The Best Colour
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Oct 31, 2022
- 2 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
EXT. CLUB SWIMMING POOL - 14:00
Swimming backstrokes, PETER stares at the grey sky.
PETER (V.O.): When the sky is grey, I don't need to put on any sunblock cream.
Swimming.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Strong wind signal no. 3 may be hoisted soon. And this swimming pool will close.
Swimming.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today is the last day of Oct. This club swimming pool will only reopen on May 1st next year. Colour grey matches the mood.
Staring at the grey sky.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While I love to swim under the blue sky, I love to watch the red sky at sunset too.
Reaching the pool wall, Peter makes a turn.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
EXT. ESTATE STREET - EARLIER
Having parked a car, Peter looks up at the grey sky.
PETER (V.O.): Last week, it was all blue.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I enjoyed my outings to islands from Monday to Friday.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): And at sunset yesterday, I saw a red sky from home.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is the sky blue because it reflects the blue of the seas? When it's red, what is the sky reflecting?
Peter researches with his smart phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In short, it's due to "Rayleigh scattering". Rayleigh, a Cambridge Physics professor, first explained the phenomenon in 1871.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Sun emits all the colours of visible light which we see as being white. Different colours have different wave lengths.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As the Earth's atmosphere is composed of different tiny molecules, the molecules can re-direct or scatter the sunlight.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As the scattering increases, the wavelengths of light decreases.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Violet and blue light have the shortest wavelengths and red light has the longest.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Therefore, blue light is scattered more than red light and the sky appears blue during the day.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Moreover, our eyes are more sensitive to detecting the blue light.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is that part of the reason I love colour blue?
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When the Sun is low in the sky during sunrise and sunset, the light has to travel further through the Earth's atmosphere.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While the blue light gets scattered away, the red light isn't scattered that much and so sky appears red.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is that also part of the reason I've begun to love colour red?
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And why doesn't nature provide us with violet photon receptors in our retinae?
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If a kid ever asks me just why the sky is blue or red, I'm not sure if I'd look at him or her in the eye and say something that I've just researched.
RETURN TO PRESENT
Act 3
EXT. CLUB SWIMMING POOL - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I take colour as the finishing touch of nature. Good colours impact on me deeply.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is the better colour the one that looks better to me?
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The best colour is the one that looks the best on me.
After doing a few butterfly strokes, Peter leaves.
THE END
.
FADE OUT
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