拾荒者手记 – Can You Hear Me

Diary of the Scavenger – Can You Hear Me

四月中旬，北京某天，雨后微凉

一场拍摄通告从上午九点化妆开始

凌晨十二点结束

因此次拍摄套数及产出较多，各部门早已做好‘一场硬仗’的准备，其中两位同事分别给自己灌了三大杯深烘加浓美式，真是难以想象，他们九曲十八弯的肠道里汩汩流动了6杯美式，难怪越到后面越亢奋，边走边唱‘I’m just ken’（单押）

为最大程度节省改妆时间，妆面由淡到浓进行，先是清透质感妆容，越往后妆发老师如魔法师一样变出各式精巧配饰，像在进行一场淋漓的面部涂鸦艺术。拍到最后一套，时间趋近11点，连续十几个小时的工作令在场工作人员微露倦意（感觉灯光老师已熬出一圈淡青胡茬了）。

到了正式拍摄时，当大家看到通过摄像机传输到现场大屏的生图成片，惊觉背景、灯光、人物竟结合得如此巧妙，在镜头外他们是放置在桌前的“道具”，而镜头下却俨然形成颇有故事的世界。这些故事瞬时驱散了大家眼神中的倦意，现场气氛参考↓

而在已经挑选出这套的成片后，摄影老师依旧意犹未尽，想要“玩玩创意”，尝试了更多打光方式、道具、拍摄角度以求更好，尽管在他第三次按下快门的时候，封面图就被选出来了。

这次拍摄，还有个有意思的事情。专辑视觉相关拍摄流程，先是由音乐企划部结合艺人想法及制作人建议和相关曲风/demo产出专辑方案，再分别给到摄影团队、造型团队、妆发团队。

大方向明确后，在细节处，如“哥特”这个词，摄影师、服装师、化妆师、音乐制作人也都有自己的理解，但大家在不同领域和圈层都很默契地get到了这个点，并在各自专业上加以定制化发挥和创意，从而现场就是全方位各工种的“炫技”之夜。

摄影师如何用灯光、道具表达；服装是造型师的语言；妆容是妆发师的画笔；音乐则是流动着在字里行间浮空地带的灵魂，颇有“美美与共”之感。

这张专辑名起得比《八月》要果断迅速很多，在去年12月就一锤子定下来了，灵感源于老板看的一部动画《拾荒者统治》。当习惯了地球一切的人被放逐到一颗无名星球，周围一切合理地失控着，荒芜又新奇着，那接下来就是更多的探索、好奇、开拓与创造了，去做一些无人之地才敢做的事，采撷一些本质生活之外的色彩。

而作为这张专辑的第一首歌，老板和制作人首先的想法就是“玩点不一样的”。第一张专辑是内心的窗口，第二张开始尝试摇滚，那第三张如何继续更加大胆地突破创新。

音乐是有关个人的表达，那如何再做些更特别的表达？无字歌？歌剧？一个字的歌？先是提出这些方向，再一一将其否掉。最后终于在去年12月底，老板写下“Can You Hear Me”这一句唱完一整首歌，用极简方式传递所有想表达的，一句话就够了。在编曲上，老板与制作人继续讨论完善，将歌词拆分，旋律上做层次，完成低八度到高八度的过渡。然后在录音时，老板只录到一半便因持续的高声输出无法发声了😶，这也是目前唯一需要连续录制两天的歌曲🫡🫡

等到了最终成品‘出锅’，老板开眉展眼地逢人便给大家分享，拾取一圈听后感。今天，歌曲终于上线了，Can You Hear me？

Can You Hear me

点击听取👂🔗

Title: “Diary of the Scavenger – Can You Hear Me”

In mid-April, on a slightly chilly day in Beijing after the rain,
A shooting began with makeup at nine in the morning
And ended at midnight.

As this shoot involved a large number of sets and outfits, each department was prepared for a “tough battle” in advance. Two colleagues each had three large cups of dark roasted Americano. It’s hard to imagine that they consumed six cups of Americano, which made them more and more excited as time went on. They sang “I’m just ken” (single rhyme)

To save makeup time to the maximum extent, makeup was done from light to heavy. Initially, it was a translucent and textured makeup, and as it progressed, the makeup artist magically created various exquisite accessories, like conducting an elaborate facial graffiti art. By the time of the last set, it was nearing 11 o’clock, and the continuous work for more than ten hours made everyone slightly tired (the lighting technician seemed to have grown a faint stubble).

During the actual shooting, when everyone on set saw the live images transmitted to the big screen on, they were amazed at how well the background, lighting, and characters were fitted together. Outside the lens, they were merely “props” placed in front of the table, but under the camera, they formed a world with a compelling story. These stories instantly dispelled the tiredness in everyone’s eyes, you can get a feel of the atmosphere on set below↓

Even after selecting shots for this set, the photographer was still not satisfied and wanted to “go with his creatively,” trying out more lighting methods, props, and shooting angles for better results. Although the cover image was chosen after his third press of the shutter.

There was an interesting story about this shoot. The album’s visual-related shooting process started with the music planning department combining the artist’s ideas and producer’s suggestions with the genre/style/demos to produce the album plan. Then it was distributed to the photography team, styling team, and hair and makeup team.

After the general direction was set, in the details, such as the word “gothic,” the photographer, stylist, makeup artist, and music producer all had their own interpretations. However, everyone tacitly understood this point in different fields and circles, and customized and played creatively in their respective professions. Thus, the scene became a comprehensive “showcase” of various professions.

The photographer expressed with lighting and props; costumes were the language of the stylist; makeup was the brush of the makeup artist; music was the soul flowing in the words and lines, giving a sense of “sharing beauty.”

The title of this album was determined much more decisively and quickly than “August.” It was decided with one quick blow in December last year, inspired by a cartoon called “Scavengers Reign” that the boss watched. When people who are accustomed to everything on Earth are exiled to an unnamed planet, everything around them reasonably goes out of control, desolate yet novel. What follows is more exploration, curiosity, development, and creation, doing things that only dare to be done in uninhabited places, and collecting colors beyond the essence of life.

As the first song of this album, the boss and the producer’s initial idea was to “try something different.” The first album was the window to the soul, and the second album began to experiment with rocknroll. So, how could the third album continue to break new ground even more boldly?

Music is about personal expression, so how can we make it more special? A song with no word? Opera? A song with just single word? These directions were proposed first and then rejected one by one. Finally, at the end of December last year, the boss wrote down “Can You Hear Me,” singing a whole song with just one sentence, conveying everything he wanted to express in a minimalist way, and one sentence was enough. In terms of arrangement, the boss and the producer continued to discuss and improve, splitting the lyrics, layering the melody, and completing the transition from the low octave to the high octave. Then, during recording, the boss stopped halfway through because of continuous high-pitch output, making it impossible for him to sing anymore 😶, so this is the only song so far that required continuous recording for two days 🫡🫡.

When the final product was “ready to be served,” the boss, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, eagerly shared it with everyone and gathered feedback from a circle of listeners. Today, the song is finally online. Can You Hear Me?

Can You Hear Me
Click to listen👂🔗

https://rock-mobile.lnk.to/CanYouHearMe