1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The post-production of The Sixth Sense has reached the soundtrack recording stage, and Zhou Yan has almost completed the soundtrack for the film.

In this movie, Zhou Yan did not write long songs. He wrote very short paragraphs, but there were a lot of them. He wrote more than 20 paragraphs in total.

Most of these soundtracks are hidden in some blank parts of the movie's plot. On the contrary, they are places where the plot tension is relatively strong. Zhou Yan did not add music, and the volume of these soundtracks will be turned down very low to try not to affect the human voice and the live sound. .

Of course, there are some exceptions, such as the opening and ending of the film.

When it comes to the opening credits, because there is no other sound, the soundtrack will definitely be more obvious and quite long. This piece of music mainly serves as an introduction and sets the tone of the entire movie.

At the end, when Dr. Ma suddenly realizes that he has passed away, the song played by Zhou Yan has the greatest emotional fluctuations. This is also to express Dr. Ma's shock and the subversion of the plot.

During this period, Zhou Yan's work was still quite busy. In addition to the later stage of The Sixth Sense, he also had the soundtrack of Alive.

However, Zhou Yan also wrote half of the soundtrack of Alive. He changed the tune of The Street Where the Wind Lives, divided it into three sections, and put them in the movie. Then based on the changed tune, he made the soundtrack for the movie and added They have already made six sections of the song written by Zhao Zhang.

The post-production of Alive is at Shanghai Studio. Zhou Yan will find time to go to Shanghai Studio later to confirm the soundtrack with Zhang Yimou in person. Their plan is to add the soundtrack to the soundtrack before March next year. into the film.

Ordinarily, there is still a long time before March next year. Zhou Yan doesn't need to rush at all and can take his time. However, Zhou Yan will go to Neon to hold the Oriental Legacy concert on January 17th.

After the concert, Zhou Yan had to go home to celebrate the New Year. By the time the New Year was over, it would already be mid-February, so Zhou Yan actually didn’t have much time. He needed to finalize the matter of Alive before going to Neon.

Fortunately, the post-production work of The Sixth Sense was relatively smooth, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, and Zhou Yan was able to handle these tasks with ease.

But just when Zhou Yan could relax a little, work came again.

In mid-December, Zhou Yan received a call from Xu Feng. Xu Feng told him that the rough version of The Flying Piano Boy had been cut out and would be sent to him for the soundtrack.

When Olivier and the others were going to remake The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly, they considered changing the name of the movie. Later, after discussion, they decided to make only a simple change, changing The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly to Flying. of.

This change not only changes the meaning, but also reduces the number of words when translating into foreign languages.

During the phone call, Xu Feng only told Zhou Yan that someone would send the film over. Zhou Yan did not expect that the person delivering the film would be the director Olivier himself.

Olivier came from France alone and went to Zhou Yan's house with a translator, Li Dakai, a student from the School of Foreign Languages ​​he hired last time he came to China.

The cooperation last time was quite pleasant, so Olivier hired Li Dakai again this time.

Moreover, Olivier didn't tell Zhou Yan before coming, but directly contacted Li Dakai, and it was Li Dakai who went to pick him up.

Zhou Yan was arranging the soundtrack of The Sixth Sense at home. When he heard a knock on the door, he went out and opened the door. He was stunned for a moment when he saw Olivier and Li Dakai standing at the door.

Olivier, you came here by yourself?

Well, I don't have much to do lately, so I just came over to take a look. I also have some ideas of my own about the movie's soundtrack that I want to share with you.

Zhou Yan nodded and invited the two people in.

However, they did not stay at home for too long, because Zhou Yan's family did not have the conditions to show movie films, so they could only take the films to Yanjing Studio to watch movies.

Olivier and Li Dakai naturally followed.

When they arrived at the editing building, Yang Ming first glanced at Olivier behind Zhou Yan, and then said in surprise: Didn't you say you weren't coming today?

There's new work. Zhou Yan pointed to the box containing the film.

Want to cut it? Yang Ming asked.

Zhou Yan shook his head and said, No, just watch a movie.

When he heard that he was just watching a movie, Yang Ming nodded and didn't ask again, Then you go and watch it yourself.

Zhou Yan took Olivier to watch a movie.

When they arrived at the screening room, Olivier looked around, and then couldn't help but sigh, the equipment here is really crude. In such an environment, it is not easy for Zhou Yan and the others to make a good movie.

There are a lot of equipment in the workshop, which is far behind those in Europe and the United States. Moreover, he heard from Zhou Yan that Yanjing Studio is already the top film production base in China.

Since Yanjing Studio is so backward, one can only imagine the situation in other places.

This was the first time that translator Li Dakai had such close contact with film production, and he was looking around, full of curiosity.

The production of movies is very mysterious to ordinary people. When Li Dakai saw Yang Ming cutting the film with a knife just now, his eyes almost popped out. He really didn't expect that every frame in the movie turned out to be real Cut out.

Zhou Yan ignored the two of them and began to load the film for screening.

After the film was loaded, he took out his notebook and pen and started to watch the film formally.

Li Dakai originally thought that a movie only lasted ninety minutes, and it wouldn't take long to watch it. But when Zhou Yan started watching the movie, he realized that the situation was completely different from what he had imagined.

Zhou Yanzhen was watching it frame by frame, no exaggeration at all.

From the first second of the film, Zhou Yan watched it very carefully. After watching dozens of seconds of footage, he would go back and watch it again.

After reading it a few times, Zhou Yan will start taking notes in his notebook.

The content recorded by Zhou Yan is very detailed. The information includes the content of the clip, the starting point of the clip, the emotional direction, and the appearance and exit of the characters.

What made Li Dakai feel most outrageous was that Zhou Yan actually recorded the character's walking time, which was so detailed that it was shocking.

Li Dakai said that it was an eye-opener. In his original imagination, the soundtrack was just watching a movie and writing out the music. Some of the songs did not need to be original, but just used well-known songs. He did not expect it to be so complicated.

They arrived at Yanjing Studio at nine o'clock in the morning, but by twelve o'clock, they had just finished watching half of the first reel of film. At this rate, it would take two days just to watch the film.

For Li Dakai, this job was naturally very easy. When Zhou Yan was watching the movie, he rarely communicated with Olivier, so there was nothing he needed to translate.

But sitting with Olivier like this all the time made him quite anxious.

At first watching the film, Li Dakai was quite interested, but after watching it for a long time, he felt very boring. Zhou Yan's process of pulling the film was so meticulous that it might take more than ten minutes to watch a one-minute film.

Seeing Olivier sitting steadily on the side, not looking anxious at all, Li Dakai was also very emotional. These directors are really determined.

In fact, Zhou Yan can be a little lazy. This is a remake of a movie, and the soundtrack will just follow the original template. However, he is paid to do things, and he is not used to fooling people, so he should do his work more carefully.

Of course, the overall workload must be much less, because most of the songs played by the young male protagonist have been decided in advance, and they were all shot according to those songs during filming.

There is only one place, which is the song that the young male protagonist composed when he missed his grandfather after his grandfather died.

This part of the plot was also filmed, but there was no close-up of the young male protagonist’s hands throughout the whole process, and the hands were also covered in the mid-shot.

The reason for this is that this piece of music has not been finalized before. We have to wait until Zhou Yan writes the piece and then puts it in. Olivier may add some close-ups of the little male protagonist’s hands in the future, or simply re-write this section. It's possible to shoot it once, after all, this set of shots is not troublesome.

Of course, it ultimately depends on Zhou Yan. If Zhou Yan doesn’t write a new song, then this section will be discarded, and this section will not be included in the original version.

Olivier personally sent the film this time mainly for this section.

At noon, Zhou Yan took Olivier and the others out for a meal, and then returned to the screening room to continue watching movies until about nine o'clock in the evening.

This was not over yet. Early the next morning, Zhou Yan went to watch a movie again. It was around five o'clock in the afternoon before he finally saw the part where his grandfather died and the young hero composed a new song.

Originally, Olivier had been sitting next to him, motionless, but when Zhou Yan saw this section, he quickly stood up and came to Zhou Yan's side.

However, Olivier remained silent during the whole process. It was not until Zhou Yan finished reading this section that he couldn't help but ask, Zhou, can you add a new song to this section?

Zhou Yan pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, Okay, but a few close-ups and mid-range shots will be added later, and the duration may also need to be changed.

When Zhou Yan said yes, Olivier said excitedly, No problem, I have already prepared it. After you write the song, I will arrange reshoots when I get back. Even this part can be reshot.

Zhou Yan waved his hand, It's not that troublesome. This part was shot very well. I just need to add a few shots. Let's go back first and wait until tomorrow afternoon to find me at my house. I will bring you the score and sample. .”

So fast? Olivier said in surprise.

It's not a very difficult song, so it will come out soon.

Okay, let's go back to the hotel first.

Well, you guys go back first. Xiao Li, take him to have a meal. I'll stay in the factory and continue to watch the rest of the film.

Li Dakai nodded, Okay, Teacher Zhou.

Li Dakai was relieved when he heard that he could leave.

It was so painful for him to stay in the editing workshop for the past two days. Although he was not married yet, while waiting with Olivier, he actually felt like a husband waiting for his wife to give birth at the door of the delivery room.

In fact, Zhou Yan told Olivier several times to let them go back first and then contact them after he finished reading, but Olivier was unwilling and insisted on waiting here.

But now that Olivier heard the answer he wanted to hear, he naturally stopped insisting, nodded, and said goodbye to Zhou Yan.

Then let's go back first, and we'll go find you tomorrow afternoon.

no problem.

After Olivier and Li Da drove away, Zhou Yan rubbed his swollen eyes, went to the cafeteria to have a meal, and then returned to the editing building to continue watching the film.

It was almost nine o'clock in the screening room before Zhou Yan dragged his exhausted body back home.

After a brief wash, Zhou Yan lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, Zhou Yan went to have breakfast. After returning home, he sat down in the piano room and started writing music.

Although Zhou Yan told Olivier that the music was relatively simple, it took him a whole morning to write the score.

At 11:30 noon, when Zhou Yan was going to have a meal first and then come back to record the demo, Olivier and Li Dakai came.

Seeing Olivier, Zhou Yan couldn't help but look at his watch to make sure he got the time right. It wasn't even twelve o'clock now.

Didn't I ask you to come over this afternoon?

Olivier was a little embarrassed, Sorry, I just couldn't help but want to come and see that piece of music earlier.

Zhou Yan curled his lips and asked, Have you had dinner?

have eaten.

I haven't eaten yet. Zhou Yan muttered, turned back to the living room and called the food stall where he often went to eat, and asked them to cook some food and deliver it, and then took Olivier and the others to the piano room.

He pointed to the music score on the shelf, It's already been written. I was planning to come back after dinner to record it.

Olivier stretched his head over and looked at the score. He didn't understand music and couldn't understand it, but when he saw that the score had indeed been written down, he felt calm.

It's okay, it's okay. You eat first and then record after eating. We will wait for you.

Zhou Yan waved his hand, Forget it, I'll record it for you first, otherwise I won't be able to eat well if you wait nearby like this.

This piece of music only lasted three or four minutes, so it didn't take much time to record it. He recorded the piece before the food was delivered, so as not to worry Olivio later and make him uneasy.

Zhou Yan took out his Walkman, adjusted the machine, turned on the recording mode, and then sat on the piano bench.

Seeing Zhou Yan sitting on the piano bench, Olivier and Li Dakai stood aside and held their breath.

Li Dakai was extremely excited. He had watched the Yanjing Silence concert on CCTV. In the program, he had seen Zhou Yan play the piano and flute.

But this was the first time I saw Zhou Yan playing live at such a close distance.

Zhou Yan was only about one meter away from him, and he could touch it with just a little stretch of his hand. The reason why Li Dakai was so excited was not only because he was close to Zhou Yan, but also because he knew that they were about to hear a fresh song. New songs coming out.

How many people can encounter such an opportunity?

Zhou Yan took a deep breath. Although the music score was on the music stand, he started playing without even looking at it.

As soon as the melody started, people felt a touch of sadness.

The speed of the song is very slow. As Zhou Yan's fingers dance, the notes are like a pool of spring water, carrying a little sadness and nostalgia, flowing over the withered yellow grass, interweaving with the cool autumn wind to create a bleak autumn scene.

The main melody has not changed much, with a slow beat and a low-pitched minor key. There are a few crisp single notes in the middle of each variation, as if the spring water was blocked by withered grass and splashed some uncontrolled water droplets.

Towards the end, the rhythm fluctuates a little more. The faster ones are like shouts coming from afar, while the slower ones are like whispers in the ears. However, no matter how far or near these sounds are, they are all indistinct and it is difficult to find their traces. .

The whole song contains confusion, sadness, memories... and more memories.

Hearing this piece of music, Olivier thought of many images of the young hero and his grandfather together.

When the song ended, Olivier and Li Dakai refrained from making any sound.

It wasn't until Zhou Yan turned off the recording mode of the Walkman that Olivier clapped vigorously, Great!

Li Dakai also applauded, Great.

His sentence not only translated Olivier's words, but also expressed his excitement.

What's the name of this piece? Olivier couldn't help but ask.

This song is called Tears.

After listening to Li Dakai's translation, Olivier couldn't help but nod. He was so satisfied with this piece of music. Sure enough, it was a wise choice to give all the music to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan smiled, took out the tape from the Walkman, and handed it to Olivier along with the music score, I'll give you the music score and the demo. When you get back, you can let the actors reshoot the scenes. During this time, I will record the other music. I’ll sort it out and give it to you later when I have time.”

After receiving the score and tape, Olivier felt like a treasure.

He wished he could fly back to France right now and reshoot this sequence of scenes as soon as possible... He had already decided not only to reshoot a few scenes, but also to reshoot the entire section and let the actors play the song live. Play it out.

When he didn't get the song before, Olivier thought that he could just cheat the audience through the editing of the camera.

But now that he got the music, especially after watching Zhou Yan's live performance at close range, he decided to shoot it. No matter how he edited it, the real result would be the best.

For the scene of piano playing, it is better to give more mid-range shots so that the performer, the performer's hands and the piano appear at the same time, so that the scene will be more appealing.

Olivier said goodbye to Zhou Yan before even waiting for Zhou Yan's meal to be delivered. He was now in a hurry to buy a ticket to return to France.

After Olivier and the others left, Zhou Yan couldn't help but smile. No matter how hard he tried to chase this guy away two days ago, he was fine now. He couldn't even keep him after he got the music.

The piece Tears is not Zhou Yan's original work, but he modified it based on Tears by the new century composer Daydream.

The song Tears he gave to Olivier is not much different from the original Tears by Daydream, except that the rhythm fluctuations in the later part are a little bigger.

The song Tears has a very dull rhythm, and it feels like missing your loved ones.

It does not contain the shock and grief of sudden bad news, but the bursts of inexplicable sadness and longing that flow through my heart when I think of my loved one again after they have been gone for a while.

In The Flying Piano Boy, the young male protagonist played this song while looking into the distance outside the window some time after his grandfather passed away.

Zhou Yan thought that Tears fit very well with this sequence shot by Olivier, so he used it.

After a while, the stall owner brought the food and chatted with Zhou Yan for a while.

For a while, Zhou Yan didn't go to his house for dinner. The boss was quite concerned about his regular customers.

After lunch, Zhou Yan took a short rest at home and then went to school.

New Year's Day is coming soon, and their school is holding a New Year's Day party. Although Zhou Yan did not attend, the Piano Youth Orchestra will perform two pieces of music on stage.

What they played was also the repertoire that would be performed in the Oriental Heritage concert, so it not only did not delay their preparation for the concert, but also allowed them to practice in advance.

When Yangyin organizes such an event, it must involve the Piano Youth Orchestra. Although the Piano Youth Orchestra was established relatively late, the orchestra has developed rapidly, especially after being featured on CCTV. The orchestra is now very popular.

Some places wanted to invite Zhou Yan to give concerts, but they couldn't get the invitation, so they thought of bypassing Zhou Yan and inviting the Piano Youth Orchestra.

Therefore, during this period, the Piano Youth Orchestra also received many invitations.

Zhou Yan is not too opposed to these invitations. After the new year, he won't have any concerts for a while, so he can't let the orchestra rehearse at school every day.

At that time, you can choose to accept some invitations with better conditions and a more suitable time, and let the Piano Youth Orchestra go out for a tour.

Going out to perform two or three times a month can not only maintain the performance level of the band, but also make the band make money. It can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.

And letting them go out to perform more will also promote Zhou Yan's works.

When Zhou Yan arrived at the concert hall, the Piano Youth Orchestra was not there, but the Yangyin Youth Symphony Orchestra was rehearsing on the stage.

Yangyin has many orchestras and choirs, and the members of the Youth Symphony Orchestra are all students from the orchestra department of the attached middle school.

The Youth Symphony Orchestra was invited to tour Europe a few years ago and is a relatively well-known orchestra among the orchestras affiliated with Yangyin.

Zhou Yan saw Jia Guoping in the concert hall. The reason why this guy was here was because his fiancée Zhang Xinning was one of the instructors of the Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Jia Guoping said with a smile, Why do you have time to come to the concert hall today?

Zhou Yan has been very busy recently. Jia Guoping can basically only see Zhou Yan once or twice a week, and they are usually in the office of the Composition Department.

I'm here to see the rehearsal for the New Year's Day party.

Jia Guoping nodded, The piano boy will probably have to wait a while before he comes.

I'm not here to watch them specifically. Zhou Yan sat down next to Jia Guoping and looked at Zhang Xinning, who was giving guidance to students on the stage, and asked, Has your wedding date been decided?

Well, it's settled. I was just about to tell you about this matter. I have discussed it with Xinning. The date will be the 28th of the first month of next year.

Then after your wedding, you will go abroad, just in time for your honeymoon.

I'm not as fashionable as you, and I'm still on my honeymoon.

Has the wedding venue been chosen?

Just in the school cafeteria, not going anywhere.

Zhou Yan didn't say anything when he heard that Jia Guoping was going to hold his wedding in the cafeteria. Nowadays, it's very normal to hold weddings in the cafeteria.

He and Zhang Xinning are two-time earners, so the school will definitely waive a lot of fees for them if it is done in the cafeteria.

In terms of grandeur, it can't be compared to a hotel wedding, but Jia Guoping's financial conditions are limited and he can't afford to go to a hotel.

Where's the wedding room?

This is what I'm mainly telling you, I want to decorate our dormitory into a wedding room.

Zhou Yan smiled and waved his hand, Why are you asking me about this? You can just arrange it. I don't usually live there anyway.

You can't go back if you don't live here. After all, you own half of the dormitory, so I still have to tell you. And after Xinning and I leave, this dormitory will be yours alone.

Since this dormitory belongs to me alone from now on, then leave it to me to decorate the wedding room.

When the time comes, just be there to help. Why bother you with the wedding room decoration?

Didn't I say that after you leave, I will live in this dormitory alone, and I must arrange the furnishings there. Otherwise, I won't like the furnishings left behind when you leave.

Zhou Yan's words made Jia Guoping find no reason to refuse. After pondering for a moment, he could only nod, I'm sorry to bother you, but you should take it easy and don't arrange things too well.

Don't worry about it, leave it to me.

…

The two chatted for a while in the audience, and Zhou Yan received a message on his pager.

The person who sent the message was Yang Qiang, whom he met at the guest house last time. He asked if he had time and wanted to meet him.

I have something else to do, so I'll take the first step.

Well, go ahead and get busy.

Zhou Yan first went to call Yang Qiang back, and the two made an appointment to meet at Yang Qiang's place.

When he arrived at the guest house and found Yang Qiang's room, Zhou Yan raised his hand and knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a young man in his early twenties. When he saw Zhou Yan, the young man looked excited and said, Teacher Zhou, you are here.

Yang Qiang also came over, Zhou Yan, I'm really sorry, but I have to trouble you to go there in person. I should be the one to find you.

Zhou Yan waved his hand, You're welcome, Captain Yang, it's more convenient for me to come to you.

Yang Qiang and the others came from Jinling, and they didn't have a car, so it was not convenient to find Zhou Yan. Unlike Zhou Yan, they drove here from Yangyin with just a few pumps of gas.

Xiao Liang, go get Teacher Zhou a glass of water.

Okay. The young man responded.

Inviting Zhou Yan to sit down in the room, Yang Qiang picked up a pile of manuscripts on the table and said, I took the liberty to come to you this time because I want to talk to you about the dance drama The Street Where the Wind Lives. I'm not free these days. I just wrote a simple script, please read it.

Zhou Yan took over the script and was very moved. It turned out to be a frontline song and dance troupe. The leader of the group, Yang Qiang, had the aura of a soldier. He was straightforward in everything he said and did, without being sloppy at all.

He didn't say anything, just opened the script and read it.

Although it was written temporarily, the script is quite long and has a decent feel.

Dance drama is different from other stage plays such as operas and dramas. It mainly uses dance as a means of expression. The script only contains simple stories and no lines.

The specific choreography is not reflected in this script.

This dance drama is mainly about a pair of lovers who grew up together as childhood sweethearts. The girl’s family lives on the east end of the street and is a wealthy family, while the boy’s family lives on the west end and is relatively poor.

Therefore, although the two fell in love, neither family supported their union.

The two tried to fight, but in the end they could not withstand the obstruction of their family members. The woman was distraught and chose to commit suicide by drowning in the river.

It's a very cliche story, but Zhou Yan can understand that it's difficult to express something particularly complex in a dance drama. The main thing is to look at the choreography.

The reason why classic plays are so easy to be handed down is because these classic scripts are easy to express, and the audience can understand them even if there are no lines.

If the arrangement is too complicated, it will only make the audience confused.

After reading the script, Zhou Yan nodded and said, I think it's pretty good, but I think the song can be changed to add some interaction between the male and female protagonists, so that the male protagonist plays the erhu and the female protagonist plays the flute.

I've thought about it too, but the music needs to be changed a lot, so it's not easy for me to do it.

Yang Qiang said that it was difficult for him to do anything. On the one hand, because the music belonged to Zhou Yan, it was very impolite for him to change other people's music without authorization.

On the other hand, his playing ability is indeed strong, but his music creation ability is much lower. If he is asked to change it, he may not be able to change it well.

Zhou Yan saw the erhu placed beside the bed and said, Wait a moment, I'll be back as soon as I can.

After that, Zhou Yan got up and went out before Yang Qiang and the others could reply.

After a while, he came up with a flute and said to Yang Qiang, Captain Yang, I play the flute, you play the erhu, and we try to change the tune.

Hearing what Zhou Yan said, Yang Qiang quickly picked up the erhu.

We can add a cheerful paragraph in front of the original song to show the mutual affection between the hero and heroine. In this way, the dance drama will become more layered and complete.

Later, they were stopped by their family members. Here is a more confrontational passage to show that both of them fought for each other...

Zhou Yan first gave Yang Qiang and the others a brief analysis, and then directly picked up the flute and played for a while.

After he finished playing, he said, This is the first measure of the erhu in the following section. Captain Yang, just follow the section I just played. This section uses...

Yang Qiang is also an expert. Zhou Yan gave a brief explanation and Yang Qiang started playing.

When Yang Qiang finished playing, Zhou Yan played another piece of erhu that echoed Yang Qiang's piece of erhu.

This is the performance of the erhu and bamboo flute in the first verse of the second verse. Now I will play the second verse...

Later, Zhou Yan first demonstrated the erhu melody to Yang Qiang, and then explained to Yang Qiang how to play it. After Yang Qiang played it on the erhu, Zhou Yan played the corresponding bamboo flute passage.

The confrontational second section has a total of four sections. In each section, the erhu comes first, followed by the bamboo flute, and the emotion becomes stronger each section.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Zhou Yan added a fading bamboo flute song to join the original The Street Where the Wind Lives.

After the second paragraph ended, Zhou Yan began to lead Yang Qiang to create the mutual affection of the first paragraph.

Compared to fight, mutual affection is much more cheerful and tender.

The former is like a cry and accusation, while the latter is completely a whisper between lovers, full of tenderness and sweetness. (End of chapter)