#that stock video footage | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fcble · 1 year

Text

IN FULL BLOOM is a a forty-five minute documentary describing the writing process and development of Fable’s second studio album. The video consists of interview segments with the members interspersed with behind the scenes footage and vlogs. It focuses mostly on Yejun, who was responsible for most of the album’s production. The video is split into twelve parts that the describe the overall production of the album and focus on each individual track.

INTRODUCTION

“Two, three! Once upon a time! Hello, we are Fable!” Jaeseop leads the group in their introduction. The six of them sit in a row, Jaeseop and Yejun in the middle. They both hold copies of the album, the cover’s iridescent pears shining in the light.

“After a long time, we’ve returned with our second full album. It represents many of our feelings and memories, and we hope you will listen or have already listened to it well,” Jaeseop says. “For the first time, the production was led by our very own member, Yejun.”

He seems more proud of this than Yejun, who acknowledges the praise with only a slight smile.

“I couldn’t have done it alone,” Yejun says. “Writing and composing an album is a huge task, and Intak, Mingeun, and Haksu were also extremely instrumental throughout the production. Additionally, we worked quite a bit with our labelmates, Neon Nights, who were extremely helpful and insightful.”

“Please be sure to enjoy the album!” Jaeseop concludes with a bow.

TRACK 1: 유령

"Despite being the first track on the album, '유령' was one of the last songs I wrote," Yejun says. He sits next to Byeonghwi, who nods along silently with everything he says. "I needed something to set the tone for the rest of the album that follows.

"So '유령' is an indie rock inspired song that describes the feeling of someone who's been left on read."

"We picked this as the first track together," Byeonghwi says. "Andrew-hyung had multiple songs written and he asked us to choose the best one. He texted the group chat first about it." He leans forward, closer to the camera.

"He never texts first. Most of the time he doesn't even respond. He's the one ghosting us."

Byeonghwi seems proud of his connection back to their song.

"Don't be so dramatic," Yejun says, playfully elbowing him in the side. "You picked this song, right?"

Byeonghwi nods. "It was almost unanimous. I think Haksu-hyung and Intak-hyung were the only two who voted for other songs."

"There were better songs," Intak says. Haksu stares at him, brow creasing into a frown for a split second.

“I thought it was difficult to sing,” Haksu says. "I wanted to consider how the song fit us as a group."

"Andrew is in our group. He knows what we're capable of."

Haksu pouts. "I only wanted to be considerate. Andrew-hyung ended up singing most of the song."

“That’s nothing new,” Intak says. “It’s always the two of you singing every part.”

“Me? I didn’t give myself a vote. I like all my songs equally. If I could make that decision myself, I wouldn’t have had to ask everyone,” Yejun says. “It’s better when we’re all involved. Then it becomes the group’s song, not just mine.”

“You have to have had a favorite,” Byeonghwi says persistently. “Something you hoped we would pick?”

Yejun laughs. “I really didn’t.”

Byeonghwi doesn’t look satisfied.

Haksu stands in the recording booth, glaring at Yejun, who sits on the other side of the glass.

“The feeling still isn’t right,” Yejun says.

“And I said you need to be more specific than that! You can’t just say the ‘feeling’ and leave it at that. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

The camera flips, to show Mingeun and Byeonghwi sitting behind Yejun.

“This is why we only release one album a year,” Mingeun says quietly, holding a microphone close to his mouth. The argument can still be heard in the background. “Andrew-hyung is a perfectionist.”

“You are too,” Byeonghwi says. “I don’t think that’s the reason. Andrew-hyung didn’t even write anything on the last album.”

“I don’t want people to stop listening to the album thirty seconds into the first song,” Yejun says, voice rising to almost a fever pitch in the background.

“Then do it yourself.”

“Fine.”

The camera flips back to Haksu and Yejun switching places. Haksu stands with his back to the camera, arms crossed. In the recording booth, Yejun sings the same part.

“They both sounded the same to me,” Byeonghwi says when he finishes.

TRACK 2: GEPPETTO

"If 'Ghost' is the sonic start to the album, then 'Geppetto' is the thematic start. It started as something I wrote for fun in my free time, but I realized it fit well with the theme of the album," Yejun says. He sits in the middle of the frame, flanked by Byeonghwi and Haksu.

“Which is?” Byeonghwi prompts.

“Youth. Being young and carefree. There are multiple songs inspired by fairy tales, or at least with that sort of feeling. I thought it fit well with our group.”

“Is Pinocchio one of your favorite stories?” Haksu asks. “In the same way Mingeun really liked The Little Mermaid?”

“The lyrics came later,” Yejun says. “It was something that just felt right. You of all people should be familiar with that.” He casts a deliberate glance at Haksu.

“It was just a question,” Haksu says sulkily.

“Can we start over?” Byeonghwi asks the camera.

TRACK 3: HOME RUN

The video switches to portrait mode for the third track. A blurred out Vlive icon is still visible in the corner. On screen, Haksu lies on a hotel room bed.

"Where are you now?" Haksu says, reading a comment. "We're in Andrew-hyung's hometown, Colorado. We have a break for a little bit, so I came to say hi." He waves the camera.

He's easily distracted by something off screen. "Are you working?"

"Yes." Yejun's voice comes from somewhere out of sight.

Haksu stands up and walks across the room, camera pointed at the ground. He's wearing Line Friends socks.

"Can I show this on the live?" he asks. He repositions the phone, balancing it on the tiny hotel room desk, so that he, Yejun, and Yejun's computer are all in frame.

"You're already showing it," Yejun says.

“You should take a break,” Haksu says, resting his head in one palm as he kneels next to Yejun. “You’re always working.”

“You’re working too.”

“It’s different.” He takes a closer look at the screen. “What are you working on, anyway?”

“Our new song. It’s finished, except for the recording. I thought a different environment might change what I thought of it.” “Can you give us a spoiler?” Haksu asks.

Yejun looks like he wants to say no, but he unplugs his headphones and lets the music play for a fraction of a second, a bright, brassy instrumental that sounds especially tinny coming from his laptop speakers.

“That’s all I can share,” he says. “Please look forward to the album’s release.”

“The title track, ‘Home Run,’ is a retro, swing-inspired track that incorporates piano, brass, and Fable’s signature Korean instruments,” Jaeseop says, reciting the song’s description. All six active Fable members sit in a row against a plain white backdrop.

He continues on. "It was written by our own members: Yejun, Mingeun, Haksu, and Intak. Yejun also produced the track."

“Not only me,” Yejun says quickly. “Intak helped a lot. We also indebted to Neon Nights’ Hwajung-ssi, whose experience was very valuable to the creation of the song.” His tone brightens suddenly. “Please make sure to show it a lot of love!” He makes a heart over his head. Next to him, Intak looks nauseous.

Yejun stands in a darkened room, lit only by the bright white theme of the Powerpoint presentation projected onto the wall behind him. His audience is one person: Zenith Entertainment CEO Lee Taein. The title of the presentation is written in two languages, large Hangul text over a smaller title in English: A Proposal for the Future Musical and Conceptual Direction of Fable.

Yejun rolls up the sleeves of his dress shirt and begins his presentation. “Over the past few years, Fable has enjoyed a not insignificant modicum of success. I have greatly enjoyed my time as a group member. However, as we approach our fourth year as a group and given the current overall state of kpop, I believe it would be beneficial for all of us to begin to play a larger role in our professional development.”

The rest of Yejun’s speech is cut. Almost immediately, he’s bowing at the waist to Taein. “Thank you for listening.”

Taein remains expressionless for a moment. Then he stands from his seat and says, “I look forward to seeing what you come up with.”

Yejun breaks into a grin, nearly folding himself in half with his bow.

TRACK 4: BREAK OF DAWN

“The next song, ‘Break of Dawn,’ is a transition between the title track and the rest of the album. It keeps some of the same brass and piano instrumentals as ‘Home Run,'" Jaeseop says, introducing the next song.

"We'll also be promoting it," Mingeun chimes in. "The concept and choreography show a refined side of Fable."

"'Break of Dawn' is one of the songs I produced completely on my own," Yejun says. "It was a daunting task. I wanted something that not only fit with the title track, but also something that was unmistakably a Fable song. Something that our fans could listen to and recognize immediately as one of our songs."

Mingeun stands in the center of the group, counting off beats as he leads the choreography in slow, exaggerated movements. His gaze is glued to the practice room mirror, until he spots an incorrect movement.

“Andrew!”

In the back of the formation, Yejun groans and tries to hide behind Intak.

“You wrote the song! You should know where the downbeat is!”

“How do you know I’m not the only one on beat and the rest of you are wrong?”

Mingeun turns around and scowls at him. “I’m not wrong.”

The singling out of one member signals a break for the rest of them.

“In my nightmares, I imagine the military is like this,” Haksu says, lying spread-eagled on the floor.

“It can’t be as bad,” Intak says, sitting next to him. “Mingeun won’t be there.”

“I hope Kiyoung-hyung is enjoying his Mingeun-free time,” Haksu says.

Mingeun takes a break from his private lesson with Yejun to glare at the two of them.

TRACK 5: TALK TO ME

"This is my favorite song," Byeonghwi says, leaning so far forward in his seat that it looks like he'll fall. "Please make sure to show it lots of love."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Yejun says, nudging him gently in the shoulder, though not hard enough for Byeonghwi to fall.

"Right. The fifth song is called, 'Talk to Me.' It was written and produced by Andrew-hyung himself." Byeonghwi seems to take more pride than Yejun in something he didn't do.

"'Talk to Me' was another later addition to the album. I needed something that would bridge the title tracks to the rest of the album."

"It's such a fun song," Byeonghwi interrupts. "This is an unpopular opinion, because Andrew-hyung told me he doesn't like it very much and it almost wasn't released."

"You can't say that," Yejun says playfully. “I love all these songs equally.”

“I can do it better,” Byeonghwi insists from where he stands, almost completely blocked by the microphone.

Separated by the glass of the recording booth, Yejun sighs and leans back in his seat. "Everyone else has to record their parts too. You sounded good the first sixteen times."

"This is the intro. It can't be good, it has to be perfect."

"Fine, try it again."

Byeonghwi immediately launches into his seventeenth take.

Yejun stares directly into the camera. "I can't say no to him," he says softly, looking miserable. In the background, Byeonghwi can be heard repeating the introductory lines over and over to himself.

TRACK 6: GRAVITY

“‘Gravity’ is the halfway point of the album. It’s a bit slower than every song so far, and every song that follows,” Yejun says, introducing the song. “Every Fable album has to have at least one vocal-focused song. Usually, they’re at the end of the tracklist and we never perform them. I wanted to do something different this time, and that’s how it came to be here.”

The camera cuts to a grainy video of a dimly lit studio. For a few seconds, the only thing in focus is a laptop screen, open to Logic Pro. The view pans up until the inside of the recording booth can be seen. Haksu stands inside, headphones on, staring intently at a stack of papers and mouthing silently to himself.

“Haksu,” Yejun says, causing him to look up.

“Hyung!” Haksu hides himself behind the paper. “You can’t seriously be filming now.” His voice comes out slightly muffled.

“Why not? You sound good. We can do the second verse now.”

“It’s only a guide,” Haksu says, but there’s a note of pride in his voice. He starts with the second verse, still hiding his face behind his lyrics.

A couple of lines later, he pauses and lowers the paper from his face. “What is this part supposed to sound like? It sounds like there’s too many syllables for the line.”

“Just try it,” Yejun cajoles. The camera shakes slightly as he repositions it to reference his own copy of the music on his computer screen.

“You’re not telling me my Korean is bad, are you?” he asks.

“Of course not,” Haksu says, sounding shocked that Yejun would even suggest that. “Not now, but maybe a few years ago.”

“You didn’t think about saying something earlier?”

“I didn’t notice anything earlier!” Haksu protests.

“You don’t read ahead?”

Haksu stares at him. “Why would I do that?”

Yejun sighs, glancing at the clock in the corner of his screen that reads 00:38.

“I have to fix this, but there’s still five more songs to record.”

“I’ll ad-lib it,” Haksu says. “That should be enough for now.” He scans down the page in an exaggerated motion. “There are other parts I would change too.”

Yejun rests his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes. “Fine.”

“Haksu was actually the second person I asked to do the guides,” Yejun says. “Don’t tell him that. He’ll find out later if he watches this. Jaeseop has a really good sense of rhythm, but he didn’t respond to any of my texts. I wanted to do all the recordings that night, and Haksu was willing to do it.”

"Unlike Andrew-hyung, I check my phone." Haksu seems proud of himself. "It was late at night, but he made it sound so urgent. I thought I would record one or two songs. I did all eleven."

He emphasizes the number. "Looking back on it, it was a crazy experience. We were there for hours. I remember walking out into the sunrise. I don't know how long Andrew-hyung was awake for, but he drank so many energy drinks his hands were shaking."

“It’s been a long time since I’ve stayed up for so long,” Yejun says. “I used to be able to pull all-nighters all the time. Now I can tell I’m getting old.”

TRACK 7: 12:00 (심호흡) & TRACK 8: 5분

“The seventh and eighth tracks accompany one another,” Yejun says. “They bring back the fairy tale theme from the beginning of the album. These are Jaeseop’s favorite tracks.”

“If I had a fraction of Andrew’s skill, this is the type of music I’d make,” Jaeseop adds.

“You flatter me,” Yejun says drily. “If you want to learn, all you have to do is ask.”

“This is good,” Jaeseop says, taking out his earbuds. His words are accompanied by hardcoded subtitles, because he and Yejun sit in a coffee shop, Yejun’s laptop in the middle of the table between them.

“Why do you sound surprised?” Yejun asks.

“I’m not surprised. I knew you could write good music.” Yejun takes a sip of his iced coffee, looking very, very tired, if the shadows under his eyes are any indication.

“Do you think they sound like Fable songs?”

“I think any song could be a Fable song, if it’s good. We shouldn’t be constrained to only one sound.”

“Can you be more objective? Pretend to be Taein-nim.”

Jaeseop sucks in a breath. “I’m not doing that. You speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Besides, he’s the opposite of objective.”

Yejun sighs. “I don’t want to propose this to him and then get laughed out of his office. I’d take it personally and never recover.”

“He probably won’t do that,” Jaeseop says in consolation. “He can recognize good music when he hears it.”

Across from him, Yejun looks extremely doubtful.

TRACK 9: NOW OR NEVER

“This song is another track that I thought might never see the light of day,” Yejun says. “It’s very different from the rest of our songs. Thematically, it fits with the rest of the album, which is why I decided to include it. Mingeun and Haksu also worked on some of the lyrics.”

“What are they doing here?” Mingeun asks, standing in the doorway of Yejun’s studio. He barely has room to shut the door behind him. The room is cramped: Yejun in front of his usual dual monitor and full 88-key keyboard setup, Mingeun standing awkwardly near the door, and two women sitting on chairs very clearly stolen from the single Zenith conference room. Their names flash briefly on the screen, introducing them as Choi Eunbyul and Go Hwajung of Neon Nights.

“That’s very rude,” Yejun chides. “Also, you’re late.”

“We’re consulting,” Hwajung says.

“I don’t see why we need to be here,” Eunbyul says. “Andrew-ssi’s music is very good.” She gives a two-handed thumbs up to the camera.

“Unnie, that’s cringe,” Hwajung says softly.

The rest of their work flies by in a montage of sped-up movements and sound, the same few soundbites played over and over again. Mingeun paces in the small space, alternating between his spot near the door and staring over Yejun’s shoulder.

“That was my first time being so involved with the songwriting process,” Mingeun says. He sits alone, nearly squinting under the harsh glare of one too many flood lights. “Usually I work only on the choreography, and that’s always after the songs are finished. Plus, I don’t do it from scratch. It’s really admirable to see the thought and effort Andrew-hyung puts into everything.”

TRACK 10: DREAMING

“With ‘Dreaming,’ I wanted to write a song that was a bit more trendy. I eventually decided on a rock song,” Yejun explains. “A lot of my inspiration came from Neon Nights’ New Island of Utopia. I started working on ‘Dreaming’ almost immediately after listening to their album. I’m very grateful that I got to work with them so much on this track.”

“Honestly, I didn’t expect the song to be in English,” Mingeun says. “I feel like we’ve always had this specific image to maintain. And then Andrew-hyung called me up and was like, hey, I’m working on something in English wanna give me a hand? I said yes, of course.”

He gestures to nothing in the air. “And then we got this song.”

"Sonically, it was going to stand out from the rest of the album by being a band track. There are real instruments on the recording: I played the piano, and Eunbyul-ssi, Hwajung-ssi, and Yumi-ssi all played their instruments," Yejun says. "Changing the language was just another way of differentiating the song from the rest of the album. If we had the opportunity to promote another track, I'd love to perform this one. We've never had the opportunity to perform with each other, and I think it'd be a great experience for all of us."

TRACK 11: FIRE

“‘Fire’ is probably the song that took the longest time to produce,” Yejun says. “If you count all the time it spent hidden on Intak’s laptop.”

“It wasn’t hidden,” Intak argues. “I was waiting for a better time.”

The two of them sit in the same featureless interview room.

“Most of the song was composed by Eunsu,” Intak says. “After he left, I didn’t want to work on it anymore. And then we were busy, and then…”

He trails off into silence.

“You forgot about it,” Yejun says.

Intak glares at him.

Yejun sits on the floor of a dance practice room, Macbook open in front of him. He holds his phone in one hand, dial tone echoing off the walls. He reaches for the camera, as if to adjust the angle, when the call connects.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Eunsu."

Yejun leans back, resting his body weight on one arm and holding his phone in the other. "You're on speaker." He glances towards the camera. "And on camera."

"I am? Hello everyone, I'm–"

Yejun cuts him off. "You don't need to introduce yourself. I called to see if you remember this."

He holds his phone closer to his laptop speakers and hits play. For a few moments, the only sound is the music coming from Yejun’s laptop.

Eunsu groans. “Please turn it off. I don’t think I could forget it.”

“Why not?” Yejun prompts.

“I thought Intak-hyung and I would be the only ones to hear it. I was working on it for practice, and he was helping me.”

“That’s not what he told me,” Yejun says. “And why didn’t you ask me for help?”

“You sound like Haksu,” Eunsu says with a laugh. “I didn’t ask him. He approached me. I think he thought it was bad, but he didn’t want to tell me that.”

Yejun switches his phone to his other hand. “That seems like Intak. He told me you wanted to release it one day. I thought it would fit on the album I’m working on now.”

“Is this the same album you’ve been working on since before I left? I haven’t seen any new Fable music with your name all over the credits.”

Yejun winces. “Don’t say that. We’ve only released one mini album since then.”

There’s a hint of bitterness in his voice, but Eunsu doesn’t seem to notice, plowing on with his words. “I mentioned releasing the song only once to Intak-hyung. I’m surprised he remembered. I don’t mind if you add it to your album. Did you want my permission, or something?”

Yejun nods, then seems to remember that Eunsu can’t see him. “Yes,” he admits. “I wanted to hear from the original songwriter before Intak starts working on it again.”

“He can do whatever he wants,” Eunsu says. “I won’t stop him.”

OUTRO

The end of the documentary looks nearly the same as the beginning, as if they filmed both segments one after the other. The only difference is that they’re now standing instead of sitting.

“Thank you for watching!” Jaeseop says, still holding the album.

“Please make sure to show the album and Fable lots of love!” Haksu adds, making a heart with his hands.

“Two, three! This was Fable! Thank you very much!” Jaeseop ends the recording, leading the group into a synchronized bow.

They wave at the camera until it cuts to black.

#╰ to be written in ink is to be immortal — [ writing. ]#╰ to be written in ink is to be immortal — [ development. ]#fictional idol community #idol oc #kpop oc #idolverse #kpop fanfic #kpop addition #there was going to be a preview video but then i started looking for clips and uhhh uhhh #i hated it so pear blossom stock footage gif it is

17 notes · View notes