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Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

An Anthem-like Song

  1. FADE IN


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. BEDROOM - 08:45


  4. Dressed up, PETER is in thoughts.


  5. PETER (V.O.): If I take my wife's car lift to go back to chambers and do other things, I won't be able to write a song today.


  6. Pausing.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My original plan is to write one before the end of the year. Today is already Dec 29.


  8. Pausing.


  9. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There've been many distractions. But I shouldn't induce them myself.


  10. Peter talks to his WIFE.


  11. PETER: On second thoughts, I won't take your car lift today.


  12. WIFE: Okay.


  13. Act 2


  14. INT. STUDIO - 10:30


  15. Checking Yahoo!Finance, Peter sees many stock prices in red.


  16. PETER (V.O.): While I won't sell any, I won't buy any either.


  17. Pausing.


  18. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So it's a good day for me to focus on composing.


  19. Peter tunes up his 12-string Fender Villager acoustic guitar.


  20. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've to tune this guitar up frequently.


  21. Pausing.


  22. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I like its brighter, more harmonically textured sound with a stronger attack than the standard 6-string one.


  23. Pausing.


  24. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I want to write an anthem-like song.


  25. Checking a sheet near him, Peter sees it dated "Dec 8, 2022".

  26. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I first wrote the Cantonese lyrics, containing the key messages.


  27. Recalling.


  28. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And then I got a nice melody and recorded it...


  29. Taping the "Voice Memos" App on phone, Peter listens to a recording. We hear: Ah...Ah...Ah...


  30. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The challenge of my songwriting this time is that there're requirements on the music and the lyrics.


  31. Pausing.


  32. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For a trilingual song, apart from its length, the Cantonese version is the hardest as Cantonese is tonal.


  33. Pausing.


  34. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I like to tackle the hardest first. And I've to think of a way to shorten the song.


  35. FLASHBACK


  36. INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT (Dec 27, 2022)


  37. Holding an electric guitar, Peter is consulting his younger SON and his GIRLFRIEND.


  38. SON & GIRLFRIEND:...Focus on the chorus...


  39. Peter nods.


  40. END FLASHBACK


  41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, let me use the Ah...ah...ah...melody as the chorus.


  42. Playing the guitar, singing the song and stepping a rhythm box in a focused fashion, Peter begins to record his takes with an iPad Mini.


  43. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):This is my 7th take, although I'm doing better with each take.


  44. Later, using the iMovies App, Peter begins to make a MV with Chinese and English subtitles. Having done that, Peter listens his new song again, again and again.


  45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It sounds good.


  46. INT. SWIMMING POOL - 20:00


  47. Swimming, Peter looks puzzled.


  48. PETER (V.O.): I've been listening to my new song all day. How come I've now forgotten the melody?


  49. Later, inside the changing room, Peter can't wait to tap on the MV on his phone screen and we hear:...Ah...ah...ah.


  50. Act 3


  51. INT. BEDROOM - 22:00


  52. Working on a laptop, Peter is listening to his MV.


  53. PETER (V.O.): I think those who want to sing my song should learn the simple Cantonese lyrics. If not, they can just sing the Ah...ah...ah...chorus.


  54. Pausing.


  55. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Every improvement adds to a good result. Tune to get stuff done, I'm glad that I've made the right decision today.


  56. Reflecting.


  57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The best way to get things done is not just to begin but to complete them timely.


  58. Checking the responses from a chat group, Peter sees many thumbs-up emojis on phone screen.


  59. THE END


  60. FADE OUT





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