alternating between light and shadow, subtly but steadily showed the strengths of Three Months and a Hundred Days.
-Wow, they really practice hard.
-Did you hear On Saemiro’s part just now? He sings like an absolute madman.
-Even so, in front of Han Sion, he’s nothing but a mere mortal.
-Even so, once they go outside, they’re just unknowns lol
-lololololololololol
-Can these guys even make money?
-I thought about it while watching the program, but there really isn’t any way for an unknown singer to make money in a short period of time, is there? At most, maybe offline competitions?
-Yeah, it’s not like they can get booked for events.
-Not easy;
The point that appealed to the viewers was that Three Months and a Hundred Days kept trying to earn money as unknown singers even while experiencing failure.
And so, their small losses piled up, and after four days, Three Months and a Hundred Days was recording minus 110,000 won.
-But is Han Sion just going to keep making songs?
-That might actually be the smart move. He can sell them to an entertainment company.
-How much would you usually get for songs like that?
Around then, Han Sion on screen gathered the members. [We need to clearly decide what we’re going to show. What did you do when you went busking?] [Even with special makeup on, it might have been okay if you’d been lively, drawn reactions from the audience, and talked to them. But you felt awkward for no reason and just stood there singing, right?] [If there’s no show, there’s no way it can become a business.]
-He’s right, but doesn’t it feel like he’s lecturing them too much?
-He’s the leader.
-Han Sion was the leader??
-Who did you think it was, then?
-Lee Ion.
-He is the visual leader.
-I could criticize them like that too. He needs a plan. [Then what should we do?] [There are two ways. Either think of something you can use to show yourselves off that isn’t your looks, or think of something that can become a business without any showing off.]
Once Han Sion opened the door, the members of Three Months and a Hundred Days on screen began chattering. [Something like a composition competition? A singing contest would work too.] [How about webtoon OSTs?] [Webtoons?] [These days, it’s a trend for webtoons to have music attached to them. There are a lot of good songs, but also a lot that feel lacking. The webtoon itself is content with built-in presentation.] [Would games work too?]
-Oh, so the webtoon OSTs really were by Three Months and a Hundred Days.
-What does that mean?
-A while ago, a bunch of high-quality OSTs suddenly poured into webtoons. The dominant opinion was that professional singers had made them, but I guess it was these guys?
-Where can I listen to themㅠㅠㅠ
After that came a scene where the members of Three Months and a Hundred Days decided on the names of their alternate personas.
In terms of chronological order, this was actually the scene that should have come first.
But if it had, it would have immediately revealed that Three Months and a Hundred Days had made the webtoon OSTs.
Because the singers’ names were the names of their alternate personas.
That was why PD Kang Seokwoo blurred the timeline through editing.
But there was a very important point here.
Originally, PD Kang Seokwoo had planned to show the members of Three Months and a Hundred Days deciding on their alternate persona names at the very end.
Only then could he slowly reveal that On Saemiro had made the webtoon OSTs, Choi Jaeseong had made the advertising music for a game, and Lee Ion had won the grand prize at a music competition.
If he showed their alternate persona names being decided each time one of them achieved something, he could even create a retrospective direction like The Usual Suspects.
But after seeing the “big shot” Han Sion had pulled off, PD Kang Seokwoo changed his plan.
There was no need to put strength into the beginning.
The things the members of Three Months and a Hundred Days accomplished were impressive too, but compared to what Han Sion had done, they were modest.
Honestly, he was in a very difficult situation right now.
He had said that the money Three Months and a Hundred Days earned would be executed as additional production costs… ‘But it’s an amount that can’t be used like that!’
Because they had earned an absurd amount of money.
M Show had considered twenty million won to be the absolute limit for additional production costs.
As a result, PD Kang Seokwoo decided to present the success stories of the Three Months and a Hundred Days members other than Han Sion in a restrained manner.
There was a separate highlight, so there was no need to force energy into the introduction.
Meanwhile, the broadcast began showing the members of Three Months and a Hundred Days in full-fledged indie musician activity.
The start was Lee Ion’s youth song festival, where he used the stage name “Mimyo.”
Since Coming Up Next ended, Lee Ion had never properly shown his singing until now.
While Han Sion’s Seaside Heights video was setting the internet ablaze, On Saemiro was graduating with honors from The Masked Singer, and Choi Jaeseong was winning Stage Number Zero.
Looking only at the situation, Gu Taehwan was in the same position, but the assessment of him was different.
Everyone knew that Gu Taehwan handled the openings for Three Months and a Hundred Days, and many people were looking forward to a solo song from him.
In contrast, there were no expectations for Lee Ion.
In a way, this was because of prejudice.
The prejudice that because he was excessively handsome, his singing would be lacking.
But what Lee Ion lacked was vocal tone, not skill.
Han Sion had once said, “Lee Ion needs to sing songs where he becomes the protagonist.”
In other words, he could show sufficient skill in a solo song that did not expose the weakness of his vocal tone.
Especially now that he had advanced further through Han Sion’s producing.
And so, the broadcast aired Lee Ion’s song on the stage of the youth song festival that Evening Promise had once participated in.
PD Kang Seokwoo allotted about one minute to this part, but the impact of that one minute was not small.
-What is this?
-Hey, birds of a feather really is science. How do they all flock together like that?
-Why does that sound like an insult lol
-Wow, Lee Ion sings this well?
-I’m telling you, Lee Ion’s individual fans don’t hate Han Sion for no reason lol
-Do you get a buff that makes you sing better when you enlist in Three Months and a Hundred Days?
-It sounds weird when you say enlist.
-Huh! I saw this! That Mimyo massacred all the competitors and disappeared!!!!!
-Pros really are different.
After receiving the prize money, Lee Ion recorded the day’s earnings and also told the camera that he would donate it.
This was to prevent Three Months and a Hundred Days’ economic activities from giving the impression that they were needlessly taking opportunities away from other amateur singers.
Meanwhile, On Saemiro wrote lyrics suited to a webtoon and brought them to Han Sion. [Make me some songs with this kind of feeling.] [All five?] [Yeah. We can probably divide up the vocals.] [Sit here.]
Han Sion began composing while asking exactly what kind of feeling On Saemiro wanted.
Honestly, it was kind of funny.
-Did he reserve his services or what lol
-No, how is he commissioning five songs so casually like that lololol
-The point is that both Han Sion and On Saemiro aren’t thinking anything of it.
Han Sion dashed off five melodies in an instant and asked On Saemiro which feeling he liked better. [I think this one should be a little more poignant.] [Be precise. Is it yearning, or is it poignant?] [Hmm… Then yearning.]
-What’s the difference?;
-Yearning is when you yearn earnestly, and poignant is when you yearn poignantly. Are you stupid?
-lololololololololololol
[I think the change in the melody here should be more dramatic.] [As the range rises? Or as it falls?] [Wouldn’t falling be better? Since it feels a little tense.] [Okay.]
At first, the viewers watched On Saemiro and Han Sion’s work process with amusement, but the atmosphere quickly changed.
-Do other composers do that much too? Or is Han Sion special?
-I’m in practical music at a music college, and that’s Han Sion being special; no, even calling him special isn’t enough.
-Don’t tell me every song by Three Months and a Hundred Days was born that easily?
-Will the results be good?
-If those are the webtoon OSTs I know, they’re insanely good;
It was because Han Sion’s tremendous talent could be felt through the screen.
PD Kang Seokwoo had been greatly impressed while watching this scene, and he thought the viewers would be the same.
So he showed Han Sion’s work process sequentially while making it clear that there was no time jump.
In reality, it had taken Han Sion only three hours to make demo versions of those five songs.
And so, five songs were created just like that, and they moved into recording.
Originally, On Saemiro had intended to sing all five songs, but the opinion came up that in that case, regardless of the quality of the songs, they might not sell.
So in the end, all five members recorded, and Han Sion’s directing aired.
From the viewers’ perspective, Han Sion’s directing was interesting.
Ordinary directing, unless it was in easy areas like setting the beat or catching the rhythm, often ended up being vague and abstract.
Things like telling someone to bring out the feeling more.
But Han Sion was different.
He presented a very clear methodology. [Ah
— ah
— what’s between these two notes?] [Ah
— this is there, right?] [Then what sound creates a perfect harmony with that note?] [Ah
— ah
— this is it, right?] [Yes. You have to play within that range. You act like you’re going to break out of that section, but in the end, this melody has to shoot out from within that range.] [Ah, I’ve got it. Okay.]
In particular, the part where Lee Ion and Han Sion completely changed the feeling of the song through just a few words was interesting no matter how many times one watched it.
By that point, the viewers realized.
The Self Made they were watching right now was not the story of an unknown singer’s struggle.
It was the success story of singers with tremendous talent and skill.
Around then, the OST of the first webtoon On Saemiro had made began to play.
As quite a few viewers had guessed, it was the song included in author Min Huiyeong’s Monday webtoon.
-Hey, holy shit!
-It really is Secret!
-Miro was On Saemiroㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-No wonderㅠㅠㅠ I cried as soon as I heard the songㅠㅠ It was sung by my favoriteㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Perhaps the broadcast’s firepower was no joke, because even accessing that episode of the webtoon began to stutter slightly.
Then, after the scene of On Saemiro sending emails to five webtoon authors. [Yeah!] [WOW!]
Suddenly, two men with masks pulled over their heads appeared in front of the camera.
The composition looked as if thieves were loitering in front of a security camera. [We found a way to avoid special makeup.] [From now on, we are the Masked Robbers.]
-Holy shit!!
-Fuck, an indie trash passing by just got chills. The Masked Robbers were these guys?
-Wow, these guys were insanely popular in Hongdae recently, then suddenly disappeared.
-Jackpot; just how much did they do over three months?
Lee Ion and Gu Taehwan proudly put on masks and got on the subway.
The point was that people openly stared at Lee Ion and Gu Taehwan, and the cameraman filming it was the one who felt embarrassed.
And the moment Lee Ion and Gu Taehwan arrived in Hongdae.
The program logo appeared.
The “Se” and “lf” split apart, and letters slid in between them.
Three Months and a Hundred Days If Made.
Episode 1 had ended.