The 24 Solar Terms
Not-yet-ripe wheat, slowly yellowing green plums and the work of channeling water into the fields turn the idea that “the beauty of Grain Buds lies in being not yet full” into growth you can see.
01 / Background
The Grain Buds episode is about what defines this solar term: “abundant, yet still leaving room.” That poetic idea had to land on wheat grains, rivers, fruit and farm work, so viewers would not just hear “Grain Buds” but see crops growing and slowly ripening.
The film first uses a natural rock arch and morning light to show the openness of heaven and earth, then moves to close-ups of wheat ears, streams, pomegranate blossoms and green plums, and on to northern wheat fields, southern paddies, a pedal-driven water wheel and silkworm cocoons. The final segment uses the act of pouring tea to express “leaving room,” then opens out to bright countryside; seasonal knowledge, scenes of labor and the feel of daily life together convey what Grain Buds means.
02 / Creative Highlights
In the early part, the wheat ears are still tinged with green, pomegranate blossoms slowly open, and the green plums on the branch range from deep green to just turning yellow; the stream and moss-covered stones bring the moisture of early summer. These details of plants and water give “gradually filling” and “gradually brimming” something to see.
The rock arch in morning light and the wheat fields on the plain capture wide-open surroundings, while close-ups of plants, running water and cocoons hold the eye on details. Wide scenes and small details alternate, so every point of knowledge has a clear image to match.
Yellowing wheat fields in the north and water being pedaled into the fields in the south appear back to back, one nearly ready for harvest, the other being planted, north and south echoing each other. The custom of raising silkworms brings the seasonal knowledge into people's work and lives, giving “Grain Buds” a richer meaning.
The water-wheel shot was checked repeatedly against reference material for the direction of the pedals, water intake and water flow: the person needs somewhere to stand and pedal, and the wheel has to connect the riverbank with the fields. The finished film puts the hands on the crossbar, the feet pedaling in turn, the wooden water wheel and the channel in the same frame, giving a line about farm work a clear action.
03 / Scene Breakdown
First a wide shot: morning light pours through a natural karst arch; then down to the wheat fields, where the grains have filled but the ears are still tinged with green.
A huge opening gapes in the middle of a sheer limestone cliff, sunlight slants down through it, and clouds churn below.
Under a blue sky, a bird spreads its wings and flies low over the wheat ears as the narration announces “Grain Buds.”
The camera rests on a few ears of wheat, the grains plump but still green shading into yellow, matching “the wheat grains are filling but not yet ripe.”
A stream spills over moss-covered stones, a pomegranate flower opens its petals, and plums on the branch turn from green to yellow.
A mountain stream rushes over moss-covered stones, throwing up spray, matching “rivers are rising but not yet overflowing.”
Against a blue sky, a pomegranate flower slowly opens its red petals; in the next shot the branches are heavy with plums, most already turning yellow, while the leaves are still fresh green.
Northern wheat fields begin to turn yellow and southern paddies have just been planted; people pedal water wheels to bring water in, and new cocoons sit in bamboo trays for the Silkworm Festival.
An aerial shot sweeps over patches of yellow and green wheat as a high-speed train crosses the fields on a viaduct, with the caption “as the northern wheat turns yellow.”
In front of white-walled houses lies a freshly planted paddy field, and farmers in bamboo hats walk along the ridges.
A farmer in a straw hat grips the crossbar with both hands and pedals the wooden water wheel with alternating feet, terraced paddies behind him.
A mulberry leaf lies in a round woven bamboo tray with a few snow-white cocoons on it, matching “at the Silkworm Festival, people care for silkworms and tend mulberries.”
A cup of tea is poured to seventy percent and stops, matching “the beauty of Grain Buds lies in being not yet full”; finally an aerial view of flower fields and a lake, closing on “Presented by the NDRC.”
A hand holding a celadon gaiwan pours pale yellow-green tea into a small white porcelain cup and stops at seventy percent, as the caption lands on “leaving room.”
An aerial shot of rings of pink flowers covering the hillside around a lake, surrounded by villages and woods, matching the narration “life grows gradually abundant in just the right measure.”
04 / Storyboards & Final Frames
Listed in the order of the finished film: each shot describes what it shows, followed by the final image used in the film.
Shot 1.1
The karst arch on the Getu River in Anshun, Guizhou, with early light coming through the opening and clouds churning, opens the film by spreading out heaven and earth.
Shot 1.2
Over an early-summer wheat field, a bird spreads its wings and flies above the wheat ears; the feathers and wing motion both had to be crisp.
Shot 1.3
A close-up of wheat ears with plump grains and sharp awns, the color held between green and yellow to show “filling but not yet ripe.”
Shot 2.1
A mountain stream crashes into moss-covered stones and throws up spray, showing the water gradually rising.
Shot 2.2
A pomegranate flower against a blue sky, its petals slowly opening from the bud as the small buds around it change too.
Shot 2.3
Plums on a branch, some still green and some already yellowing, slowly change color as if in time-lapse, matching “green plums turn yellow.”
Shot 3.1
An aerial shot sweeps over wheat fields in patches of yellow and green as a high-speed train passes on a viaduct. The wheat is nearly ripe but not quite: exactly the color of Grain Buds.
Shot 3.2
A freshly planted paddy field in front of white-walled houses, with farmers in bamboo hats walking along the ridges, matching “the south is just right for planting rice.”
Shot 3.3
A farmer grips the crossbar and works the pedals with alternating feet as the wooden water wheel lifts river water into the fields. The figure is a plainly dressed middle-aged farmer, with terraced paddies behind him.
Shot 3.4
A mulberry leaf in a round woven bamboo tray with a few snow-white cocoons on it, in warm natural light.
Shot 4.1
Tea is poured from a celadon gaiwan into a white porcelain cup and stops at seventy percent full, using an everyday action to say “just short of full.”
Shot 4.2
A high aerial view of flower fields on the hillside, a lake and villages, ending on bright countryside scenery.
05 / Script Excerpts
06 / Results
We completed a vertical Grain Buds short of about 41 seconds that covers seasonal changes, farm work north and south, and folk customs in one film, ending with pouring tea and bright countryside.
Case Study
Grain Buds means full, but not yet brimming.
The grains have filled but aren't ripe; the rivers have risen but haven't overflowed.
That's easy to write and hard to film: the image has to stop at the moment of “almost there, but not quite.”
This is the Grain Buds episode we made for the 24 Solar Terms series, a 41-second vertical short.
01
Wheat fields appear in almost every episode of the 24 Solar Terms series; earlier episodes showed seedlings turning green and fields under sprinklers. The wheat in the Grain Buds episode had to read at a glance as “nearly ripe, but not yet.”
In the first draft the whole field was golden, looking more like harvest season. We used real photos of wheat fields during Grain Buds as our basis, with verifiable sources: at this time of year, northern wheat fields are patchy, yellow in some places and green in others, with ears green shading into yellow. We regraded the fields to match, and held the close-up grains between green and yellow as well.
The wide shot sweeps over the fields as an aerial, with a high-speed train crossing the green-and-gold wheat on a viaduct, putting the solar term and today's transport in the same frame.
An aerial shot sweeps over the wheat as a high-speed train passes on a viaduct.
02
“Pomegranate blossoms open, green plums turn yellow” describes changes in progress. A single shot of a flower in full bloom or a fully yellow plum would just be an ordinary picture of flowers and fruit.
We made both shots into a time-lapse-like process: the pomegranate flower slowly opens from the bud as the small buds around it change too; the plums on the branch shift from green to pale yellow, some already yellow, some still green. A shot of a stream spilling over mossy stones comes just before, giving “rivers gradually rising” an image too.
For the green-plum shot we also tried plums soaking in water; it looked lovely, but you couldn't see them “turning yellow.” In the end we went back to the branch, with green and yellow plums hanging on the same branch, so the change could be seen.
A pomegranate flower opens its petals; in the next shot, the plums on the branch are already turning yellow.
03
“People pedal water wheels to bring water into the fields” was the hardest shot in this episode. Pedal-driven water wheels are rare today, and AI easily draws one that looks right but couldn't actually work.
We first checked material on the real thing to confirm that a pedal-driven chain water wheel really can lift river water into the fields, then built the image around its structure: a person grips the crossbar with both hands and pushes the pedals with alternating feet, turning the wheel and drawing water from the riverbank into the fields. The figure is a plainly dressed middle-aged farmer, with terraced paddies behind him.
The shot before is a freshly planted southern paddy, and the shot after is new cocoons in a bamboo tray for the Silkworm Festival: wheat harvest in the north, rice planting in the south and silkworm raising at home follow one another within 13 seconds.
A farmer grips the crossbar and pedals the wooden water wheel with alternating feet.
04
The final delivery for Grain Buds was a 41-second, 9:16 vertical short with a matching vertical poster and banner, released on May 21, the day of Grain Buds.
So that every line of narration had a solid image behind it, two lines were cut from the script at the final stage, keeping only what could be shown clearly and backed by sources. Instead of an abstract establishing shot, the ending is a cup of tea poured to seventy percent and stopped: “just short of full, leaving room”, which viewers grasp at a glance.
For the client, this episode turned a poetic solar-term name into visible change. For us, the craft of a solar-term film is in the details: the color of the wheat, the process of a flower opening, the structure of a water wheel all have to hold up to scrutiny.
Tea is poured from a gaiwan into a white porcelain cup and stops at seventy percent.
FAQ
Find verifiable real photos from the same time of year as a basis, then adjust the images. In this film, the wheat fields were changed to patches of yellow and green to match real scenes during Grain Buds, with ears green shading into yellow, distinct from the greening seedlings of earlier episodes.
Yes. This film generated video directly from the final images to create a time-lapse-like effect: the pomegranate flower opens from the bud while the buds around it change too, and the plums on the branch shift from green to pale yellow.
Check material on the real object first to understand how it's used, then generate images based on its structure. In this film, the figure at the pedal-driven water wheel grips the crossbar with both hands and works the pedals with both feet, and the wheel connects the river and the field, making the act of drawing water for irrigation easy to follow.
The visuals for Grain Buds were produced in one concentrated push on May 18, the finished film was delivered on the 19th, the poster and banner were completed on the 20th, and it was released on the 21st, the day of Grain Buds.
Approach
Following the script, the storyboard spells out what each shot shows, how it should look and how it moves, with wheat ears, green plums, the water wheel and cocoons shot in close-up or wide. The green plums had to show ripening from green to yellow, and the water-wheel segment had to clearly show the pedaling that draws water, so scenery would never stand in for the actual knowledge.
The finished film orders its shots as nature, farm work in the fields and folk customs, using clear natural light and vertical compositions consistent with the other episodes in the series. Each segment matches a specific plant, landscape or labor action, so viewers can find what the narration describes in the image.
For the water-wheel segment, the pedal and water-intake structure was first checked against real references, then the positions of the figure, river and fields were adjusted; a medium shot keeps both the person and the water wheel in frame. The final segment uses close-ups of the cup's rim, the tea's surface and a continuous pour to match “just short of full,” closing the solar term's poetry with an everyday action.
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