this scene in the scrip goes like:
zhang haiyan: and what if I die?
zhang haixia: then I'll die with you
honestly both hurt a lot idk why im doing this to myself help?
this is the version before the one we see now. and now i'm going to show everyone the very first prototype unit (shows 1.0) this one was the very, very first version, the very, very first prototype that my coworkers made entirely with a 3D printer. we used this to look at the size and things like that. and i also had a very, very silly misunderstanding, because the first time i saw this thing, i froze for a sec, i thought it was retractable. like, when you guys were little, did you ever play with those toy lightsabers? the kind that extends section by section by section, and then woosh, becomes a full lightsaber? at that time i said, 'wow! could it be that ours is one of those that can retract?' then they said, 'no'. because the handle at the bottom is only a rough representation. what we're looking at was the proportion of the head, the proportion of how it feels when you hold it in your hand. so we didn't print the lower part yet, because of the material and the time it would take. at that time, we were trying to meet the production schedule, so we printed this one. after i looked at it, we discussed the size and things like that, and then this came about (shows 2.0). then after this came the later version, the one with the outer shell.
everyone can take a look. at this stage, i was still using that, our little secret (xicreate, he's saying secret in chinese not english), that logo for our little secret. later that day, i was holding this and looking at it, i kept looking at it from every angle, and i felt it looked just a bit out of place. so afterwards, i discussed it with everyone and asked, whether we could we change this into...you know claw marks? something a bit like wolverine's claw marks. but then i also felt they were a little too fierce. i really didn't know how to describe it vividly to everyone. then later, after everyone pooled their ideas and brainstormed, we chose something that, when everyone touches it, might have a bit of a tactile feel, the feeling of a kitty's paw pad. because every time you press it, it's like you're giving it a hi-five. once i thought of that, i discussed it with everyone, and we settled on a kitty paw design.
actually, i still had a lot of really unusual ideas. back then i was also discussing with everyone, whether we could make little eye expressions that could stick on both eyes. i mean, using magnets or something like that. so there could be eyes looking to one side, or crossed eye, or angry, or confused, or happy, different kinds of expressions. everyone seriously helped me think in that direction as well. then everyone thought of a practical issue when using it. if we relied on magnetic attachment...to stick them on, then when everyone waves it around, would there be a possibility that they could fly off? and if there were a possibility that they could fly off, then first, there's a safety issue, and second, won't everyone end up frantically trying to find those little pieces? so after everyone thought it over, i said, 'nope, i think we should scrap this design.' i said, 'we couldn't...because of some of my own, very spur-of-the-moment, or very sudden ideas, overlook practicality, or overlook our users' experience and feelings when using it. i think user experience should come first before my own fanciful ideas in the creative process.'
so, i hope everyone likes him. he's not an alien. he's not a...little skull. he's simply my, bang miao~
ding yuxi talks about the creative process behind his kitty lightstick!
(this is very, very long)
at the very beginning, there was a time when we were designing it, we used a 3D printer to make it, the very, very, very, very, very first prototype of that lightstick. i'll show it to you guys. that was the very first prototype of the lightstick. it was made using the 3D printer at home. it wasn't..it wasn't even painted or anything. then later, after revising it several times, little by little, little by little, little by little, turned it into what it is now
at that time, my very first clear and definite thought was...i said, i wasn't particularly keen on having a lightstick that's just a sphere. then everyone said, 'how about making an eggplant?' or 'how about making a flower?' but i felt that it really wouldn't give you guys any surprise, or any kind of fresh feeling. it would just feel like it was exactly what everyone would expect. but i felt that i didn't want to give you guys something that seemed as though, i hadn't really put much thought or used my imagination into the final result.
i saw that a lot of you guys were very sad, very regretful, and felt...aggrieved, wondering why it wasn't a flower, or why it wasn't an eggplant, but instead a kitty head.
that...later that day, i kept racking my brains, racking my brains, like, eh? how did i come up with it back then? i saw that, that kitty head, and suddenly thought, 'maybe, maybe i could make a lightstick with a kitty head?'
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do you guys know why i'm so happy? it's because i can finally show all of you, this, uh this is a normal version. this is the 2.0 version. everyone has probably already seen the 3.0 version. on the outside, it has a transparent outer shell around it. and then, this is a prototype (shows 2.0). it just doesn't have that...translucent outer shell on the outside
the inspiration for that translucent outer shell came from when i was little, i had one of those inflatable hammers. you know, the kind your parents would buy for you when they take you to the park. back then, what i especially, especially wanted was one that was a double-layer inflatable. it had one shape on the inside, and a transparent shell on the outside. so the inspiration came from a childhood memory, and from a toy that left a particularly deep impression on me, and that i especially wanted back then. so later, i discussed it with everyone, and said, 'if there were a translucent shell on the outside, would it be possible to make that happen?', and things like that
during that process, there were actually many, many difficulties, but my friends at cheersy studio still helped me resolve those difficulties very well. because they felt that, 'since this is something you really want to express, then we’ll find a way to make it happen. but if it truly can’t be done, then that means it truly can’t be done. but we will definitely do everything we can to accomplish this.' when they said that, i felt very grateful that they could help bring my idea to life —