Chapter 417: Chapter 395 – Wishing for Longevity_1
The success of “Hachiko” was also a topic of discussion in the circles of film and television.
The people in the industry had yet again renewed their perception of Xian Yu–
This fish is really strong!
From comedy to mystery, and now he’s even dabbled in drama, these genres don’t seem to match, yet the box office results are consistently high.
Moreover, his works always receive positive public praise!
This time, he even historically soared above a rating of nine points!
This was difficult for the experienced veterans of the film industry to imagine, considering how Xian Yu is still a newcomer to the industry.
All of Xian Yu’s movies, including “Hachiko”, are not very costly, yet they always scare people with how high their box office revenues are.
People have the impression that:
Xian Yu is very good at making a lot out of a little.
Some even believe that Xian Yu’s screenwriting skills are nearly on par with his composition skills.
However, this claim was quickly rebutted by those who know Xian Yu:
“Xian Yu’s screenwriting skills can in no way compare to his achievements in composition. He is a maestro junior in the world of composition, but among the new screenwriters in the film and television industry, Xian Yu’s abilities are certainly considered top tier!”
As for the success of Xian Yu this time…
What truly shocked the industry was not the box office results of “Hachiko”.
Through the box office data of the first week, you can see the ultimate potential of a film.
Normally, the final box office of this film is estimated to be around ten billion, slightly better than Xian Yu’s last film.
But this box office data is something that many films can attain.
After combining the box office from each state, many films have broken a hundred billion at the box office.
What’s truly remarkable about Xian Yu is the extremely low production cost of “Hachiko”!
Also, let’s not forget:
“Hachiko” is a bonafide drama!
In the movie market, dramas are never the type to fetch high box office, but to be able to make such a film receive both high acclaim and box office success, this in itself is well deserving of recognition.
Lin Yuan himself is also pleased with the box office result of “Hachiko”.
Although he didn’t have a good understanding of the current market model, Lin Yuan was well aware of how hard it was for a drama to pull in good box office numbers.
In Lin Yuan’s initial estimation, as long as the box office of this film was close to that of “The Piano Tuner”, it would be considered a good result.
But to his surprise, the box office of this film likely would surpass that of “The Piano Tuner”.
This was pleasantly unexpected.
“Next, we should record December’s new song.”
Although still watching the box office trend of “Hachiko”, Lin Yuan didn’t forget about “Battle of the Gods” in December.
He finally contacted Jiang Kui to prepare for the recording of the song.
The moment Jiang Kui received the message, she immediately rushed to the recording studio.
“Teacher Admirable Fish …”
“Here’s the music, get familiar with it first.”
Lin Yuan took out the score for “May We All Be Blessed with Longevity”.
Originally, Lin Yuan indeed had plans to change the title to “How Long Will the Full Moon Last”.
But after careful deliberation, Lin Yuan decided to keep the original title.
Because the words “How Long Will the Full Moon Last” do not convey the emotion as directly as “May We All Be Blessed with Longevity”.
The latter’s implication is also more beautiful.
You must know that the most recognized timeless line in the “Song of Water” is “May we all be blessed with longevity, sharing the beauty of the moon from a thousand miles away”.
“May We All Be Blessed with Longevity?”
Jiang Kui picked up the sheet music and immediately noticed the title.
But what astonished her even more were the lyrics of “May We All Be Blessed with Longevity”!
“Teacher Admirable Fish, these lyrics…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, I just want to say…”
Jiang Kui had a decent literary background.
The moment she saw the lyrics, countless lavish descriptions flooded her mind, but she ended up uttering the most generic four words:
“It’s so damn cheesy!”
Lin Yuan: “…”
Well, she wasn’t exactly wrong.
“Give it a try.” Lin Yuan said, “We don’t have to record it today, I’ll help you get accustomed.”
“Alright!”
Jiang Kui brimmed with enthusiasm as she strode into the recording studio with such force.
The recording studio staff glanced at Jiang Kui, their gazes tinged with a touch of emotion, just like the sound engineer previously said—
This girl is so lucky.
Such good songs and lyrics; if those kings and queens of song knew about them, they’d probably fight tooth and nail to sing them.
“Start with the-beginning.”
Lin Yuan didn’t pay attention to the thoughts of others and simply gave his instructions.
Jiang Kui nodded, almost reverently, as she tentatively began to sing.
Lin Yuan remained silent, listening quietly.
The initial phase was to familiarise Jiang Kui with this song; the specific requirements would come once she was somewhat proficient.
For outstanding singers, achieving basic proficiency doesn’t take a long time.
Half an hour later, Jiang Kui had grasped the melody.
Lin Yuan started to instruct, “In the middle-to-low vocal range, sinus resonance is needed. Also, when in the high vocal range, there is no need to sing so loud, just use the resonant effect of the facial mask to concentrate the voice, making it sound clear and penetrative…”
“Alright.”
Jiang Kui immediately sang according to Lin Yuan’s instructions.
Even though it wasn’t a formal recording, from this first attempt, Lin Yuan was already frequently interrupting Jiang Kui’s singing:
“The resonance should be from your head.”
“The control in the oral-pharyngeal area isn’t natural enough, don’t just focus on techniques when singing, they should come naturally.”
“Voice reduction during high notes is also a skill. Don’t practice now, see if you can use your natural vocal range — or in other words, the strength and tone of your speaking voice — to sing the high notes from C5 to G5.”
Voice reduction has always been one of the most difficult techniques to master in singing.
Teresa Teng was very skilled at high note voice reduction, some music fans even thought Teresa Teng didn’t have a high pitch due to listening too much to overpowering high pitches. However, this is actually a very sophisticated way of dealing with high notes.
The song, “How Long Will the Full Moon Last”, has high notes, but to the singer, they are not particularly high.
He needs Jiang Kui to exhibit stronger abilities.
This is also why he gave Jiang Kui the song to practice in advance.
Jiang Kui sang again following Lin Yuan’s instructions, and this attempt showed a clear improvement, which made Lin Yuan nod slightly:
“Try it like this.”
Lin Yuan gave Jiang Kui a demonstration.
Lin Yuan had demonstrated many times in the recording studio, and the staff and others who have worked with Lin Yuan understood that in addition to writing lyrics and composing music, Lin Yuan’s singing abilities were also very strong. However, his throat seemed to be unable to take intensive singing, so nobody was excessively surprised.
“The ending note should curl up?”
“Yes, but it should sound natural.”
This is where Lin Yuan excels.
He is able to communicate to singers like a fellow singer.
In the film industry, some directors, having been actors themselves and possessing excellent acting skills, can particularly understand actors, therefore, they are also better at coaching.
Lin Yuan’s situation proved the principle of different methods leading to the same result.
Just like that.
While “Hachiko” was still being screened, Lin Yuan was in the recording studio, practicing singing with Jiang Kui.
This made singing “How Long Will the Full Moon Last” feel easier and more natural for Jiang Kui.
Not only was the singing getting better and better.
But Jiang Kui’s confidence for the Battle of the December Gods was also growing significantly during this process.
The main source of this confidence was the high quality of the song “How Long Will the Full Moon Last” itself!
They practiced continuously for several days.
Finally, Lin Yuan announced a halt to practice, “You have basically mastered the song, continue to practice by yourself each day, and then we will officially record it in a week.”
“Okay!”
Jiang Kui’s response was extremely loud.
Lin Yuan nodded, then suddenly asked, “What happened to your eyes?”
Jiang Kui’s eyes had been fine a few days ago, but today they are unusually red; Lin Yuan was worried if she was under too much pressure from singing practice.
“My eyes?”
Jiang Kui was taken aback and then looked a little resentful, “I ran into Yao Huo yesterday, and he gave me a movie ticket to ‘Hachiko’, saying that the movie was warm and healing. So I thought this is your movie, Maestro Junior, and I went to the cinema to see it last night.”
Lin Yuan: “…”