top of page
Search
Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

Flying Kites

  1. FADE IN


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. SITTING ROOM - 09:00


  4. Peter notes that his WIFE is about to leave.


  5. PETER (V.O.): Today is the first work day of May.


  6. Pausing.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since I've got financial freedom, I've been cognitively free.


  8. Pausing.


  9. PETER (V.O.): As an elderly now, practising lifelong learning is a way for me to stay intellectually young. I'll go to my study.


  10. Recalling.


  11. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, after today, my son will begin a new phase of his career.


  12. Act 2


  13. INT. STUDY - 14:15


  14. Peter sees What'sApp notifications.


  15. PETER (V.O.): Oh, my elder daughter has begun enjoying the long May public holidays in Japan.


  16. Peter checks scenic images.


  17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Beautiful, she's now in Lake Hamama...


  18. Checking a video clip, Peter sees many people flying kites.


  19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, it's the Hamamatsu Festival held from May 3-5.


  20. Peter surfs the web.


  21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It is meant to celebrate the birth of a child - the kite is flown high in the sky for healthy growth of the child.


  22. FLASHBACK


  23. EXT. PETER'S FAMILY HOME, TIN SUM SAN TSUEN - DAY (1964)


  24. At a path near his home, Peter a flying a fighter kite, patrolling the blue sky.


  25. PETER (V.O.): I've probably the best glass-coated threads among my peers.


  26. Pausing.


  27. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I found used light bulbs ground them into glass powders.


  28. Pausing.


  29. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):I made the liquid glue with oxhide gelatin and raw eggs.


  30. Pausing.


  31. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Mixing the glass powders and the liquid glue would form the thread's coating materials.


  32. Pausing.


  33. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then, I put the materials in a tin container (that I made) with two perpendicular holes that are just good for the raw cotton threads to pass through.

  34. Pausing.


  35. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Using a big ventilated thread roller that I made, I rolled the wetly-coated threads to let them dry naturally.


  36. Pausing.


  37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For better quality, I'd fly a kite with the newly coated threads as practically as possible so that the threads won't get stuck with each other.


  38. Pausing.


  39. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As to the fighter kites, I carefully selected the ready-made ones.


  40. Pausing.


  41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I picked kites with symmetrical bamboo spars. Otherwise, they would, after launching, pull either towards the left or the right.


  42. Pausing.


  43. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although I've knowhow to mitigate the deficiency of kites flying without any direction, prevention is better than cure.


  44. Pausing.


  45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Furthermore, I fly my fighter kites like a combat pilot, cutting the lines of others.


  46. Pausing.


  47. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My kite-flying gears have to be the best of the best.


  48. We see and hear Peter's GRANDMA (64) urging: Ah Fai, the sunshine is so bright, don't fly your kites all day. Come home now...


  49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The bright sunshine does cause pain to my eyes but I can't desist playing. Kite fighting is my life.


  50. Monitoring his fighting kite in the sky, Peter moves farther away from home.


  51. END FLASHBACK


  52. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can still hear my Grandma's voice in my mind.


  53. Reflecting.


  54. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was then throwing my passion in the sky like a fighting kite and had no fear at all that my line might be cut by others.


  55. Act 3


  56. INT. SITTING ROOM - 22:00


  57. Peter and his wife are watching a TV drama intermittently.


  58. PETER (V.O.): Until my young adulthood, I didn't have life direction.


  59. Pausing.


  60. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Kites with good threads rise high against the wind. Those goes with the wind have their threads cut, broken or let loose.


  61. Pausing.


  62. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've followed my dream like a thread following a flying kite. May my children follow their dreams and also rise high.


  63. FADE OUT


  64. THE END














5 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page