don't understand why the trainers have such high expectations of han yujin's dancing after that 1 stage. he did say that he had only been dancing for a year. it's either they're being nitpicky or mnet is just evil editing them...
170116 [Popup Music] Watching points on music shows for Shinhwa’s “Touch” #Intro #Unexpected-Dy
Shinhwa’s “Touch” performances, what’s the best way to enjoy them? And how did music shows shoot them?
On January 2nd, Shinhwa released their 13th full album. Starting from the 12th, they showcased their comeback stages in order on the music shows. Instead of using choreography to portray showy distress, each individual sound is charismatically portrayed through restrained poses. In the first verse, the six members perform a group dance by themselves, while the second verse paints a different picture with the members performing their parts individually with backup dancers. Because the chorus has no lyrics and is uniquely composed of just the melody, it’s a song where the portrayal of the performance is that much more important. It’s a performance where everything from the members’ gazes to Lee Minwoo’s solo dance and even the ending has meaning. Each of the music show cameras have interpreted Shinhwa’s performance in their own way. Borrowing from the words of Choreographer Choi Youngjun (of Liveworks Company), who took the lead in making the “Touch” performances, I analyzed the comeback stages on the music shows.
# Watching Point 1: Shin Hyesung’s Intro
Choreographer Choi Youngjun explained, “If you watch the intro during Shin Hyesung’s part, all the members are looking in different directions. The members then fix their gaze in another direction. I think it’s a really important part. It’s a part that was made to maximize Shin Hyesung’s aura and vocal color.”
When “Touch” starts with Shin Hyesung’s soft vocal, the six members are standing in a line, slightly staggered. They each are looking in a different direction and then matching to the song’s beat, they slowly change their gaze. Afterwards when Lee Minwoo’s part starts, they all look to the front and start their group dance. It is important to emphasize the six member’s staggered gazes during Shin Hyesung’s intro when shooting this.
KBS 2TV’s “Music Bank” succeeded in portraying Shinhwa’s shifts in gazes by going back and forth between closeups and full shots. In the other shows, they either obsessed over Shin Hyesung’s visuals (through closeups) or did not show their shifts in gazes as a full shot and only shot them when they were static, and thus were not able to portray the full effect of the performance.
# Watching Point 2: Kim Dongwan and Andy’s “Indifference”
Choreographer Choi Youngjun stated, “I personally really like Kim Dongwan’s and Andy’s parts. Their roles are very important. If I were to describe this choreography’s color in one word, it would be “indifference” and they both are responsible for that position. During his parts on stage, Kim Dongwan doesn’t really look at the camera. This is a planned set-up. He too studied his part a lot because even though he has to be indifferent, he can’t look insincere. When Andy finishes his rap with his back turned, the choreography was set up to emphasize indifference. I think they both fit their parts well.”
When watching the stages, Kim Dongwan really doesn’t look at the camera a lot. For idols on a music show stage, it is a needed requisite to find the camera that is shooting them, but Kim Dongwan looks the other way to fit the performance set up. Just as the choreographer explained that “it’s because he can’t look insincere,” Kim Dongwan acts well on the stage like the representative actor-dol that he is. Andy does as well.
However, since the camera work of music shows focuses on making eye contact with the members and capturing their faces, the comeback broadcasts failed to catch this watching point. SBS’s “Inkigayo” went as far as moving the camera backwards to show Andy’s face. Most shows did a closeup of Andy’s back and side profile. There was no music show that caught the overall formation with the dancers.
#Watching Point 3: Unexpected-Dy
Choreographer Choi Youngjun said, “Eric and Andy are the grand finale of the ending stage. From long before, I wanted to use the rappers as the grand finale. I thought that Leader Eric at the center would give more weight and that if it ended with Andy in the middle, it would give more of a freshness to it. I personally really like this part.”
Shinhwa members also emphasized this part. At a comeback interview for “Touch,” Shin Hyseung gave a behind the scenes account: “If you watch the choreography, the song ends with Andy at the center, so we called him “Unexpected-Dy.**” In the end, it is important to catch the formation change when Eric holds the weight in the center and then Andy comes out in the middle. However, no music show was able to save “Unexpected-Dy.” While Mnet’s “MCountdown” turned off the lights from Lee Minwoo’s solo dance to emphasize the silhouette, it did not properly catch Eric and Andy’s movement shifts. MBC’s “Show! Music Core” weakened the impact with its smog, blue lighting, and wide full shot. While SBS’s “Inkigayo” did not catch when Andy entered the center, they’re the show that saved “Unexpected-Dy” by showing the ending pose longer.
** TN note: I think the nickname that Hyesung uses is a combination of the word “기승전결” and the “디” from Andy’s name. 기승전결 is used to describe when a novel or movie is moving along and then at the end, there’s an unexpected happening that makes you go, whoa where did that come from. So I’m translating this as “Unexpected-Dy” because you didn’t expect him to show up in the middle after Eric had already moved to that spot.
Credits: HeraldPop + Kim Dongwan is... (Eng Trans)
