Public ServiceVFX segment support
Two brothers from a black-and-white historical photo step into an image of a mother and child today, in a past-meets-present effects segment that links wartime memory with peaceful life.
01 / Background
Commissioned by Kuaishou Kling AI, we created a past-meets-present AI effects segment for “Remember History, Honor the Fallen,” a People's Daily New Media short film marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; the end credits name Kuaishou Kling AI for technical support. The full film is made up of historical footage, interviews with veterans of the war and present-day scenes. Our segment makes the people in two photos from different eras interact: the brothers in the ruins walk over to meet a mother and child today, answering that history with today's peaceful life.
The key to this segment was getting the relationships and emotional tone right: the original historical photo had to be preserved, the children in the ruins could not be smiling cheerfully, and the steps of approaching, entering the present and looking up together had to be simple and clear. The video above is the full published film; our part is the brothers-and-mother-and-child segment at about 72–83 seconds. The filming, interviews and other effects in the film were not done by us.
02 / Creative Highlights
The black-and-white ruins are on the left, the present-day mother and child and the blue sky on the right; the colors, setting and clothing make it obvious these are two eras. With the two photos side by side, viewers first see clearly where the story comes from and where it's going, so when the figures walk to the right, the direction is unmistakable.
The older brother stands up holding his younger brother and walks to the right as the mother turns to look at them. The meeting happens step by step as they approach, not by simply swapping the background. The older brother holds his little brother the whole way, and finally all four stand in the same frame; these concrete actions carry the emotional connection.
The children's expressions, height and hands were all handled against the historical photo: standing on the ruins of their home, the children don't smile. The emotion starts from the gravity of history and only turns to looking up at the sky together once the figures have stepped into the present. The right tone for a commemorative theme rests on these expressions and gestures.
Once the figures meet, the blue sky and deck in full color slowly fill the frame and the ruins disappear. The four look toward the sky in the same direction, leading into the aircraft footage in the full film, so the effects segment connects back to the film's theme of peace.
03 / Scene Breakdown
This is People's Daily New Media's short film marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The first 70 seconds are color-restored historical footage and accounts from veterans; from 01:23 to the end come fighter jets, veterans and red flags. None of this was made by us; we were responsible only for the past-meets-present AI imagery in between.
A pair of deeply wrinkled hands passes over the medals on a veteran's chest, and the film begins its story of the veterans of the war.
A veteran speaks to the camera about those years, then the image cuts to an old black-and-white photo, leading into the segment we made.
The camera stays close on a black-and-white historical photo: an older brother sits on the ruins holding his crying little brother. The photo comes to life and the older brother stands up with his brother in his arms; the image then pulls back, and a blue sky from today opens up on the right.
The caption reads, “Then: the children's parents were killed by Japanese troops, and their home was burned to the ground.” Holding his little brother tight, the older brother slowly rises from the rubble, his expression grave throughout.
The black-and-white photo shrinks to the left of the frame; on the right are a blue sky and a warship's deck, and a mother holding her child walks into view. For the first time, the two eras sit side by side.
The older brother walks to the right with his little brother in his arms, crossing the boundary between the two photos to reach the mother. The ruins fade, the deck in full color fills the frame, and the four of them look up and point at the sky together.
The next caption reads, “Today: the child boards the frigate Weifang with his mother.” The older brother carries his little brother to the right as the mother turns to look at them; the way each holds a child echoes across the two eras.
The ruins on the left disappear, the deck and life buoys fill the frame, and the older brother and the child in the mother's arms point at the sky together; the film then cuts to fighter jets flying overhead.
04 / Gallery
05 / Results
We delivered the past-meets-present AI effects segment and an AE project ready for further compositing. The video above is the nearly two-minute full published film, showing where this effects segment sits within the commemorative film.
Case Study
An old black-and-white photo: on the ruins, an older brother holds his crying little brother.
Another photo from today: on a warship's deck, a mother holds her child, with blue sky behind them.
In summer 2025, People's Daily New Media made “Remember History, Honor the Fallen,” a short film marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, with an end credit naming Kuaishou Kling AI for technical support. Commissioned by Kuaishou Kling AI, we made the past-meets-present AI imagery in the film.
The task was simple: make the older brother in the photo stand up, carry his little brother, and walk into today.
01
Most of this short film is color-restored historical footage and accounts from veterans of the war. Toward the end, it needed a set of images to carry history into the present.
The brief was clear: a historical photo on the left and a photo from today on the right, with AI connecting the people on both sides. The captions in the film read, “Then: the children's parents were killed by Japanese troops, and their home was burned to the ground,” followed by “Today: the child boards the frigate Weifang with his mother.”
The two photos are first placed side by side, and the colors, clothing and setting make it obvious they belong to two eras. Viewers first see clearly where the story comes from and where it's going, so when the figures walk to the right, the direction is clear.
02
The easiest approach would be a dissolve: the black-and-white photo fades out and the color photo fades in. But then the people in the two photos would never meet.
The client wanted a single continuous shot with crisp action. We broke these ten-odd seconds into four key images: the older brother sitting on the ruins holding his little brother → standing up with him → walking over to the mother on the right → all four pointing at the sky together. For each pair of adjacent key images, we generated the motion in between from first and last frames, then joined them in post into one continuous shot.
The older brother walks out of the black-and-white ruins, crosses the boundary between the two photos, and steps onto today's deck.
The fewer key images, the fewer pauses in between. The whole segment uses only a few first-and-last-frame links, the older brother holds his little brother the same way from start to finish, and the viewer's eye follows him all the way across.
03
Commemorative films are watched closely, and every detail has to hold up. The client gave notes point by point, and we worked each one into the key images:
The children: the brothers in the historical photo wear plain, worn gray clothes; the older brother's build and arms were made smaller to match his age in the photo, and his fingers were redrawn; standing on the ruins of their home, his expression could not be cheerful.The mother: short hair, and her bag changed to a plain style with no pattern.The setting: the structure of the warship's deck had to be accurate, and the clothing appropriate.
The emotion follows the same order: on the ruins, the children are solemn; only after stepping into today do they look up together and point at the sky. The right tone for a commemorative theme rests on these expressions and gestures.
04
The order came from Kling AI, and the client wanted the footage generated with Kling. After Kling updated its first-and-last-frame feature in August, we regenerated the entire segment with the new version, making the figures' movement smoother and the transitions steadier.
We delivered the final version in late August: a 15-second 1920 × 1080 composite video, plus an AE project that can be edited further. People's Daily New Media's editing team cut it into the full film, added the two captions “Then” and “Today,” and followed it with fighter jets flying overhead.
The ruins fade, the deck in full color fills the frame, the four of them look up and point at the sky together, and the film moves on to the fighter jets.
05
In many commemorative films, history and the present are two separate sets of images. This time, AI let the children in an old photo walk into today on their own, and viewers understand without narration: children who lost their home back then can now stand on their own country's warship and look at the sky.
For us, this was also a collaboration making an effects segment for a leading media outlet: we were responsible for just over ten seconds, but every figure's build, clothing and expression was checked point by point against the standards of a commemorative theme, and we delivered video and project files that could be cut straight into the full film.
FAQ
Yes. In this project, we started from a black-and-white historical photo and generated the older brother standing up with his little brother and walking forward, keeping the original photo's composition and the relationship between the figures, then connected it to a color image from today.
First, place the two photos side by side, then set a few key images (sitting, standing up, walking over, looking at the sky together), generate the motion between them segment by segment from first and last frames, and composite them in post into one continuous shot. The figures walk over to meet; it's not just a dissolve to a new background.
Start with the details: historical figures wear plain, old clothes and keep solemn expressions on the ruins; present-day figures are appropriately dressed, and the structure of the setting (such as a warship's deck) is accurate. The emotion moves from solemn to bright, and only once the figures step into today do they look up at the sky together.
This project delivered a 15-second 1920 × 1080 composite video and an AE project. The client's editing team can cut it straight into the full film, or keep adjusting captions and transitions in the project.
Approach
We broke the segment into steps (standing up, moving right, the present-day scene opening up, looking up together), generated and composited each separately, and compared the first and last frames, color transitions and joins segment by segment. For the action, we kept a close eye on the child being held, the walk forward and the direction of gaze, so the relationships between the figures stay clear throughout these ten-odd seconds.
Character details and motion transitions were handled separately: the original historical image, the clothing after entering the present, the mother's hairstyle and bag, as well as body build, fingers and fabric texture, were each checked one by one. Who each person is, how the child is held and where they all look in the end stay consistent from start to finish, so the emotional shift lands steadily.
The AI-generated segment was composited in post and delivered as a composite video and an AE project. The opening medals, the interviews and other content belong to the full film; our part was only the AI imagery that moves from the historical scene to the present-day mother and child.
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