Culture & ArtsAI visuals support
Wind-fire wheels, the Red Armillary Sash and a lotus-body rebirth shape the mythical image of young Nezha.
01 / Background
“Nezha” is a standalone piece from our AI visual support for CCTV's “Exploring China Through Idioms.” The story begins with a boy stepping into an army formation, moves on to the East Sea, the lotus rebirth and his magic weapons, and ends with father and son reconciled. With the scenes constantly changing, the visuals had to keep Nezha recognizable throughout and clearly show the powers he has in the myth.
The visuals always center on the same character: his hairstyle, red clothes and Red Armillary Sash never change, so viewers can recognize him; the lotus rebirth and the three heads and eight arms follow the script; the Wind Fire Wheels, the Fire-Tipped Spear and the sea each get their own shots. The scene of father and son gazing into the distance settles the mood with a sunset and calm stances before leading into the march to war.
02 / Creative Highlights
The army, the East Sea, the lotus pond and the march to war look very different, yet the boy's hairstyle, red clothes and streaming sash stay the same. Every image was checked against the same reference design, so the character is recognizable at a glance even as his pose and shot size change.
After Taiyi Zhenren casts his spell, a golden lotus blooms on the water, light and flame gather, and the boy gradually takes shape before settling on the lotus seat. The water, the lotus seat and the sash stay in the same frame, so viewers watch the transformation happen step by step instead of jumping straight to the result.
The bare feet on the Wind Fire Wheels with their flames, and the tip of the Fire-Tipped Spear, each get a separate close-up before the camera pulls back to the full three-headed, eight-armed form. Seeing the details before the whole lets viewers recognize each weapon first, then understand all the powers Nezha has gathered.
A blue-gray sea, lightning and whirlpools create the menace of the East Sea; when the golden lotus appears, the picture turns tranquil, and orange-red firelight then leads into the weapons and the journey ahead. The quiet image of father and son gazing into the distance together gives the mood a pause, making the short's turning point clear.
03 / Scene Breakdown
The film opens on King Wu's army marching against King Zhou of Shang; then a ball of fire falls from the sky, and the boy Nezha lands holding the Fire-Tipped Spear.
Red banners and marching troops establish the period first; a ball of fire wrapped in red silk plunges from the clouds and lands beside a war chariot.
The flames part, and the boy raises the Fire-Tipped Spear and stands firm. The upswept topknots, red clothes with white sleeves and red sash are the look viewers need to recognize in every scene that follows.
Water and fire churn on the sea; the two rings of fire in Nezha's hands whip up whirlpools, a giant dragon coils in the waves, and the Dragon Palace on the seabed is shaken.
As the narration says “he stirred up the East Sea with his magic weapons,” Nezha stands amid rising waves with a burning ring in each hand. This shot had to let contestants clearly see what the Universe Ring looks like.
Flames swirl into a whirlpool, then split into two rings of fire pressing down on the sea, lighting the waves bright red. No characters appear; fire and water alone show the power of the weapon.
A giant blue-green dragon writhes in the huge waves as a waterspout rises from the sea, then the camera sinks underwater to the startled Dragon Palace, matching the narration “filling the old Dragon King with terror.”
Taiyi Zhenren casts a spell beside a lotus pond; a golden lotus rises from the water, light and flame burst out, and Nezha takes shape sitting on the lotus seat.
The old man in white raises his hand, and a golden ribbon of light circles the surface of the pond; in the next shot, the lotus at the center of the pond begins to glow.
Flames rise from the top of the lotus, light and flame burst outward, and Nezha sits cross-legged on the lotus seat, his red sash fluttering around him. The transformation happens on the same pond, so viewers can watch it through to the end.
First his eyes, then the Wind Fire Wheels under his feet and the Fire-Tipped Spear in midair, and finally a pull-back to his full form with three heads and eight arms.
First come Nezha's red eyes and the mark between his brows, then two angles of his bare feet on burning wheels. The Wind Fire Wheels are called fenghuo lun in Chinese, and that “fenghuo” is the clue to this question.
The Fire-Tipped Spear hangs above the palace roofs, its tip spouting fire; then Nezha rises into the air, three heads and eight arms, each hand holding a magic weapon.
At sunset, Nezha and his father Li Jing stand on a hillside gazing into the distance together; finally, the boy walks out of the firelight with his spear, and the story comes to a close.
Two figures, one tall and one small, stand on a hillside with their backs to us, the red sash trailing across the grass. The picture grows quiet as the narration says “he finally reconciled with his father, Li Jing.”
With the setting sun and the fires of war behind him, Nezha walks toward the camera carrying the Fire-Tipped Spear, leading into the final line, “and set out on the long campaign to raise Zhou and overthrow Shang.”
04 / Storyboards & Final Frames
Arranged in the order they appear in the film: each shot notes what it shows, paired with the final image used in the film. The studio footage, channel logo and QR code were not made by us and are not included.
Shot 1.1
Wide shot: red banners and marching troops fill the frame, with a city gate tower and the setting sun in the distance.
Shot 1.2
A ball of fire falls from the sky beside a war chariot, and the boy raises the Fire-Tipped Spear and stands firm. The two images show the moments before and after he lands.
Shot 2.1
Waves and fire swirl together on the sea, showing that Nezha has reached the East Sea.
Shot 2.2
Nezha stands on the crest of a wave, a burning ring in each hand.
Shot 2.3
Close-up: a full screen of flame swirling into a whirlpool.
Shot 2.4
Close shot: the rings of fire burn just above the water, lighting up the waves.
Shot 2.5
Full shot: a giant blue-green dragon coils and writhes in the huge waves as lightning strikes overhead.
Shot 2.6
Full shot: the sea is whipped up into a huge column of water.
Shot 2.7
Underwater view: seaweed sways as the Dragon Palace trembles in a deep blue light.
Shot 2.8
Wide shot: dark clouds press down on the sea as several bolts of lightning strike.
Shot 3.1
Beside the lotus pond, the old man in white raises his hand, and a golden ribbon of light spins around the surface of the pond.
Shot 3.2
The large lotus at the center of the pond glows and slowly rises. The two images show it in bloom and just before it bursts into flame.
Shot 3.3
As the light and flames fade, Nezha sits cross-legged on the lotus seat, his red sash floating beside him.
Shot 4.1
Close-up: Nezha glares with wide, furious eyes, a red dot between his brows.
Shot 4.2
Close-up: two bare feet, each on a wheel ringed with flames, one image from the front and one from the side.
Shot 4.3
The Fire-Tipped Spear hangs above the palace roofs, a ball of fire gathered at its tip.
Shot 4.4
Nezha rises into the air with three heads and eight arms, each hand holding a magic weapon.
Shot 5.1
On a hillside at sunset, Li Jing and Nezha stand side by side, looking toward the valley in the distance.
Shot 5.2
With the setting sun and the fires of war behind him, Nezha strides forward, spear in hand.
05 / Script Excerpts
06 / Results
This roughly 58-second program segment shows the AI visuals we made for the Nezha story. The lotus appearance, the weapon close-ups and father and son gazing into the distance divide the story into clear sections; the scenes keep changing, but Nezha's look and each section's main color stay consistent.
Case Study
Qiankun yizhi (“staking everything on one throw”), jingang numu (“glaring like a temple guardian”), fengfeng huohuo (“in a whirlwind rush”): which of these idioms does not contain the name of one of Nezha's magic weapons?
This was a scenario question in the fourth episode of “Exploring China Through Idioms,” titled “Remarkable Figures.” Contestants first watch an AI short of less than a minute, remember what Nezha holds in his hands and stands on, then answer.
We made nine AI idiom story films for the program, and “Nezha” is one of them: 23 AI shots that tell the story from the army, the East Sea and the lotus pond all the way to the reconciliation of father and son.
01
The answer is jingang numu: the Universe Ring is called qiankun quan in Chinese, containing “qiankun,” and the Wind Fire Wheels are called fenghuo lun, containing “fenghuo.” In other words, whether contestants answer correctly depends on whether they clearly saw these two weapons in the short.
The production team's script spelled out visual requirements in parentheses: when stirring up the East Sea, Nezha should be “holding the Universe Ring and the Red Armillary Sash”; after his transformation, he should have “three heads and eight arms” and be “standing on the Wind Fire Wheels.”
So we gave each weapon its own shot: in the East Sea section, Nezha stands on the crest of a wave with a burning ring in each hand; after his transformation, two angles show his bare feet on the Wind Fire Wheels, followed by a close-up of the Fire-Tipped Spear.First see the details clearly, then pull back for the full figure.
First a close-up of his eyes, then the Wind Fire Wheels under his feet, shot once from the front and once from the side, flames rolling with the wheels.
02
In this film, Nezha goes from the army to the East Sea, then to the lotus pond, midair and a hillside at sunset. With the scenes constantly changing, viewers have to recognize him as the same person at a glance.
At the start, we produced several sets of character designs and turnarounds before settling on this look: black hair swept up into topknots, red clothes with white sleeves and a red sash around the waist. Every shot after that was generated using this design as a reference.
The shot of father and son together was revised the most. In the first draft, Li Jing looked too young, more like Nezha's older brother, and Nezha's hairstyle didn't match the earlier shots. We put Li Jing in dark armor so he looked more like a father and a general, and repainted Nezha's hair into the same upswept topknots as before.
03
The program's script called for “three heads and eight arms.” This form is hard to generate directly: the usual result has only one head, or only six arms.
So we changed approach: first we generated a front-facing figure with the right pose and lighting, then generated two side-facing heads separately, composited them into the image in Photoshop, filled in the arms to make eight, and put a magic weapon in each hand. Once the still was finished, we generated the motion shot.
In the finished film this shot lasts less than two seconds, but it closes the whole weapons sequence: the weapons seen one by one earlier all come together on one figure here.
04
For the line “Taiyi Zhenren made him a new body from a lotus,” a single image of Nezha sitting on a lotus would show viewers the result, but not the transformation.
We broke it into three steps: Taiyi Zhenren casts a spell by the pond, and a golden ribbon of light circles the water; the lotus at the center of the pond glows and rises; flames rise from the top of the lotus, light and flame burst out, and Nezha takes shape sitting on the lotus seat.
The last step used first and last frames: the first frame is the glowing lotus, the last is Nezha seated on the lotus, and AI generated the transformation in between. Both images use the same pond and the same golden light, so the change happens in one place.
Fire rises from the top of the lotus, light and flame burst out, and Nezha appears and settles on the lotus seat.
05
A short of less than a minute had to tell a mythical figure's whole life and hide the clues for answering the question in its images. Our approach: first understand what the question is testing, then decide which things must get their own shots.
Complex forms don't need to be generated in one go: break them into parts that can be generated, then composite them. For magical moments like transformations, first and last frames let the change unfold step by step in front of the viewer.
These methods also suit science explainers, brand stories and other films where viewers need to remember a few specific things afterward: the visuals have to establish each of them clearly, one by one.
FAQ
Yes, but not in a single generation. In this project, we first generated the front-facing figure, then generated two side-facing heads separately, composited them in Photoshop, filled in all eight arms with a magic weapon in each hand, and generated the motion shot only after the still was finalized.
The AI portion of the “Nezha” episode has 23 shots across five sections: the army, the East Sea, the lotus rebirth, the magic weapons, and father and son reconciling. Most shots run 1–4 seconds, and the transformation shot about 6 seconds.
First lock down one character design for the lead (hairstyle, costume, accessories), then use it as the reference for every shot; for shots where he appears with other characters or drifts off-model, repaint the hairstyle and costume separately to match the shots before and after.
Break the change into several steps and generate it with first and last frames: in this project, the first frame is the glowing lotus and the last is Nezha seated on the lotus. Both images use the same pond and lighting, AI generates the change in between, and viewers can watch it unfold step by step.
Approach
We first broke the script down into character, setting, magic weapons and transformation moves, fixed the boy's hairstyle, costume and sash, then built outward to the army, the sea and the lotus pond. Adjacent shots were checked side by side for character look and color, so the character stays on-model when the scene changes.
For complex forms like three heads and eight arms and shots of father and son together, the stills were refined first, then animated. The Wind Fire Wheels, the Fire-Tipped Spear, the waves, the dragon and the clouds each had their motion written out clearly, and camera push-ins, flames from the weapons and environmental motion work together to bring every scene to life.
Information is delivered in a set order: close-up first, then the full figure, then a pull-back to show relationships between characters. Narration and subtitles link the events, while the visuals focus on making the characters, weapons and mythical settings recognizable. The golden lotus and the wide sunset shot are the two places where the short lets the mood pause.
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