The Chord and the Chaos

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. LIVING ROOM - 08:30

6. 
   

7. Sunlight streams into the room. PETER is scrolling through his Pad 2. He pauses at a Facebook feed.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): Learn seven 9sus4 chords in five minutes?

10. 
    

11. He gets up and moves to an upright piano.

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me try C9sus4 first.

14. 
    

15. He places his fingers on the keys, his movements stiff at first.

16. 
    

17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): LH: C - G + RH: Bb - D - F.

18. 
    

19. He plays again. Smoother this time.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, D9sus4... LH: D - A + RH: C - E - G...Easy.

22. 
    

23. A smile spreads across Peter's face. He then plays E9sus4, F9sus4, G9sus4, A9sus4, and B9sus4 sequentially.

24. 
    

25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believe I can discern the structure.

26. 
    

27. Act 2

28. 
    

29. EXT. STREETS OF HONG KONG - 16:30

30. 
    

31. As Peter walks toward the MTR station, he listens to smooth jazz lounge music through his headset.

32. 
    

33. PETER (V.O.): What is Jazz?

35. Peter takes out his smartphone and asks an AI Assistant the question. He gets a quick answer.

36. 
    

37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At its essence, jazz is a process of making music, not just a style.

38. 
    

39. Reading.

40. 
    

41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Think of it less as a single genre and more as a language with a specific grammar and vocabulary that allows for endless, spontaneous conversation.

42. 
    

43. Reading.

44. 
    

45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Playing a classical piece is like baking a cake from a fixed recipe, while playing jazz is like being given a set of ingredients and inventing a new dish on the spot.

46. 
    

47. Pausing.

48. 
    

49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But once jazz is recorded, would it lose its "jazziness" as it is no longer improvised in the moment?

50. 
    

51. Peter asks the AI assistant again and gets an elaborated response.

52. 
    

53. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Think of it like photography?

54. 
    

55. Reading.

56. 
    

57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A life jazz performance is like watching a dancer in real time. The movement, the grace, the potential for a misstep - it's all happening now and then it's gone.

58. 
    

59. Reading.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A jazz recording is like a photograph of that dancer at the peak of a leap. It's a frozen moment. It's not the same as being there, but it captures the essence, the technique, the beauty, and the motion of the art form.

62. 
    

63. Reading.

64. 
    

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It allows to study the form, appreciate the composition of the body in space, and be moved by it long after the dance is over.

66. 
    

67. Peter nods.

68. 
    

69. INT. LIVING ROOM - 19:30

71. The TV is on but it doesn't capture Peter's attention until he hears "... a 37-year old firefighter died in the line of duty."

72. 
    

73. PETER (V.O.): OMG...

74. 
    

75. We see on TV seven-eight towering infernos. We hear from the anchor: The fire is ongoing. The Fire Services Department has deployed over 700 firefighters and over 120 fire trucks....public should avoid the Tai Po area...

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's nothing for me to do but watch the catastrophe unfold.

78. 
    

79. Pausing.

80. 
    

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My simple joy of learning seven 9sus4 chords and my intellectual luxury of investigating the soul of music are all trivial.

82. 
    

83. Pausing.

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I think of the families of the deceased, of the injured, and of those still trapped in that hell.

86. 
    

87. Peter takes another look of the TV screen.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This is real. And I'm just watching a recording of it.

90. 
    

91. Peter stands up, turning his back on the screen. He looks out of his own window, into the safe, quiet night of his own neighbourhood.

92. 
    

93. Pausing.

94. 
    

95. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We build our lives chord by chord, a fragile pattern of habit and hope, and chaos is the fire that can turn it all to ashes in a moment.

96. 
    

97. Pausing.

98. 
    

99. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): All must exercise due diligence. In everything. Or the world burns.

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. LIVING ROOM - 21:30

104. 
     

105. Peter uploads a photo of his hand playing a chord on piano to a draft on his laptop.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): I practise the chord to create a small pocket of order in my life, unaware that chaos is practising its scales wherever it wishes.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To believe in the chord is to have faith in structure. To recognise the chaos is to know that structure is the exception, not the rule.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Civilization isn't a grand symphony, it's a simple chord, repeated in hopes of being heard amid the chaos of existence.

116. 
     

117. FADE OUT

118. 
     

119. END