Soon, the video’s views, bullet comments, and messages began to grow rapidly!
Fei Huang Studio’s official account on the AiLiDao website already had a large number of fans, thanks to the accumulation of short videos, documentaries, and films. Chen Lei, as a top folk singer currently, also has a very high attention.
The combination of these two elements made the “Rebirth” video start spreading like wildfire as soon as it was released!
Fei Huang Studio didn’t deliberately interpret the meaning of this video.
When there were enough viewers, someone would naturally analyze it.
“Is this Chen Lei’s new song? Ahhh, it’s amazing! But why is it premiering on AiLiDao? And using Fei Huang Studio’s account?”
“Chen Lei × Fei Huang Studio? My favorite annual-updating creator and monthly-updating creator have collaborated, AWSL!”
“How should this video be categorized? Should it be considered Chen Lei’s new music video, or should it be considered a promotional video? I saw the words ‘Sloth Apartment’ appear towards the end?”
“Of course it’s a collaboration! Don’t you remember that Chen Lei initially wrote the song ‘Waiting’ to promote Slackin’ Internet Café? Now writing another new song to promote Sloth Apartments is a very normal and reasonable thing, isn’t it?”
His singing skills are amazing. I’ve always thought that Chen Lei is the best folk singer in the country right now. No flashy techniques, but he can sing with such flavor that resonates with people!”
“Has anyone understood this MV? What’s the meaning of the beginning and end? Is that dilapidated building and Chen Lei’s guitar-playing living room seemingly the same place?”
Everyone was discussing enthusiastically, and before long, a class representative spoke up:
“Let me explain! I’ve watched the video several times and noticed some details that might be what Fei Huang Studio wants to express:”
“First, this should be a promotional video for Sloth Apartments, because it was also released on the Tenda Life APP, and the final slogan ‘If you’re tired, why not slow down and be a sloth’ also proves this point.”
“Second, there are several details in this video that you can pay attention to.”
“The timeline in the short film is staggered. There are two protagonists in the MV: Chen Lei and the designer. The scene is like this: Chen Lei singing in the house, Chen Lei wandering in Jingzhou, the designer selecting the residence and beginning to design and renovate it, Chen Lei moving into the house, Chen Lei starting to sing.”
“You’ll notice that the ending and beginning form a perfect loop, and the scenes connect perfectly. This indicates that the entire video’s narrative is a flashback.”
“If arranged in chronological order, it should be like this: Chen Lei wandering in Jingzhou, or drifting, the designer selecting the residence and starting renovation, Chen Lei moving into the house, Chen Lei beginning to sing, representing the drifting wanderer finally arriving at Sloth Apartments and settling down.”
“However, when filming, Fei Huang Studio used a small trick: they deliberately jumbled the order, using a flashback method to form the entire story into a closed loop, and then used special transition techniques to deceive the audience. Each aerial shot hints at changes in the timeline.”
“The puzzle is only revealed at the end, with two very strong hints: one is that the angles from which the designer and Chen Lei enter the building are identical, and the other is that the unique 180-degree floor-to-ceiling window is only revealed after the house renovation is complete. These all indicate that it’s the same house, just that the designer and Chen Lei enter at different times.”
“I think this special narrative approach mainly highlights the renovation part! Most people may be focusing on Chen Lei’s lyrics or some deeply touching segments in the film, but overlooking the house renovation part.”
“The dilapidated house at the beginning and the renovated house at the end are worlds apart! Using a flashback approach is equivalent to presenting the ‘dilapidated house’ and the ‘well-renovated house’ as two separate storylines to the audience. At first, everyone thinks they’re unrelated, but when the mystery is revealed at the end and we discover they’re from the same house, the impact of this unexpected revelation is stronger!”
“The most brilliant point is that Chen Lei’s song and this video are perfectly integrated in structure! I don’t know who accommodated whom or who had this idea first, but the result is that the last section of Chen Lei’s song has the same melody as the first section, but with different lyrics.”
“This approach, on one hand, complements the video’s timeline, making the timeline form a perfect cycle.”
“On the other hand, it also has symbolic meaning: it’s not simply a cycle and repetition. The lyrics at the beginning of the video are ‘depressing,’ sad, and lonely, but the lyrics at the end of the video become positive and uplifting, giving people a sense of hope, which also hints at the ‘rebirth’ theme of the entire video.”
“So the name of this video, ‘Rebirth,’ should have two meanings: one is that the old house is reborn under the renovation of the Sloth Apartment project, changing from ruins to a livable residence; the other is that the wanderer who has experienced too much of life’s ups and downs settles down in this house and begins a new life.”
“All in all, this promotional video is great! It feels like it’s not just a promotional video for Sloth Apartments, but also a promotional video for Jingzhou’s city scenery!”
This long comment analyzing the video’s implications quickly received crazy upvotes and became the top comment, even receiving an official like and pin from Fei Huang Studio.
This was indeed the expression method that Fei Huang Studio had planned when making this video. To complete it, Fei Huang Studio also helped Chen Lei and Liang Qingfan shoot many additional scenes.
In reality, of the more than three hours of footage originally recorded by the videographer, only two minutes were used. The other three-plus minutes were all additionally shot.
But those two minutes were equally important because they showed the process of the house’s transformation, which was an indispensable part of the video’s theme.
At this point, the promotional video “Rebirth” made by Fei Huang Studio for Sloth Apartments was successfully completed!
It successfully conveyed the concept of Sloth Apartments, resonating with many wanderers in the city.
In every bustling city in the world, people are longing for a place that can belong solely to themselves, a place to empty everything and rest.
Sloth Apartments is offering such a place to everyone, allowing you to wash away the bitterness of wandering, slow down like a sloth, and no longer just struggle hard in the concrete jungle for survival, but also forget everything and rest well in this space that belongs only to you.
So, at the end of the video, among bullet comments like “moved to tears,” “beautiful,” “see you at the beginning,” there was one comment being repeatedly reposted:
“So, where should one go to rent such an apartment?”
…
…
August 24, Wednesday.
At 10 AM, Pei Qian woke up naturally.
He still didn’t know that Fei Huang Studio had updated the video last night, nor did he know that a storm of discussion had already swept the internet last night and this morning.
He got up as usual, washed up, and prepared to go to Slackin’ Internet Café for a meal.
However, when going downstairs, Pei Qian walked out of the elevator and suddenly realized something was wrong.
People were viewing the house on the first floor?
Manager Song Kai’s voice came from the manager’s room on the first floor, seemingly introducing the rules that tenants of Sloth Apartments need to follow, as well as the specific rental prices, to interested customers.
Pei Qian was instantly on high alert.
What’s going on?
To avoid being discovered, Pei Qian quickly hid in the fire escape stairs, waiting for the house viewers to leave while taking out his phone to check the truth behind this.
Having lived here peacefully for over three months with no one asking about it, how come so many people suddenly came to view the house today?
When something unusual happens, there must be a trick!
Sure enough, Pei Qian opened the Tenda Life APP and saw the Sloth Apartment promotional video that was uploaded just last night, as well as comments below comprehensively interpreting this promotional video.
“Uploading videos after work hours?!”
“I see these people haven’t had enough vacation, actually daring to openly violate company regulations!”
“Uh… not necessarily. Approval takes time, judging from the posting time, it seems like it was submitted for review before getting off work, and coincidentally was approved after work hours?”
Pei Qian, who originally wanted to question this, carefully studied the posting time and found that Fei Huang Studio seemed to be quite clever, leaving no handle for him to grab.
“Huang Sibo has already gone traveling, yet the progress of this video hasn’t been delayed at all? How absurd!”
Pei Qian was very helpless. Although he knew that what was coming would eventually come, it came so quickly that it caught him off guard.
At this moment, footsteps came from outside, seemingly the house viewers leaving one after another.
Pei Qian pushed open the fire escape door and happened to meet Manager Song Kai, who had just seen off the customers.
Song Kai was stunned for a moment.
Was Mr. Pei… climbing stairs early in the morning to exercise?
Otherwise, why would he not take the elevator and come out from the fire escape stairs?
Looking at Mr. Pei, not even breathing heavily, his physical condition must be pretty good.
After analyzing for half a day, he still felt something was off.
Pei Qian didn’t know Song Kai’s mental activities and asked, “Were all those people just now here to view the house?”
Song Kai nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei. Several groups of people suddenly came to view the house this morning, probably thanks to the promotional video updated on the Tenda Life APP yesterday.”
Pei Qian was alarmed: “So, is anyone renting yet?”
“Uh…” Song Kai hesitated for a moment, “Not yet. After I introduced the specific regulations and rent of Sloth Apartments, everyone said they would go back and think about it more.”
Pei Qian was delighted. Sure enough, my strategy is still working!
He quickly continued to ask: “When introducing the house, you didn’t use any marketing tactics, right?”
Song Kai nodded: “Of course not, Mr. Pei, as you instructed before. I also haven’t disclosed to anyone that you live here.”
Pei Qian was very satisfied, a smile appearing on his face: “Very good, keep it up!”