"If you look at the beginning, then we're good friends."
The suspenseful short film "Beginning" produced by Noonday Sun has become the first "blockbuster" at the beginning of 2022.
In short, the show tells a story about salvation: college student Li Shiqing (Zhao Jinmai) and game architect Xiao Heyun (Bai Jingting) miraculously "come back from the dead" after encountering a tragic bus explosion, but they are trapped in a closed time and space loop - only by finding a way to save the whole car can they save themselves.
The popularity of "Beginning" has also returned the "infinite stream" theme to people's attention.
Source/TV series "The Beginning" clip
According to the "Broken Wall Book: Keywords of Internet Culture" edited by scholar Shao Yanjun, the concept of "infinite flow" first arose in the online literary circle. The country's first infinite stream novel was "Infinite Horror" created by zhtty in 2007, which built the basic framework of infinite flow: the protagonist entered the mysterious "reincarnation space" and went to the dungeon world of movies, games, anime and novels to complete specific tasks, thereby obtaining extraordinary powers; but if the limits of the rules could not be broken, then this otherworld adventure would continue endlessly.
This framework is clear and straightforward, but there is a lot of room for expansion - creators can set up any number of copies, blending elements of science, legend, history, reality and so on. In theory, the "small world" that the protagonist has the opportunity to experience is infinite, and the plot development can also have infinite possibilities.
The super plasticity of "Infinite Stream" is not only applicable to novels, but also used in film and television dramas.
However, in order to facilitate filming and picture presentation, the types of "infinite streams" are refined in film and television works, mainly divided into two types: one focuses on spatial changes, typical examples such as the previous hit "Squid Game", 456 people are gathered by a mysterious organization to participate in a "death race" with their lives as a bet; a repetition of time, such as the movie "Happy Death Day", which tells the story of college student Terry constantly experiencing the day before she was murdered, and tracking down the real culprit in the cycle of terror.
1. Cannon becomes the "looping" password
Click on an episode at random, and the episode will be followed by a "∞" symbol, which represents the meaning of an infinite loop -
The "∞" in the eighth episode is still red, suggesting that this episode will see blood. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Beginning"
The hat of Lu Di, a junior in the second grade, is also printed with the "∞" logo -
One of the members of the bus, Lou - The Cat's Apostle - Asthma Terminator - The Chosen Man of Light - Flute. Source/Weibo video number @ Sea Salt Milkshake is unsweetened
In the third episode, when Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun review the timeline in Qingshui Park, they are also in a spiraling circular building-
Circular buildings in Shimizu Park. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Beginning"
However, the most important and ingenious design about "looping" is the canon ringtone of the mobile phone.
Before the no. 45 bus explosion, the heroine could always hear the melody of "Cannon", which made people shudder. So much so that the netizens who watched the drama produced "Kanon PTSD", saying that "Cannon" has become a new "Yama Prince Summoning Track" after "Little White Boat" ("Hidden Corner") and "WishIng You Peace" ("Sweeping Black Storm").
So the question arises: Why is it Cannon this time?
The mystery is to start with the song itself. The ringtone is from The German musician Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D major.
Pachber was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1653. Growing up, he worked as an organist for a long time, composing "palatial" church music. But what really makes him famous to this day is this warm and elegant "Canon in D major" (at least before "The Beginning"). The song flexibly uses the counterpoint method, that is, "in the creation of music, the technique of making two or more independent melodies sound at the same time and harmonize with each other".
Japanese artist Keita Onishi once visualized Cannon.
To better understand the structure of the piece, you can start with the way it is played: generally speaking, Canon in D major starts with a cello and three violins are added eight beats apart. During the performance, the cello has only two bars of melody from beginning to end, which is repeated 28 times; the violin's playing is relatively "complex", with three different melodies that can be switched between them - but each melody they play is exactly the same, only in time. Come and listen to a symphonic version of Cannon in D major, listen carefully, the cello melody in the bass part has never changed.
The almost identical music is constantly repeated without appearing monotonous, which is The most prominent feature of Canon, and the beauty of the melody that swirls back and forth gives the song a charm that has not faded after more than three hundred years.
It can be said that "Khanom" may be the most suitable track for "Beginning".
First of all, this song was introduced to China very early, so it is possible that it will be included as a cremation ringtone by old-fashioned mobile phones (this is also the case); because it is really classic, it also enjoys a fairly high "national degree", and has long been "familiar" in front of the audience.
Secondly, this piece of music is characterized by repetition and looping, which also implies in the play that this is a story about the reincarnation of time and space; at the same time, it needs to be played at intervals of eight beats to create a structural setting that enriches the aural effect, which is also very similar to the plot arrangement in "Beginning" that is affected by time differences and the protagonist's actions, which will produce different story directions and endings.
The heroine heard the ringtone. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Beginning"
In addition, the style of the song itself is quite fresh and gentle, but it becomes sharp and cold in the play, transforming into a death bell that heralds the explosion - this strong contrast not only effectively stimulates the audience's nerves, but also creates a creepy atmosphere, thus deepening people's impressions.
2) Cannon is more than just a tune
Because "Canon in D major" is widely circulated, people often refer directly to "Cannon" as abbreviation. But strictly speaking, Khanom is not a song title, but a song style.
"Khanom" is a transliteration of the English word "canon", which originally means "rule", referring to "a polyphonic musical composition technique in which the same tune is continuously imitated in different parts of the voice". The advantage of this compositional technique is that the various parts of the voice rise and fall continuously, which enables the listener to memorize the theme of the music. As more and more pieces were composed using the Cannon technique, a genre of music called "Cannon" gradually took shape.
In other words, The Kanon in D major, which appears in The Beginning, is actually a cannon song composed using the Cannon technique.
The earliest history of Khanom dates back to the 13th century as a form of folk music. Small vocal pieces such as the round-robin song belong to "the same degree of non-terminal canon (also known as the ring canon, the imitation of each part of the voice repeats itself)", which was once very popular in britain. By the Time of the Renaissance, composers of the Flemish School (the main musicians came from present-day northern France, the Netherlands and southern Belgium) favored and developed this method of composition. Since then, Cannon has often been used as a stand-alone small piece or as a paragraph in a large piece.
Cannon in D major is a classic instrumental piece. Although it can be regarded as one of the most famous canon songs in the world, it is not the most complicated. To talk about the composer who "played out the flowers" of Cannon, we have to mention J. S. Bach.
Speaking of which, he has some ties to Pachbel, the creator of Cannon in D major: Bach's brother was a student of the latter, and Bach's musical initiators were his brothers – so to some extent, Pachbel's musical orientation would also have a potential influence on Bach's composition.
It is said that "Cannon in D major" was written by Pachbel for the wedding of Bach's brother. Photography / Africa Studio, Source / Figureworm Creative
During Bach's musical career, he composed many classic pieces that used Cannon's techniques, such as "Five Canon Variations". Among them, this "Dedication of Music" has to be mentioned. The Dedication of Music actually contains a series of scores written by Bach for the King of Prussia. One of the first and classics is called "Crab Cannon". In this piece, the two voices mirror each other, that is, the beginning and end of the melody are in tune, so the crab cannon is also called retrograde cannon. It's a bit complicated to say so, look closely at this video, instantly clear -
The two tunes in the score are like crabs crawling, constantly alternating in cycles, and because Bach did not write the ending, the whole piece can be looped indefinitely, and in the sense of the Mobius ring.
Such an ingenious arrangement and a unique sense of order are surprising, and it is no wonder that some people compare Bach's composition to writing geometry problems. However, perhaps he played too advanced, few people at that time could understand this musical language, and the Prussian king did not help to do any propaganda. In the end, Bach could only print some of it at his own expense and give it to relatives and friends, resulting in the classic collection that later won the title of "Polyphonic Encyclopedia" being snubbed for many years.
Of course, it was not only Bach who would use Cannon's music masters, but many musicologists in the 16th and 17th centuries explored the possibility of various complex changes about Khanom.
Even in the 19th century, some symphonies and sonatas continued to use this method, such as Beethoven's addition of Cannon to the Symphony of Destiny.
Looking further back, there is also "Two Tigers", which is very familiar with the Re-words of the French children's song "Jacques Brothers", and "The Yellow River Chorus", which is a round-singing song that uses the Cannon technique.
3. Canon's "out of the loop" history
Seeing this, some people may ask: How do you feel that "Crab Cannon" is more suitable for the plot of "Beginning" than "Cannon in D major"?
Apparently, the original author, including the crew, set Cannon in D major as a bomb alarm because of its higher popularity. Then again, how did the song "Cannon in D major" come out of the circle?
The ringtone of the female police officer's mobile phone in the play is also Khanon. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Beginning"
After Pachbel's death, almost no one in the music world remembered the piece, and for a long time it was unknown. It can be said that since its birth, "Cannon in D major" has been silent for centuries before it has been discovered.
To interject here, although "Cannon in D major" later "went out of the circle", strictly speaking, it was only half out. Pachbel's full title for the piece is "Canon and Gigue in D," but very few people pay attention to it. The "Khanom" mentioned in the text is all the first part of the song used in Canon, so Pachbel is also jokingly called the "King of Half-Curve".
Cannon piano score.
The earliest surviving document on the work was published in 1919, and the author Gustav devoted pachber to this paper, but the article itself was not read much, and few decades later few cited it. It wasn't until 1968, because of the performance of the French conductor Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, that it really "made its way".
The conductor performed the work in a romantic way—slower and melodiously. This version of the rendition was included in the Musical Heritage Society's annual portfolio, and throughout the 1970s, it and other works based on it began to appear frequently at the top of the American Classical Music Chart.
In the field of popular music, "Cannon in D major" also performed quite well, truly achieving the blossoming of both classical and popular music. Also in July 1968, the Greek band Aphrodite's Child released the single "Rain and Tears", a rock version of Pach Belcanon that topped pop charts in many European countries.
Later, the song was constantly interpreted and adapted, and even became the existence of "no hiding" in the background music. Because the influence is so great, "Cannon in D major" has also been sent into space by NASA through artificial satellites as one of the achievements representing human civilization.
By the 1980s, Cannon in D major was often used in movies and television dramas, and began to become popular as a vehicle. The biggest impetus for the spread of this song was the 1980 Academy Award-winning film "Ordinary Man".
After this film, Cannon in D major began to "emerge" in the field of film and television scores, and reached its peak in the late 1990s – at its peak, when 18 film and television works used it as a soundtrack in just one year.
For Chinese audiences, the most impressive may be the classic Korean movie "My Savage Girlfriend". In the film, the straightforward and beautiful heroine Mingxi made a request to the male protagonist Morning Glory, hoping that he would personally present a rose on the first hundred days of their acquaintance and complete this task in the eyes of everyone. And on that day, she will also sit on the stage and play a song by herself.
Kanon's gentle entanglement makes it often appear in the bridge section related to love, becoming a romantic love song between the protagonists, such as "If Love Has Providence", "Witch Young Xi", etc., even the background music of Zeng Xiaoxian imagining Zhang Wei's wedding in "Love Apartment 2" is also a Variation of Cannon.
In "The Beginning", the style of painting changes suddenly. Perhaps there are few suspense works to use it to shape the tense atmosphere, this strong contrast, but to the netizens formed a "Cannon PTSD", has achieved good results.
Writing this, I am reminded of what Schopenhauer once said: Music is the most powerful art. The music alone can firmly grasp the keen mind.
It seems that do not underestimate the malleability of music, speaking of which, do you remember last year's "little white boat"?