Watch Ellen DeGeneres Plan the Selfie During Oscars Rehearsal

Plus, watch her celebrate backstage with Jennifer Lawrence and Kerry Washington.

ByABC News
March 5, 2014, 1:35 PM

March 5, 2014 — -- You've seen the most retweeted picture ever -- Ellen DeGeneres' star-filled selfie -- obviously. But did you know DeGeneres set the goal herself during Oscars rehearsals?

DeGeneres made sure to have her cameras at the rehearsal process. The video recorded a closer look at the host's candid and casual comedic ways.

Complete ABC News Oscars Coverage

During a meeting with her team, DeGeneres fretted as she discussed the selfie stunt.

"I think if I just say I'm trying to break the record of most retweeted picture, I really hope that everyone jumps in this picture," she said. "I keep thinking, I mean, that would be amazing if everyone really gets in."

The jokes were non-stop throughout her crew meetings, stage practices, photo and video shoots.

See Ellen DeGeneres' Best Jokes from Oscar Night

The recordings also captured her whereabouts backstage on the night of the event, greeting celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Channing Tatum with warm hugs and banter. Then lauding Lupita Nyong'o for her heartwarming speech:

"Oh my God," she told the actress. "You won an Oscar and it was beautiful speech. It was beautiful."

The Oscars show was successful on multiple fronts. It reached the highest ratings for an Oscars telecast in 10 years, with an audience of about 43 million.

Ellen Gives Oscars Pizza Deliveryman Huge Tip

As for the selfie: Success! Less than an hour after she posted it @TheEllenShow, DeGeneres' photo surpassed the previous record of 780,000 retweets set for a President Obama tweet after his re-election. The instantaneous surge even caused technical problems for Twitter.

As of today, the tweet had more than 3 million retweets.