Huayu 2015, the Artist of Light and Shadow

……

Although Paradise Umbrella Company was quite satisfied with the short film shot by Lu Yunzhou.

This short film is essentially a public service announcement. Filmed in Hangzhou, it focuses on sanitation workers and teachers, silently conveying the warmth and kindness of the city.

Even without the later inclusion of the Paradise Umbrella trademark, Lu Yunzhou could have submitted this short film to the Hangzhou G20 Summit public service advertising campaign.

They should be able to win an award.

As long as the judges aren't blind and don't engage in any underhanded tactics, this work is good enough to make it to the final round.

It's even possible that they could win the highest award.

Because this work has reached the highest level of Chinese adult films, it would be no problem to win the Yellow River Award, the biggest award in the public welfare adult film industry.

but……

As the client, the executives of Paradise Umbrella Company couldn't help but nitpick a few more points.

This is a privilege possessed by a qualified client.

No client will ever feel that a proposal from a contractor is perfect.

If that's the case, wouldn't it make them, the clients, seem like they have no professional skills?

"Tang Yan acted very well."

"However... isn't the pace a little too slow?"

At this moment, Huang Yida heard some fragmented questions, which made him frown slightly.

Who asked this layman's question?

As Lu Yunzhou's supervisor, watching him edit the short film bit by bit and seamlessly add the background music, Huang Yida, the chief music producer of Tang Yan Studio, knows all about these things best.

At that moment, he couldn't help but want to stand up and refute.

Then someone else said, "I also think the pacing could be a bit tighter? To make the dramatic conflict in the short film even more intense?"

In terms of plot, these executives from Paradise Umbrella Company don't seem to have any problems.

As for the editing and lighting, they felt that the entire short film was very comfortable to watch, and the lighting quality was like that of a Hollywood art film.

It's definitely S-level.

Therefore, they can only nitpick in the broadest and most general direction... rhythm!

But Huang Yida, a professional, felt a headache coming on when he heard this, wishing he could cram all the music theory he had ever learned into the heads of these laymen.

Let them experience the charm of this short film from a musician's perspective.

"I also think the pacing could be a bit faster? Three minutes is really too long for a public service announcement. Could we reduce it to two minutes?"

When GG videos are shown on television or other media, the price is calculated per second.

The longer the time, the higher the price.

Of course, public service announcements use a different calculation system. But if it can be compressed into a two-minute clip, the dissemination rate might be even higher.

So, in some ways, their approach to timing is somewhat reasonable... however, this is under normal circumstances.

In the context of this short film, it's utter nonsense!

"Gentlemen!"

One after another, people jumped out to point out the rhythm problem, and Huang Yida couldn't hold back any longer, so he stood up.

At this moment, Ji Rujing pulled with all his might, but couldn't even hold onto his own personal mount.

Without a doubt, her mount went berserk today!

"Who are you?"

Although Huang Yida is a talented singer who has won many awards, he also recently participated in a Hunan TV idol music show called "Singing Battle".

But to be honest, he's not very popular.

To the senior executives of Paradise Umbrella Company, Huang Yida was probably just a small employee of Tang Yan Studio.

In this situation, neither Ji Rujing nor Lu Yunzhou, the director, spoke up. So who is Huang Yida? Does he even deserve to speak?

Therefore, at this moment, many people frowned, their eyes filled with doubt.

"My name is Huang Yida, an ordinary singer-songwriter. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about my career, but when I first debuted, it was in 2003, I think. As a newcomer, I sang a theme song for the movie 'Sound of Colors' starring Tony Leung."

Upon hearing this, the way the executives at Paradise Umbrella looked at Huang Yida instantly changed.

Who is this person?

In 2003, shortly after her debut, she sang the theme song for Tony Leung's movie.

If you didn't have some real skills, would you get this kind of opportunity?

At this moment, the executives of Paradise Umbrella slowly fell silent, no longer saying that there was a problem with the pacing of the short film, but instead looking at him with curiosity.

Huang Yida continued his self-introduction: "By the way, Li An's film 'Lust, Caution' is infamous in China, right? Everyone should have heard of it."

"As a musician, I'm truly sorry, but the theme song for this movie in Japan, 'Nocturne,' was composed by me."

Although the movie "Subway" stars Tony Leung, not many people have actually seen it.

Regardless of whether the film "Lust, Caution" is good or bad, it is definitely a blockbuster film no matter when it is released.

This seemingly ordinary "junior staff member" with long hair, a slightly chubby face, a pair of small buck teeth, and a shy smile, actually composed the theme song for the Japanese version of this movie?

Without a doubt, this is an industry leader!

Otherwise, he wouldn't be qualified to be involved in the behind-the-scenes work of such a blockbuster film.

"I remember now."

"When my younger sister was in junior high school, about 10 years ago, she seemed to really like listening to your songs. Don't you have a song called 'That Girl Said to Me'?"

Just then, among the group of executives, a slightly younger man suddenly realized and guessed Huang Yida's identity.

"I am ashamed."

"I was not only the lead singer of that song, but also the producer."

For Huang Yida, this all happened more than a decade ago.

The hero does not mention being brave.

Since his debut, he has been working as a music producer. Although he hasn't released many songs, he has collaborated on many film and television productions as a music producer.

He is more of a music producer than a singer.

Actually, his profession is somewhat similar to Zhang Yadong's.

"I've said all this just to tell you that I'm probably a bit more professional than any of you here when it comes to music production."

"As for the soundtrack of this short film, even with my professional expertise, I cannot change even a single note."

"The rhythm of the entire short film is based on the music."

"Therefore, the rhythm cannot be changed."

Huang Yida originally didn't want to say anything.

Because this short film didn't have much to do with him; he was just a supervisor for a week at Ji Rujing's request.

He himself has a lot of work to do.

Little did he know, he would encounter a super genius.

A genius who perfectly and flawlessly embedded Beethoven's music into a short film.

Even if you turn off all the sound effects in this short film, just by watching the rhythm of the story and the flow of light and shadow, the melody of the second movement of "Pathétique" can automatically play in Huang Yida's mind.

The sound and image are now perfectly integrated.

That's incredible!

At that moment, he seemed to have rediscovered Beethoven.

At the same time, he also realized just what kind of monster the young man Ji Rujing had sent to supervise the construction was!

This is a super prodigy who terrifies him even in terms of music.

And now, it's being criticized by some laymen?

So, he couldn't take it anymore!

"It seems you all don't believe me."

Huang Yida had made his point so clear, but the executives at Paradise Umbrella still frowned.

This left him speechless.

An artist's mindset and a businessman's mindset are bound to clash.

As the director, Lu Yunzhou couldn't easily step in under these circumstances, lest the negotiations fall apart and he encounter problems collecting the final payment.

He doesn't have this problem!

"Uncle Da?"

Seeing Huang Yida so agitated, practically filled with righteous indignation, Lu Yunzhou felt a mixture of surprise and a touch of emotion.

"Brother, watch me set the record straight!"

Huang Yida smiled at Lu Yunzhou and mouthed something in a low voice.

Huang Yida strode over to the projector and played the short film from beginning to end again in front of everyone.

"Gentlemen, did you notice anything?"

At this moment, Huang Yida transformed into Teacher Huang, almost as if he were about to pull out a pointer from his pocket and keep tapping the melody and rhythm on the screen so that the students could highlight the key points!

"Let me reintroduce the background music for this short film to you. It is taken from the second movement of Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata."

You bunch of guys, how dare you criticize Beethoven's rhythms?

It's ridiculous.

People can actually laugh when they're speechless.

Huang Yida suppressed the smile on his lips.

Because if he were to laugh at this moment, it would look extremely contemptuous and absolutely infuriating.

At this moment, Huang Yida continued, "Before I explain the music, let me first tell you about the origin of the 'Pathétique Sonata'."

At the age of 28, Beethoven discovered that he was experiencing hearing problems. This plunged him into extreme fear and despair.

"For a musician, hearing loss is no different from a painter losing his sight."

"He didn't even dare to make it public and could only suffer in silence."

"However, Beethoven truly lived up to his name; he was a real man of steel, a true hero who always challenged fate and never bowed down!"

Beethoven challenged fate and never bowed down.

There is actually a hidden meaning in this short film.

A sanitation worker's child sits in the same classroom as children from big cities.

The short film's theme is "dream".

For this sanitation worker's child... Lu Yunzhou, the director, also had high hopes for him, hoping that he could be like Beethoven, challenge fate and never give in.

"Originally, the melody and rhythm of this movement should have been an ABACA rondo structure, with a total of five repetitions of the theme."

"Our director Lu simplified it into an ABA three-part structure, which not only reduced the length of the short film but also fully preserved the emotional core of the melody, without any sense of incongruity."

"I'd like to ask everyone... can anyone hear any flaws in the revised melody?"

You can't tell!

After all, even I, a professional musician, can't tell the difference, so how could you ordinary people possibly tell the difference?

To be able to slightly modify Beethoven's melody so that ordinary listeners cannot detect any abruptness is definitely the mark of a master among masters.

What's most ingenious is that Lu Yunzhou perfectly blends story, light and shadow, and musical melody into one.

Most importantly, even the theme fits perfectly!

As a musician, Huang Yida has come to admire Lu Yunzhou immensely.

If Lu Yunzhou were to switch careers and become a composer for film and television, his price could be estimated to be three times that of his current job!

Because this is no longer just background music, but an art form!

It is a super forbidden zone that belongs only to geniuses, where the skill has been honed to the extreme and is beyond the reach of ordinary people!