Two Mvs of Jay released simultanouesly

The special creations in Jay Chou’s new album “Capricorn” – “Mr. Magic” and “Uncle Joker” – both had the MVs finally released! The MVs were filmed immediately after the press conference for the album launch over a three-day marathon filming blitz. The filming crew is packed with international flavor, including a song-and-dance troupe from Russia, 15 staff members compromising musicians and special effects crew as well as 6 Taiwanese dancers. This made the MV packed with colour and content!

Other than playing a skilled magician, Jay Chou also played the role of a Joker, seated high above on a swinging bar. Jay even wore a woodpecker hat in his clown costume to portray the cockiness of the Joker. Under the skillful direction of Jay, the MV to “Mr. Magic” turned out with a carnival like effect while the MV to “Uncle Joker” had the mysterious and desolate feel around it. Since the lyrics to both songs described the showdown between the two (The Magician and The Joker), and are therefore somewhat related, JVR Music decided to release both MV and the singles simultaneously, allowing the fans to watch till they drop!

By simply listening to the lyrics to each song, it is easy to imagine the scenes (portraying the showdown). The MVs take the songs a step further by presenting a visual feast on the eyes and imagination! Both songs have the somewhat cheerful and mischievous atmosphere to it. The MV also engaged in the help of a dance troupe hailed from Russia, as well as special effects staff and a musician crew. The performance of the Joker (by Jay), ranging from walking on high stilts to juggling balls, was filmed in such detail and accuracy that it is hard to tell between special effects and the real deal!

Pres Chou also dressed up as a clown and sat on a swinging bar hanged highly from the ceiling, portraying a clown which is contented with being alone. During the filming of the scene, Pres Chou noticed that that the scene was not very well done on the monitor screen, he then returned to the swinging bar and instructed crew members to raise the bar even higher – to a height of two to three storey high – before proceeding to the reshoot. This last minute decision by Director Chou left the safety crew, who had not planned for safety coverage at such a height, in jitters. Everyone watched on nervously as Pres Chou swung back and forth from that height. Fortunately, the filming process went on smoothly, much to the relief of everyone.

Jay’s make-up artist, Ah-Do, returns as a guest star in the “Uncle Joker” MV. Ah-Do character was that of a magician, accompanied by hordes of beautiful ladies, displaying a hero-like character; while Pres Chou’s character of the clown was just being replaced on stage (in the MV) by the magician, and letting out a disappointing sigh as he saw the magician’s act on stage on screen at the backstage area. A seemingly happy Ah-Do joked, “I only accepted the role after I saw the script (to the MV). Previously, Pres Chou got me to play roles such as a retard (in ‘Secret’) or a triad leader, this is the first time he is so nice to me!”

In the “Uncle Joker” MV, Pres Chou not only dressed up as a clown - complete with a woodpecker hat portraying the cockiness of the Joker - he not only put up a mimic performance, he even danced! Chou Mama, who was watching by the side, also danced along with her son. Even when he is so busy, Pres Chou is still as mischievous, playing with the camcorder when the filming was paused for a break while dancing coolly – displaying his stability skills.

In the MV of “Mr. Magic”, Pres Chou not only played the piano while being accompanied by the dance troupe, he also danced and showed off his near-perfect magic skills! He tricked two other magicians when they were performing the “Human Saw” trick, by hiding the magicians’ assistant and making himself appear instead. He even made the lady assistant, in the human saw box ‘disappear’, and appeared from the box himself – scaring the life out of the other magicians! This scene displayed the playful and humorous side of Pres Chou!

After fooling around with the magicians, Jay proceeded to play around with the poker cards, making the cards appearing from nowhere, impressing the ladies watching on. Pres Chou, who has been very into magic lately, was having the fun time of his life in the filming of the MV! He even ‘competed’ with two other magicians, making fun of them by turning a small bun to a big bun or making a bun appear from the mouth!

The filming of the two MVs started immediately after the press conference for the album launch in a filming marathon lasting three straight days. With such an extravagant filming crew, many of them had to wait long hours for their turn on set and had to stay up long hours, leaving Jay Chou to feel a little guilty (for the wait and the long filming hours). Jay explained, “For instance, the dancers waited over 12 hours for their turn, I feel so guilty! (They’re) so poor thing! Because there’re too many things (to be accomplished for the shoot), and there was a press conference (prior to the shoot), everyone worked very hard.” Chou Mama, who accompanied her son at the MV filming, was also very worn down. On one of the filming breaks at 5 in the morning, Pres Chou entered the rest area to find his mom asleep on the couch and felt very guilty and loved at the same time.

With everyone so busy and tired, the busiest person around the set has to be Jay Chou, who took on the role of director and acting in the MV at the same time. While others can afford the time to take turns for a break, Pres Chou does not have that liberty of resting for long. Tasked with directing and coordinating such a large filming and dance crew, everyone look up to Pres Chou as though he was “Iron Man” in action. Crew members explained that Pres Chou was so determined was because of his role as a director and his willingness to ensure that the final cut turned out perfect.

The inspiration to the song “Uncle Joker” came to Pres Chou after watching “The Dark Knight”. Portraying the loneliness of the Joker using a uplifting and happy rhythm while using the lyrics to describe the discontent to the magician felt by the Joker. The entire song had the teasing and mischievous feel to it. The title to the song “Uncle Joker” was coined from the “Joker” card in Poker. Lyricist Huang Jun Liang couldn’t resist ‘taking a swipe’ at fellow lyricist Vincent Fang, writing, “I hate you, Mr. Magic, for taking away my business. Lest you forget, Batman broke box office records due to my help.” Another unforgettable part to the song is the part where Jay used his voice to sing in a woman’s pitch! “Uncle Joker” is rich with musical content and rhythm, Jay exclaimed, “When my grandma heard this song, even she couldn’t resist dancing along to the tune!”

“Mr. Magic” portrayed beautifully the western genre of music; the whole song had music compromising from trumpets and other western band wind instruments, which is equally eye-catching as magic itself. Just as the lyrics described, “If he is a clown, I’m his master” as if to ‘reply’ to Huang Jun Lang’s lyrics. The lyrics to “Mr. Magic” even had the cowboy singing “Don’t need to bother! Don’t need to bother!” (from ‘Cowbow on the Run’) while the lyrics to “Uncle Joker” wrote, “I cried secretly while standing alone in the rain, because I couldn’t watch ‘Secret’.” Both lyricists managed to describe Pres Chou’s past accomplishments into their lyrics.

Both MV spent a total of TWD$2.5 million, all for the sake of giving the fans a great show! As for “Capricorn” holding the record for this year’s most purchased pre-order album, producing for all 11 MV is estimated to cost TWD$20 million. Despite having such a tight schedule, Pres Chou has already completed filming for 9 of the songs from the album. With so many things to do and with so little time, Pres Chou can be described as someone who has attained the highest level of time management and multi-tasking!

credits to: jcnet