Huayu: A master director who debuted as a singer

It was already 8 p.m. when I got back to the publishing house.

There was a dedicated post-production studio on the third floor of the publishing house. Zheng Hui instructed Lin Dashan to stand guard at the door and not see anyone.

He placed the four tapes of source material on the table and opened the editing software.

The first song is "Stubborn".

The keynote of this song is—I will go even if there are millions of people against me.

Zheng Hui dragged the scene of the weightlifter being crushed into the timeline, without making any color adjustments, preserving the original dark and oppressive tone.

The audio track loads, the intro begins, and the guitar starts strumming.

Scene cuts to: 5 a.m., on the Ersha Island running track shrouded in thick fog, a solitary figure jogs slowly.

"If I am different from the world, then let me be different."

The editing points are timed to the drum beats.

A close-up: the red, swollen welts on the back of the little boy who was diving.

"For me, perseverance means using strength to overcome strength."

Fast cuts: Fencer gets hit, boxer gets knocked down, badminton player collapses on the ground from exhaustion.

The tempo speeds up in the pre-chorus section.

"You said that only after being burned by fire can a phoenix emerge."

Zheng Hui sped up the footage of the athlete being crushed by the barbell.

Falling down (at normal speed)

Lying on the ground, panting (slow motion)

Hands braced against the ground, veins bulging (close-up)

Stand up and pick up the barbell again (quickly).

The chorus bursts forth.

"I'm clinging to my last bit of stubbornness, holding hands tightly and refusing to let go!"

Zheng Hui's fingers flew across the keyboard, cutting rapidly, all close-ups of faces.

A mouth clenched in the jaw during weightlifting, a face contorted in pain during a sprint, eyes strained with pain when injured.

……

The second song is titled "Chasing Dreams with a Pure Heart".

Zheng Hui used a lot of shaky shots filmed with a handheld camera for this song.

The coach's shouts, the athletes' screams.

The chorus runs forward, facing cold stares and ridicule.

He edited a series of montages showing hurdlers falling, getting up, falling again, and getting up again.

Coupled with the shaky screams in the song, the sense of tragedy almost overflows from the screen.

……

The third song is titled "Fly Higher".

In this piece, the color tone begins to warm up, and Zheng Hui uses a lot of high-speed camera footage. (I found a paper from 98 on CNKI that used high-speed cameras to help athletes train, so I'm assuming it's also on videotape.)

The graceful movements of divers as they take off, the tumbling of trampoline athletes in the air, and the colorful ribbons thrown by rhythmic gymnasts.

The visuals should be beautiful and elegant.

Combined with a powerful voice, it showcases the fusion of strength and beauty in sports.

……

The fourth song is "I Believe".

This is for the official audience; it needs to be positive and impactful, and all the footage used is the winning moments from various events.

Although it is a training base, the archives also contain many award ceremony videos of internal competitions or provincial games.

With the gold medal hanging around their necks and the national flag raised, the coach and team members embraced and wept bitterly.

For the final shot, Zheng Hui chose a wide shot.

At the entrance of the Ersha Island training base, the morning sun shines on the national emblem, and a group of young athletes in red sportswear run towards the rising sun in neat rows.

The screen fades to black, and subtitles appear:

"This film is dedicated to the Chinese athletes who are about to compete in the Bangkok Asian Games."

All editing is complete, subtitles are added, and color grading and rendering are done.

When the clock struck four in the morning, the final tapes of the four music videos were finally completed.

……

Two days later, in the small conference room of the Publicity and Education Department of the Provincial Sports Bureau.

Director Liu sat in the middle, next to Section Chief Zhang, and several coaches and retired athletes who had been specially called in.

Zheng Hui put the videotape he brought into the player and picked up the remote control.

"Director Liu, coaches, this is the finished product. Please give us your feedback."

The screen lights up.

First was "Stubborn".

As the prelude began and the lone figure running through the fog appeared, the whispers that had been filling the conference room instantly vanished.

As the music progressed, those training scenes that they usually considered messy and embarrassing, surprisingly burst forth with a kind of beauty under the editing and the accompaniment of the music.

That was the burst of vitality in the struggle.

An old weightlifting coach watched the young man on the screen who had been crushed but then stood up again, without even noticing that his cigarette had burned his fingers.

Those were his former team members. He remembered that the kid practiced until he urinated blood, but for the sake of the National Games, he didn't utter a sound.

When the chorus shouts out the line "Clench your hands and never let go," close-ups of several calloused hands wrapped in tape flash across the screen.

The veteran coach's eyes reddened.

The song ended.

This is followed by the heart-wrenching intensity of "Chasing Dreams," the ethereal grace of "Flying Higher," and finally the grand scale of "I Believe."

After the four songs finished playing, no one spoke.

After a full half minute, Director Liu turned his head and looked at Zheng Hui, who was sitting in the corner.

"Xiao Zheng... We've spent our whole lives doing sports promotion, and what we produce is either slogans or staged shots. No one has ever pointed the camera at these... these scars like you."

The old coach next to me stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his voice choked with emotion: "Director, this film is really good. We athletes suffer inside. This film has captured all the bitterness in our hearts."

Section Chief Zhang added from the side, "Director, I think releasing this film would be more effective than any mobilization report."

Director Liu stood up and said to Zheng Hui, "We'll take these four songs! Zheng, what are your terms?"

Zheng Hui stood up and shook his head: "Director, as I said, this is a gift, given away for free. I've brought the copyright authorization letter with me. As long as you sign it, the Sports Bureau can use the music videos of these four songs free of charge."

"I'm not after the money, I just want the fame. I hope the bureau can credit Zheng Hui as the singer at the end of the program, and if it's convenient, recommend it to the provincial TV station and CCTV sports channel for broadcast."

Director Liu walked over and firmly grasped Zheng Hui's hand: "What kind of condition is this? This is only right!"

Director Liu turned to Section Chief Zhang and shouted, "Old Zhang, draft the document immediately. These four songs will be the official theme songs for our Guangdong Asian Games team!"

Also, contact the provincial TV station and CCTV's Guangdong bureau. I want to hold a launch ceremony to promote these four music videos!

"Our athletes shed blood and sweat on the front lines; we can't let their stories rot on tapes."

Director Liu waved his hand excitedly: "I want the whole nation to see what lies behind the gold medal! What stubbornness is! What a pure heart is!"

……

A week later, on Guangdong TV's "Sports World" program.

In the last five minutes of the program, the host looked solemn.

"With the Bangkok Asian Games just around the corner, our athletes are currently in closed training. Recently, a series of music videos showcasing our athletes' journey to the Asian Games, produced by the Provincial Sports Bureau and composed by singer Zheng Hui, were released. Please enjoy the first song – 'Stubborn'."

In front of the television, countless viewers watched the screen.

That struggling figure in the water, those trembling legs under the barbell, those scarred knees.

"I'm clinging to my last bit of stubbornness, holding hands tightly and refusing to let go..."

This is a visual and auditory shock unlike anything we've ever experienced before.

In an era accustomed to seeing flowers and applause, this kind of honesty, tearing open the wounds for you to see, has a power to strike straight to the heart.

The next day, the fax machine at Swan Publishing House started ringing non-stop.

This time, it's not just record stores, but also schools, factories, and even military units.

"We want to order the 'Stubborn' album! We want the videotapes of those four music videos!"

"Our school is going to use 'I Believe' as the entrance music for our morning exercises!"

"Our factory is going to use 'Fly Higher' as the theme song for our youth shock brigade ceremony!"

President Wang held the thick stack of orders, his face beaming with joy.