"Water... water..."

Deep in the forest, a teenager woke up, and when he opened his eyes slightly, he saw only a small caterpillar crawling over the slender blades of grass. He lay on his stomach on the root of a huge tree that was exposed to the earth, and the breeze blew the scent of weeds. A gentle ray of sunlight shone on his face through the dense foliage.

The chirping of birds. The sound of cicadas.

So quiet.

A hare was running and running, and suddenly stopped, pricked up its ears, glanced at the boy, moved its mouth, and ran away again.

"Where is this? Heaven? I'm already dead......

My leg hurts so much that I can't move.

With a wheez, the previous memories returned.

I was a pilot on an Imperial battleship. I remember...... I flew the plane, engaged in a dogfight with the enemy's black fighters, and the artillery fire was fierce. The boy felt a wave of vertigo.

This is a world of magic, and the level of technology is probably the era of the steam engine civilization. But with the power of magic, the steel warships of humanity can float in the air. And war is always in the air.

"Why are we fighting? I don't remember. ”

The boy only remembered the fierce battle, the burning cannonballs, the flaming arrows, the glow of magic, and the sound of bombardment. His small plane was nimble in the enemy's line of fire, but was eventually hit.

The plane flipped and fell in the sunlight with billowing smoke, through a cloud and crashing into the forest.

His wounds burned violently, and his body shivered with cold. In the distance, the sound of a small stream rushing could be heard. His throat was thirsty.

"Water..."

"Meow. ”

A small cat deftly jumped from a tree. Its smooth fluff glistened in the sunlight, and its large, dark eyes gazed curiously at the boy.

"Meow. ”

"Water...... Give me water. ”

"Meow!"

The kitten jumped away. It runs and runs among the grasses, bushes, fallen leaves, and branches, and its soft paws step over the stone moss, leaving beautiful paw prints. The grass shook for a while, and the mottled shadows of the trees were messed up.

It ran up a big tree, stood on the treetops, panting, lowered its little furry head, and looked down at the figure of the young man, its eyes sparkling. The kitten wagged its tail.

The creek is not far away.

The water is crystal clear and transparent, and the sun shines through the surface of the water and shines on the pebbles and aquatic plants. A frog crouched in the middle of a lotus leaf, and when it saw the kitten, it kicked its legs and jumped into the water, spitting out a few bubbles.

The kitten took a branch of a cypress tree in its mouth, soaked the leaves in the water, and then moved quickly on its short legs, purred and ran back.

"Woo. ”

The kitten put the branch on the boy's head and shook his head. Water droplets are splashing.

"Is it raining?" the boy opened his eyes again. Crystal droplets of water splashed happily in the sun, drenching on his face, and with a burst of coolness, he licked his lips, felt a little more comfortable, and smiled reluctantly.

……

"And then?" Fang Yan asked.

"Forehead ......"

Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki's office. Mr. Miyazaki held up a stack of papers and showed Fang Yan and Qian Ning his paintings. Hirata translates on the side and tells the plot in English.

On the paper is a manga sketched by Hayao Miyazaki, the handwriting is very concise, but meticulous. This is the storyboard of the movie, marked with storyboards. This is the beginning of his new film.

As a director and painter, Hayao Miyazaki is a person who thinks visually.

Hirata quickly recounted the rest of the story: "After the boy was rescued, he found this small village next to the forest and lived with the kind villagers. While the war continued, he used some modern technology to help the villagers, hunting, growing crops, weaving, cooking, and driving away wild animals...... became a hero in the village. He fell in love with the girl. ”

"And then?"

"One day, the mages of the Evil Empire discovered the village, and found that there were many precious philosopher's stones in the village. In order to protect the village, the boy re-boarded the plane and defeated the mage. However, the village was also exposed. ”

“……”

"If you want to protect the village, you must defeat the enemy army completely. Although the teenager was tired of the war, he chose to return to the army. In the end, the war ended, but he had to leave his beloved girl. That's about it. ”

Fang Yan asked, "The girl is the cat?"

"No! A cat is a cat, a girl is a girl. ”

"Oh. ”

The beginning of the movie is comfortable. Although there are only brief pictures, under the narration of Hayao Miyazaki and Hirata, there is a sense of immersion. Although the story is old-fashioned, it has a strong nostalgic atmosphere, and it is told slowly and leisurely, which is very fascinating.

These are the elements of the story that Mr. Miyazaki has insisted on all his life: magic, the sky, airplanes, and of course, anti-war. Fang Yan likes this story a lot.

"So, can you write a melody for this opening, and what kind of music should it go with?" asked Hirata.

Fang Yan understood, this was also an exam. In front of the top film masters, he is just a junior. He was silent.

"Hey, hey?" Qian Ning asked in a low voice when he saw that he didn't speak.

Forest, airplanes hanging from trees, kittens, sunshine.

"Hurry up, show him the tune you wrote. ”

“……”

Channing couldn't sit still and gently poked him in the arm.

Fang Yan shook his head: "There is no music." There should be no background music for this entire opening paragraph. ”

"Huh?" Hirata is too messy.

"You translate. ”

"This ......"

Miyazaki didn't wait for a translator, he already understood. He grinned, gave a thumbs up, and said a bunch of things.

After hearing this, Hirata also smiled and said, "Hahaha, I didn't expect Mr. Miyazaki to deceive me." He agrees with you. At this time, the protagonist is far away from the noisy battlefield and comes into contact with real nature for the first time, and his senses become very acute, so ...... There was no need for music, only the sounds of the primeval forest around him. ”

Miyazaki is a bit cunning.

To make a film score, you not only need the creative strength of the music, but also have an accurate understanding and judgment of the story, atmosphere, and mood. Although Fang Yan doesn't understand movies, he has a strong sense of feeling.

Hirata said again: "Fang Jun, you just listened to the whole story, then, the theme music of the whole movie, can you roughly describe what it looks like?"

The song "Sputnik" can easily cover the entire film of Hayao Miyazaki. Perhaps, it can encapsulate almost all films in the world.

“…… Do you want to show him?" Fang Yan asked.

Qian Ning nodded: "Give." ”

"Okay. ”

Fang Yan took out his mobile phone, handed the earphones to Miyazaki, helped him stuff them into his ears, and clicked the play button. This "Sputnik" was recorded on his mobile phone yesterday afternoon when he was practicing, a very rudimentary version.

"Ahh The old man listened for 2 seconds, opened his mouth, leaned directly back in his chair, and stared blankly.

10 seconds, 20 seconds.

There was silence in the planning room.

"Hey, hey. Qian Ning's little face was very focused, a little proud, she looked at Fang Yan, and then at Miyazaki's wrinkled face, observing the subtle changes in his expression.

Hirata no headphones, he was anxious and curious.

"Teacher ......"

Miyazaki suddenly raised his right hand to stop him, lifted his glasses leg, squinted, and gradually closed his eyes again.

4 minutes. 4 min 20 sec......

Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. One drop, two drops.

"It's already over," Fang Yan glanced at his phone. "Why didn't he react. ”

"It's weird. ”

Miyazaki opened his eyes, looked around blankly, stood up suddenly, a pair of warm hands trembled and stretched out, grabbed Fang Yan's hand across the table, clenched it tightly, shook it vigorously, and was very emotional.

"Hello! Hello!" he actually spoke Chinese.

“……”

Miyazaki danced and ran out like a young man. He stood in the hallway and yelled two sentences of Japanese, and then ran away.

"Uh. ”

Hirata was more embarrassed. He looked at Fang Yan, then at his phone, and then turned his head to look out the door. He struggled for a long time, then stood up and said, "Fang Jun, it's rude......

Hirata also ran away. Fang Yan and Qian Ning glanced at each other.

"Did you succeed?"

Fang Yan nodded: "The response is quite good." ”

Qian Ning clenched his fists, put them on his soft lips, and bit his fingers hard. Although she had been mentally prepared, she was still very excited to see the ecstatic appearance of the old man Miyazaki.

Fang Yan can make music for Miyazaki's films, which has too many benefits for the company and for himself. She sighed contentedly, blinked, and her little face shone brightly.

"You, you......"

"I don't have to use this song, write a new one for him when the time comes. ”

"Use it. Your Sputnik also needs a carrier. ”

"Hmm. ”

After a while, Miyazaki pulled Toshio Suzuki, carried a bottle of wine in his hand, and ran back quickly. Toshio Suzuki looked ignorant and kept persuading.

Hiratano screwed too hard on the wine's cork, pulled it out with a thud, and poured it into several glasses with a clatter.

The old man Suzuki said, "Mr. Fang Yan, we would like to hire you to join the team of the new film as a music supervisor and be in charge of all the music. In addition, Mr. Miyazaki would like to purchase the rights to use this song as the theme song of the movie. Well...... Any price is fine. ”

"Yes, yes. ”

"Agreed?"

"Of course. ”

"Great music!" Miyazaki said, shaking his glass and raising it high.

"A Master Piece!" Hirata translated for him.

Film soundtracks are usually written and recorded late, until the later stages of the film, and according to the progress of new projects, it will not be until the end of 2018.

Qian Ning thought that Fang Yan's appointment as the music director (supervision) of Ghibli films was a great benefit to the company's publicity, and at the same time, it also added a layer of insurance to the other cooperation between the two companies.

Fang Yan and Qian Ning didn't stay any longer and took the subway back to Tokyo. This time, they took a slow train that stopped at every stop. The rain stopped, and the mild sun shone through the car window.

"Can you still write such good music?" asked Channing.

"I don't know. ”

The train went underground, and it was pitch black outside the window.

"I think so. You've just turned 22, and you'll have so much, so much time in the future. ”

Fang Yan smiled. He wanted to make a joke, but after thinking about it, he replied seriously: "I'm not a machine, I can't write if I want to." ”

WeChat rang suddenly.

Lao Liu pulled a temporary discussion group, which included Yang Zhenyu, Xiao Mu, Kong Lei, Wen Jing, and 4 people in Tokyo. Lao Liu sent a message: "Don't let others listen to this song." Remember, remember. ”

Fang Yan was very strange and asked, "What's the matter, Lao Liu?"

Lao Liu Fa: "Prevent plagiarism !!"

Again: "Don't you understand its value?" It's the company's most valuable asset, and to be released as soon as possible, listen to me!"

Again: "All the recordings in the mobile phone are deleted !!"

“……”

Fang Yan called Lao Liu and figured it out.

In the attic of the nameless tavern, Kong Lei got the score of "Sputnik", immediately threw away the game and began to practice.

He works with staves every day and has a super sight-reading ability, and although this piece is very difficult, he has already played it quite smoothly the first time.

When he played it for the second time, Kong Lei began to make some changes according to the characteristics of the classical guitar. Lao Liu heard the sound of the piano and also ran up the stairs.

A masterpiece that shines brightly.

He reacted quickly and closed the window.

Lao Liu looked at the score and asked the cause and effect again, before he put his mind at ease.

There are many singers in the bar street, and there are people who know music everywhere, and if someone passes by, hears the sound of the piano, and then plagiarizes it, the consequences are unimaginable. The melody of the song is very recognizable, just like Kogi said, once you listen to it, you will never forget it.

Lao Liu ordered that the audio files in everyone's mobile phones be deleted.

Kong Lei is still a child, Lao Liu said with a white face for a long time, and told him not to practice with this song, and wait until the song is released. Kong Lei agreed ignorantly.

"Xiao Yan. ”

"Hmm. ”

"You listen to me, I didn't overreact. Lao Liu sighed and said. "Intellectual property is particularly important. In the environment of Huaxia, you can't tell if someone plagiarizes it. Come back and record. ”

Lao Liu is kind-hearted. Fang Yan really didn't have this awareness before. "I remember," he said. However, there is one more person who has heard this tune. I listened to Miyazaki. ”

"Hayao Miyazaki, is that me?"

"Yes, Hayao Miyazaki. ”

"He won't plagiarize, will he? Lao Liu said.

"Lao Liu, give it to me. Yang Zhenyu took the phone, seemed a little embarrassed, and said hesitantly: "Master, I just listened to your tune with Fat Bullet, I think, I feel ......."

"He plays better than me?"

"Well, how do you know. ”

"It's normal. Fang Yan said. He didn't play his version of the recording with all his might, and the guitar quality was average. Moreover, Kong Lei's playing skills are better than him. "If you can hear the good and the bad, it means that you have improved. ”

"yes, hehe......"

Hanging up the phone, Fang Yan relayed the situation.

Qian Ning listened, her expression became very serious, she nodded, and said, "Lao Liu has made a great contribution." Alas, how I didn't expect that. We really need to do a good job of confidentiality. And your sheet music, too. ”

“……”

"It's something we live in. ”

"Hmm. ”

In the evening, Fang Yan and the four of them had a teppanyaki dinner to celebrate winning the film score cooperation. A young female chef in a white uniform with a large hat stands behind a huge dining table. Flames rise, and various foods swirl under small shovels with a hissing sound.

"Delicious, delicious. Yuan Yuan devoured it.

"I gave this "Sputnik" to a fat bullet, what do you think?" Fang Yan asked.

Feng Lu's face flushed and said, "Little fat ......"

Yuan Yuan stared at the flames burning on the iron plate, biting the half-cooked beef, and said vaguely, "Okay, good." I like Chubby the most. ”

Qian Ning's eyes sparkled, and he asked with a smile: "Are you willing to do it? That's the song you wrote." ”

"Chubby is also from our company. Didn't you say it, he's an artist under the company. Of course, you have to ask him if he is willing to sign first. Fang Yan said.

"That's right. ”

Yuan Yuan suddenly said: "Let's release an album for Xiaopang!"

Kong Lei is different from Fang Yan, he has undergone rigorous training since he was a child, and has great hopes of becoming the world's top classical guitarist. He was just 15 years old and had a bright future ahead of him. Fang Yan felt that Yuan Yuan's idea was very reliable.

"But can classical guitars make money?" asked Channing.