Chapter 62

The final scene of the short film was shot smoothly at the theater, and with a round of enthusiastic applause, the entire crew of "Dance of the Angels" thanked everyone for their support, officially wrapping up the shoot.

Previously, Ye Wei's passionate speech not only made everyone understand his dreams but also thoroughly shattered the dirty plot of Focus Films. The students believed in him, and so did the parents. Come on, VIY, work hard to create a miracle!

The old principal also sent his blessings: "Wei Ge, you said there is one type of person missing. Besides zombies and living people, there is another type called heroes. Heroes are a source of courage for the living to fight against zombies. You will be a hero."

A hero! Such a heavy expectation, but Ye Wei liked it.

With the shooting phase over, the post-production phase followed. There were only 11 days left until Christmas, so the post-production of the short film needed to be completed as soon as possible.

Ye Wei's plan was to complete the task within a week.

So he only gave himself one night off, going on a great date with Lily. They had dinner together and then watched a movie at the cinema. It was their first time watching a movie together. They watched "The Haunted House," which had been in theaters for half a month. They weren't scared, nor did they fall asleep; they just had a good laugh.

As they walked out of the cinema, both agreed that they should have watched "Love Is Compromise."

The next day, Ye Wei dove into the post-production work of the short film, continuing to take leave from school because he needed to go to USC.

However, winter break was just around the corner, so he wouldn't miss many classes, or rather, X time.

Uncompressed standard-definition video takes up 30MB per second, 1800MB (1.75GB) per minute. The usable footage shot over the past three days exceeded one hour, which is 105GB! He had to format his PC's hard drive to make room for it, but even then, the poor memory couldn't handle the editing.

The Sony Media Center at USC, however, had various professional post-production equipment, including a digital editing room with a full set of nonlinear editing tools. With Darum and others' IDs, Ye Wei could really show his skills.

While the shooting on set became increasingly tedious as it progressed, post-production was almost entirely monotonous and dull.

Imagine sitting in front of a computer all day, looking at multiple screens, processing frame by frame, constantly combining, arranging, and editing. It's not much fun unless you love it. To be a good post-production person, you need to be patient, focused, and have a strong heart!

Moreover, you need to be prepared to work behind the scenes, because even if the work becomes a huge success, no one will remember the editor or the audio engineer...

Editing, music, and special effects are jobs in the film production process that are lower in status than screenwriting, yet they are incredibly important.

This time, Ye Wei took on the role of the editor, while the special effects were handled by a few animation and digital arts students that Darum and others had contacted. They could finish within a week.

Editing and special effects were done simultaneously because the shot numbers were the same, and the special effects could be directly overlaid.

To do the music, the editing had to be done first, but once a rough cut was ready, the audio editing could begin. The tasks included dialogue, dynamics, environment, and sound effects, led by Forrest, with others helping when they had free time. The music track was handled by Ye Wei, who also served as the composer.

His goal was to finish editing within three days, then focus on the music, as time was running out.

On the first day, in the morning, Ye Wei organized all the footage, and by the afternoon, a rough cut was ready, which looked good.

On the second day, he refined the rough cut, aiming for a final cut of no more than ten minutes. With many scene transitions, the pacing needed careful attention.

Meanwhile, Darum and others helped with the subtitles and the end credits. The crew was small, but there were many people to thank, so the credits would be long. They decided to make the font smaller to fit everything in, but the sentiment was the most important.

They also handled the color grading according to Ye Wei's vision, for summer, winter, and spring.

On the third day, Ye Wei continued refining the initial cut, focusing on the best choices and techniques.

In the morning, in the dimly lit editing room, the U-shaped desk against the wall had four screens. The two on the sides displayed the Sony Vegas editing software, while the two in the middle showed close-ups of Anna, with slight differences in her smile. The one on the left was more radiant, while the one on the right had a playful look.

Ye Wei sat in the office chair, eyes fixed, thinking about which one to choose.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and it opened. A surprised voice said, "Hey, who are you?"

A middle-aged white man, likely a teacher, entered, looking bewildered. He clearly didn't understand why a teenager was editing something here.

"Me?" Ye Wei turned his chair to face the man and smiled calmly, "A Trojan."

"Is that so..." The man frowned, thinking but finding no clues. "What's your name? I don't think I've ever seen you..."

"Oh! This is awkward." Ye Wei shrugged, not recognizing the man either. In his dream, he hadn't seen this person. "I'm Ye Wei, a film production student, just working on a short film project. Hey, Mr., I'm having some trouble making a choice. Can you come over and give me some advice?"

This was a surefire way to scare the man off, as who would enjoy editing except for editors?

Sure enough, the man's eyes changed, and he chuckled, "I have some things to do. Take your time." He turned and hurried away, not looking back. A young Asian student at the college? That was strange; he should have remembered.

Ye Wei whistled softly and continued looking at the screen, choosing the playful one!

By the end of the third day, the refined cut was complete! Everyone was very happy, even just watching the silent version.

On the fourth day, Ye Wei started the music! This was the most crucial part. Music is incredibly important for films, especially short films, expressing emotions, setting the atmosphere, and building the climax. Imagine "Titanic" without "My Heart Will Go On" during the "You Jump, I Jump" scene; something would be missing, right?

After some time, he had a clear plan for the music. The film had four scenes that needed music: the opening scene, the first day-night transition, the second day-night transition, and the montage of Anna's revival.

The opening scene would have a gentle and joyful tune, with bamboo flute and bagpipe sounds. The second scene would also be joyful but more lively, using a flute. The third scene would be a sad lament, with an Irish bagpipe, like "Danny Boy," and a touch of Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" piano.

These three scenes were easy to score and find, as the music room had many commercial music libraries, like BACKTRAXX, which could be used for a few hundred dollars.

But the fourth scene, the montage, was more challenging. It was the most touching and tear-jerking part of the film. The music needed to highlight Anna's strength, describe the love of her parents, Bella, and everyone else, set the tone for the entire story, and continue to the stage scene, supporting the climax until the end credits.

So, a powerful 4-5 minute song was needed.

However, he couldn't create and record a good song himself, so he had to use an existing one, which brought up the issue of copyright and royalties.

He couldn't just use songs by Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake, as they didn't know him, but... he knew the daughter of a rock star.

Yes, Lily! Yes, the song her father wrote for her, "You'll Be In My Heart"!

The song was perfect, with suitable lyrics, melody, and length. It was also easy to obtain the rights, and everything was perfect!

And it was an Oscar-winning best original song, with immense emotional power, even for a music novice.

Although it was a bit presumptuous, "Dance of the Angels" was a non-commercial student short film, so that evening, Ye Wei invited Lily out to the Lemonade Restaurant. Over juice, he made his request.

"‘You'll Be In My Heart’?"

Under the clear night sky, they were still sitting at a small table on the street. Lily laughed, "Not the version by the Super Duper Band, right?"

"No, that version is for comedies. This time, I need the version played by Mr. Collins," Ye Wei said seriously.

"Mr. Collins... so serious." Lily laughed even more, sipping her apple juice and still chuckling, "He gave me the song, so whether you can use it depends on me, not him."

Ye Wei smiled and continued seriously, "Can I use it, Miss Collins?"

"Hmm, I need to think about it, there's a lot at stake..." Lily propped her chin on her hand, looked at him with bright eyes, and then smiled, "I've decided! Look how smart I am, the answer is—YES! You can use it, make it even more classic!"

"Thank you! That's great!" This was the expected result, but Ye Wei was still very happy, cheering a few times before adding, "But we still need to do the written authorization."

"Sure, use it first. Give me a copy of the short film and the legal documents when it's done. My family will be in the U.S. for Christmas this year, and I'll give my dad a surprise!" Lily was very excited, looking forward to her parents meeting a very talented young man.

"OK." Ye Wei nodded and said sincerely, "Thank you, Lily."

Lily smiled and sipped her juice, saying nothing.

After discussing the matter, they laughed and talked about their upcoming holidays, with Christmas and New Year's coming soon.

Ye Wei still had no travel plans, while Lily was going to New York with her mother for a vacation and would spend a few days with her father's family in the Big Apple. She almost invited him to join, but thought it might not be appropriate, so she decided to buy more gifts instead!

"Christmas doesn't have any special meaning for me; I'm not a Christian, but I like its festive atmosphere," Ye Wei said calmly.

He thought this was a good opportunity to understand each other better. If they were just ordinary friends, there was no need to discuss such sensitive topics, but if they wanted to deepen their relationship, it was better to know. He didn't want to offend her unknowingly, and he believed she felt the same.

"Me too. When my mom first moved back to the U.S., she only knew one kid my age, Tris, who went to St. Martin's in Tour. So I went there too, even though I'm not a Catholic. But after all these years, I feel like I'm half a Catholic, I guess?" Lily raised her eyebrows, thinking but finding no clear answer.

Ye Wei said, "OK," and asked, "Can I ask about your heritage? I don't want to offend you."

"Let me think..." Lily counted on her fingers, "My grandfather is a Russian Jew, my grandmother is half German and American, and my dad's side is all British, that's it."

"Jewish, Russian, German, American, British—this is like the European theater of World War II!" Ye Wei said, "You're more like the offspring of veterans."

"Hey, that's offensive!" Lily playfully kicked him under the table.

"Sorry, I have a habit of speaking my mind." Ye Wei smiled, "I'm 9/10 Chinese and 1/10 alien. I was kidnapped and modified by aliens as a child, injected with some alien genes. They said they came from a planet called Cool."

"Ha ha ha, isn't it called the Planet of Narcissists?"

After a happy date, on the fourth day, the post-production continued, and all the music was completed!

On the fifth day, all the audio was done, and the five tracks were mixed.

On the sixth day, all the special effects were completed, and Ye Wei replaced the original shots with the special effects shots in the editing room.

On the seventh day, the mixing was finished! The opening, closing, and subtitles were added, and the file was compressed, encrypted, and copied to a DVD!

When the computer screen showed 100% and the copy box disappeared, it meant "Dance of the Angels" was officially completed!

"Yay!!!" In the editing room, Ye Wei and Darum and others cheered and high-fived, very excited. All their hard work and effort had finally paid off! This feeling of achieving a dream made them love film production so much.

"Guys, really, thank you so much for your help, thank you! I love you all!" Ye Wei hugged each of the college students, laughing and shouting, "I love you all!"

"Just saying thanks isn't enough. If you become a producer and director of a feature film in the future, we should be graduating, right? You need to give us jobs!" "Yeah, but next time, with a salary!" "And a bonus, ha ha!"

"Don't worry, when my feature film starts shooting, there will be plenty of jobs for you!"

As they laughed and talked about the future, the door to the editing room was knocked and opened again. It was the same middle-aged teacher, who, after an investigation, was sure there was no young student at the college.

"Darum, Pete...? What are you doing here, and who is that kid?!"

Everyone looked at each other and then laughed, "Our director, Wei."

Ye Wei whistled, pulled the DVD out of the computer, and decided to leave before the USC security arrived...