Chapter 213 When faced with a choice

Chapter 213 When faced with a choice

After dinner, Zhou Yan went to the recording studio to watch Shizuka Kudo's album recording.

What she is currently recording is "Lamentation," one of her biggest hits, which sold over a million copies after its release last year.

However, this song is a cover. The original singer is Miyuki Nakajima. This time the Chinese album was recorded, and Ogi Production also made it into a Chinese song and included it in it.

During the recording process, Shizuka Kudo’s performance was fine. After all, she was already familiar with the song and had sung it countless times.

The only problem is the Chinese pronunciation.

Although Shizuka Kudo has made great progress recently, she is still a surprise singer after all, and her singing of many lyrics is not very smooth yet.

But there is no way to change this in a short time, and Zhou Yan can't do anything to help her.

Of course, her current pronunciation is basically enough.

For the Chinese mainland market, having a neon female singer who exclusively releases Chinese albums is already very gimmick, not to mention that Shizuka Kudo is already very popular in Asia.

When this album comes out, it will definitely receive widespread attention and open up the mainland market for her.

Actually, the vocal part of this song is not a big problem. Zhou Yan thinks their arrangement has more problems.

Miyuki Nakajima’s version of the arrangement mainly uses electric guitar and drums, which is also in line with Miyuki Nakajima’s early style, which is more restless and wild. With Miyuki Nakajima’s rough voice, it can be considered complement each other.

In this version, Shizuka Kudo abandoned the electric guitar and used a violin. This was also to get closer to Shizuka Kudo’s voice. However, the prelude sample is still high-pitched, which is obviously different from the style of the later vocals. fault.

The arrangement has been changed, but not to the end. It feels like the beginning is ignored and the end is ignored. It is better to add a minor tune in the prelude and completely change the style of the music to be softer.

In this way, it can not only fit Shizuka Kudo's voice more closely, but the overall style of music can also be completely distinguished from Miyuki Nakajima.

There is also the use of toms and snare drums in the arrangement. Popular songs of this era, whether they are toms or snare drums, like to make the reverberation space very large. For that The impact texture is very emphasized.

The melody itself has no modulation. When listening to the song, you will clearly feel the "dong dong dong" sound. This feature is not only found in Asian songs, but also in Europe and the United States.

Why the public can immediately recognize the songs of the 1980s and 1990s when they hear them is not only because of the style of the melody, but also because of such characteristics.

It’s not that this is bad, it’s just that it’s too conventional and lacks new ideas.

However, Zhou Yan was not Shizuka Kudo's producer, so there was no need to make trouble for himself, so he didn't mention it.

After looking outside the glass for a while and feeling that there was nothing wrong, Zhou Yan returned to his office. He had a lot of things to do, and he couldn't keep spending time with Kudo Shizuka.

Although the music in "Spring of the Cowherd Class" has been almost written, there are still many places that need to be revised and improved. The soundtrack for "Journey to the West" will also be officially written. Two days ago Yang Guohui also called to ask about this matter. Although he didn't explicitly urge Zhou Yan, Zhou Yan knew the meaning and just hoped that he would hurry up.

During this period, he has been busy with "Spring of the Cowherd Class", and indeed he has not paid much attention to the soundtrack of "Journey to the West".

About an hour later, the phone on his desk rang. Without raising his head, he picked up the phone and said, "Hello."

"Director Zhou, are you busy?"

Hearing Zhang Yimou's voice, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Director Zhang, why did you call me suddenly?"

Zhang Yimou smiled. He said, "Don't be so pretentious with me. Why don't you know why I'm calling you?"

Zhou Yan was a little confused, "I really don't know, what's wrong?"

"I'm here to challenge you." Zhang Yimou feigned anger.

Zhou Yan was even more confused, "What crime have I committed?"

"Tsk, tsk, it seems you really don't know. Aren't I going to film "Once Upon a Time in Shanghai"? I originally wanted to invite Li Xuejian to come. The one who plays the sixth uncle, I called there today and found out that he was cut off by you."

"Shanghai Past" is the original novel of "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge", this one. Zhou Yan knew it.

Actually, it is said that "Once Upon a Time in Shanghai" is the original novel of "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge". This is not very rigorous, because first there were movies, and then there were novels, and movies and novels They all come from another novel "Family Rules".

"Family Rules" is a novel by Li Xiaotang. Many people don't know Li Xiaotang, but few people don't know his father Ba Jin.

Speaking of which, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige are really entangled. Although they may not be entangled subjectively, in fact, they will always run into each other head-on along the way.

"Wind Moon" filmed by Chen Kaige, the original novel "Flower Shadow" is written by Jinling writer Ye Zhaoyan, and the screenwriter is Shanghai writer Wang Anyi.

As for Zhang Yimou, he is filming "Shake, Shake". The original novel "Gate Rules" is written by Shanghai writer Li Xiaotang and screenwriter is Suzhou writer Bi Feiyu.

This model looks very similar no matter how you look at it, and the heroines of both movies are Gong Li. It’s no wonder that others always compare the two of them.

Zhou Yan was also surprised that he accidentally snatched someone from Zhang Yimou, "Is there such a thing? I really don't know, and I didn't listen to Teacher Li."

"If you heard about it, would you still grab it?"

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Even if you know, you still have to grab it. My movie can't be done without Teacher Li."

"Haha , What you said is too direct, please give me some face. I'm not here to accuse you, actors, whoever steals them will use them. I just heard that you are going to make a new movie, so I came to ask. . ”

For Zhang Yimou, not recruiting Li Xuejian is not a big deal. The role of Sixth Uncle does not have to be Li Xuejian. Otherwise, Zhang Yimou would not have asked Li Xuejian so late.

Not to mention Zhou Yan has already grabbed it, even if the two of them are still grabbing it, Zhang Yimou will probably give in.

"The plan for my new movie has just started. The early publicity has not started yet, and not many people know about it."

"Still cooperating with Tomson?"

"Yes, I The film contract signed by Tomson is not over yet.”

Zhou Yan and Tomson have one last film contract, but the film contract does not limit them. Zhou Yan really wants to cooperate with other companies, and Xu Feng does too. Wouldn't disagree.

Zhang Yimou sighed, "Unknowingly, this is your third feature film. It feels like you were filming "Raise the Red Lantern" just yesterday. At that time, you were still a student, and Gong Li was filming "Raise the Red Lantern" every day. And I took you on a show.”

"It's Director Zhang who has a sharp eye, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today." Zhou Yan complimented me smoothly.

However, he is still somewhat grateful to Zhang Yimou. His current filmmaking style is more or less influenced by Zhang Yimou, at least in the creation of storyboards.

If someone compares Zhou Yan's storyboard with Zhang Yimou's storyboard, they will find that their storyboards are exactly the same, both are very neat.

Of course, Zhou Yan's painting skills are poor and cannot be compared with Zhang Yimou.

“Let’s not talk about this kind of situation. I am very happy that you have made it this far. Let’s get together when we have time.”

"No problem. When I get the chance, I'll call Sister Li and some other old friends to have a meal and drink two drinks together. Yu Hua even talked about you to me a few days ago."

"Okay, let's talk about it later. I didn't have anything else to do when I called you, just to ask about this. But you have to remember that you are the one who stole my life this time. Next time I have dinner, you have to treat me."

“No problem, I’ll give you ten meals.”

“Okay, I’ll remember this and hang up.”

“Well, let’s talk back.”

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan was also a little confused, because he rarely heard Zhang Yimou reminiscing about the past like he did today, and he always felt that Lao Mouzi was not in a good mood.

Normally, that won’t be the case. Filming of a new movie is about to begin, so he should be full of energy.

However, Zhang Yimou didn't particularly care about anything that happened to him, so he concentrated on his own affairs again.

About half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Yan shouted, "Come in."

Li Haining pushed the door open and asked softly, "Boss Zhou, are you busy now?"

Zhou Yan raised his head and looked at Li Haining.

He nodded secretly. After staying here for a few days, Li Haining at least learned to knock on the door, unlike before.

"What's the matter?"

"Teacher Ma said that our song "Let's Swing the Oars" passed the test."

"Where's the note signed by Teacher Ma?"

"Yes, yes." Li Haining took out a note from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan took the note and looked at it. It was indeed written by Ma Shuguo.

Confirming it was correct, Zhou Yan took out four ten-dollar bills from his pocket, "Na, this is your reward."

"Thank you, Boss Zhou."

"You don't need to call me Boss Zhou from now on, just call me Director Zhou or Teacher Zhou."

"Okay, Director Zhou, what song should we learn next?"

"Listen Teacher Ma, let’s arrange it. By the way, your school hasn’t resumed classes yet?”

Li Haining shook his head, “I’m afraid they won’t be able to resume classes for a while.”

Hearing this, Li Haining said: Their school won't be able to resume classes for a while, and Zhou Yan's expression was a little solemn. Although this school is small, there are students in the 70s and 80s in the whole school.

The school cannot resume classes for one day, and these students No. 70 and 80 have no books to study for a day. Although Li Haining and others may not want to study, Zhou Yan deeply knows that their current age is the best time to acquire knowledge. If they miss it, will affect their lives.

If they can recognize one more word and learn one more piece of knowledge now, maybe their life will be easier in the future.

Both Ma Shuguo and Sun Wenjuan reported to Zhou Yan that Li Haining and his two children had very poor foundation. Although they were in junior high school, they did not know many common words.

If they don’t even have the ability to read, it will greatly affect their independent learning. Zhou Yan hopes that when they have nothing to do, they can not only practice singing, but also read some music-related books to enrich themselves.

Know what it is and why it is so. Learning music is the same as learning computers. As long as you are familiar with the underlying logic, subsequent learning will be easy, so laying the foundation is particularly important.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Yan said, "In the future, for every song you learn, I will give you twenty yuan more."

Li Haining said in surprise, "So just for one song, the National Security Bureau and I can do it alone "Forty yuan?"

Seeing Li Haining so excited, Zhou Yan waved his hand, "Don't be too eager to be happy. From today on, I will let Teacher Ma and Teacher Sun teach you music theory knowledge and take regular exams." , if you pass the exam, you can get the money as agreed."

"What if you fail the exam?"

"If you fail the exam, ten yuan will be deducted."

Li Haining immediately became anxious, "You will be charged for it."

Zhou Yan put down the pen in his hand and leaned back, "I'm not a shady boss, I won't force you, the choice is yours. It's up to you to decide whether to follow the new rules or the previous rules."

"I..."

Li Haining is a child after all, Zhou Yan said. The choice was left to them, but he didn't know what to do.

If they choose the previous rules, they will not be able to get the high reward of forty yuan per song, but if they choose the new rules, they are worried about the money being deducted if they fail the exam.

Moreover, learning music theory knowledge is tiring and time-consuming, which may affect their singing practice.

Seeing Li Haining struggling, a smile appeared on Zhou Yan's lips. The lesson he wanted to teach Li Haining today was that people must learn to make choices.

When faced with a choice, many people will appear hesitant, at a loss, and extremely unconfident about the future, but in fact, making the choice itself is more important than what to choose. No one can make the right decision every time they need to make a choice, but as long as you know what you want and make your choice firmly and without regrets, your path in life will not be too bad.

“If you can’t make a choice, you can go back and discuss it with the National Security Agency. Before you make a choice, follow the old rules.”

Li Haining was silent for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I choose to follow the new rules."

Seeing Li Haining make a choice so quickly, Zhou Yan was quite surprised. This kid's decisiveness was beyond his expectation. outside.

“I remember your decision. Let him tell me the decision of the National Security Bureau himself.”

“Yes, I understand, Director Zhou, I will tell the National Security Bureau now. ”

After saying that, Li Haining slowly retreated, and when leaving, he consciously closed the door.

A few minutes later, Xia Guobao also came over. His decision was the same as Li Haining's, he chose to follow the new rules.

This was expected by Zhou Yan, but he hoped to hear Xia Guobao say it himself.

The shortcoming of Li Haining is that he is too opinionated, while Xia Guobao, on the other hand, has no opinion at all, as if his brain is growing on Li Haining's head.

"Okay, you can go back."

After a while, Zhou Yan went to Ma Shuguo and told Li Haining and the others about music theory.

After listening, Ma Shuguo said worriedly, "It's very difficult for them to practice basic skills. If we ask them to learn music theory again, it's hard to believe that they will study it seriously."

"It's okay, you just have to The guards will give them a set of test papers every five days, and the difficulty will be controlled so that they can get around sixty points."

Although he didn't know what Zhou Yan wanted to do, Ma Shuguo still nodded. He said, "I understand. I will start teaching them the basics tomorrow."

"You should also tell Sun Wenjuan about this."

"No problem."

After talking to Ma Shuguo, Zhou Yan went to the practice room, where he was going to adjust a piece of music he had just written.

With this adjustment, it is seven o'clock in the evening again.

Zhou Yan stretched, stood up and walked out of the practice room, only to see Kong Chao from the cafeteria standing outside.

“Boss, your work is over.”

Seeing Kong Chao, Zhou Yan sighed, “Xiao Kong, you can just get off work when the time comes and don’t worry about me.”

"No, it's only seven o'clock now, not very late, and Miss Kudo hasn't finished yet."

"She hasn't finished either?" Zhou Yan said in surprise.

Shizuka Kudo came over early in the morning to record. Can I still be in good shape for the whole day of recording?

He pondered for a moment and walked towards the recording studio where Kudo Shizuka and the others were, but he heard Kong Chao say, "Boss, she is not in the recording studio, and is singing in practice room 2 now."
< br>Zhou Yan nodded and went to practice room No. 2 again.

Kudo Shizuka is practicing "First Dream". Compared with the last time, her pronunciation has gone further this time, and she can sing with more ease, and she doesn't sound too tired.

I have to say, this girl’s function is really good, and she can withstand her doing this.

No matter how good your singing skills are, you will inevitably use your functions. And Kudo Shizuka’s singing level is naturally incomparable with those other singers, so she can still sing without any fatigue, so her functions must be very good.

“Where are the others?” Zhou Yan asked Kong Chao.

"Miss Nangong and the others left early and said they would pick her up later."

This is not the first time that Nangong Songzi and the others have left Kudo Shizuka here. They did this the last time they came to the studio. These people are really confident about their artists.

After Shizuka Kudo finished singing, Zhou Yan clapped, and Kong Chao next to him also clapped, even harder than Zhou Yan.

Kudo Shizuka turned around and saw Zhou Yan standing at the door, and said happily, "Zhou Yan, you are here."

"Well, hurry up and eat. Singing is very demanding on the body. , you keep skipping meals, which makes singing very difficult.”

And she keeps skipping meals, and it’s hard for Kong Chao to get off work.

"Are you going to eat with me?"

Zhou Yan shrugged, "Now we are the only two who haven't eaten."

"Then let's eat together." Shizuka Kudo simply said After tidying up, he quickly followed Zhou Yan's footsteps and looked at him sideways, "Zhou Yan, what do you think of my singing?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Very good, I didn't give everything. Did you applaud?"

"What about my pronunciation?"

"It's also very good. You are making rapid progress. Last time we chatted alone, we had to make gestures with our hands."

Zhou Yan was telling the truth. Kudo Shizuka's Chinese performance surpassed him this time. In anticipation, they can already communicate without an interpreter.

Shizuka Kudo spoke slowly, but her expression was quite clear.

Hearing Zhou Yan praise himself, Shizuka Kudo said proudly, "I practice hard every day."

"The effect of your practice is very good." Zhou Yan affirmed.

"But, my Chinese teacher is not here this time, can you teach me a lesson?"

Zhou Yan glanced at Kudo Shizuka, "Don't you have a translator?"

" He's not good."

"What's wrong?"

"He speaks neon language, follow me."

Zhou Yan suggested to her, "When you usually record here, you can go and chat with the band members if you have nothing to do. It will be much better than me teaching you."

Zhou Yan said this sentence a bit fast, Kudo Shizuka He didn't quite understand, and showed a puzzled expression.

Zhou Yan had no choice but to slow down and repeat this sentence again.

After listening, Kudo Shizuka shook her head, "I don't know them."

Zhou Yan chuckled, "Aren't you a Sheniu? What's so difficult about this."< br>

Kudo Shizuka once again showed a confused expression. She could not understand the meaning of the word Sheniu.

Zhou Yan also spoke smoothly and used She Niu, but using She Niu to describe Kudo Shizuka is quite appropriate. Even though she usually dresses very girly, she is very direct and proactive when communicating with others.

"I mean, you are better at making friends with people."

"Then we are very good friends?"

Zhou Yan smiled, this The girl's logic is quite interesting.

Zhou Yan did not answer this question. He walked straight towards the canteen, and Kudo Shizuka quickly followed.

When we arrived at the kitchen, Kong Chao had already served the food.

Shizuka Kudo looked hungry too. She took her chopsticks and said, "I'll start first," and then started eating.

While eating, Shizuka Kudo was quiet for a while, and the two of them had a good meal.

When the meal was finished, Zhou Yan looked at the time. It was almost eight o'clock. He asked Kudo Shizuka, "When will Nangong Songzi and the others come to pick you up?"

"We should be there soon."

Zhou Yan nodded and said to Kong Chao, "Xiao Kong, you go back first, I'll stay with her for a while."

"Okay, I'll wash the dishes and leave."

After Kong Chao left, Zhou Yan waited with Kudo Shizuka for a while. Until 8:30, Nangong Songzi and the others had not arrived yet, so he couldn't help but ask again. , "When will they arrive?"

"They should be arriving soon."

Seeing her confusion, Zhou Yan stood up and said, "Let me take you back to the hotel."

Kudo Shizuka stayed at the Xufeng Hotel, which is the same hotel where the cast of "The Sixth Sense" was cast, which is close to Zhou Yan's house. It's not far away, and Zhou Yan is on his way home from here.

"Okay, let's go." Kudo Shizuka stood up immediately, a little impatient.

Zhou Yan locked the door of the cafeteria and took Shizuka Kudo out of the building.

But as soon as the two of them arrived at the door, Nangong Songzi brought someone over.

Seeing Nangong Songzi, a trace of disappointment flashed across Kudo Shizuka's face. If Songzi came a little later, she could ask Zhou Yan to see her off.

Zhou Yan frowned and said to Nangong Songzi, "Miss Nangong, why do you always leave her here alone?"

"There shouldn't be any danger here, right?"

In terms of danger, there is really no danger here in the studio, because the studio is inside an electronics factory, and there are people from the security department patrolling at night.

Zhou Yan sighed, is Neon's artist company so confident about its artists?

It was late at night in a foreign country, so I really wasn’t worried at all.

“You still have to be careful and try not to let her stay alone in the studio in the future.”

“Okay, okay.” Nangong Songzi nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, I'll go back first, you guys should go back as soon as possible."

After Zhou Yan left, Nangong Songzi rolled his eyes at Kudo Shizuka, "Shizuka, we must not let you go tomorrow. You stay here.”

"But we can't practice singing in the hotel."

"Then I will accompany you."

"But aren't you also very busy?"

"I can do that too. Busy here.”

“It’s okay. If it’s late, I can ask Zhou Yan to take me back.”

"I heard that Zhou Yan and Zhang Manyu are in love."

"The news is all fake, don't you know?" Kudo Shizuka shrugged, not caring at all.

(End of this chapter)