Time After Time

1. FADE IN.

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY

6. 
   

7. Checking a new notification, PETER looks stunned.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): What's my opinion on the concept of time?

10. 
    

11. Thinking.

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For operational time, which is believed to be real, there' re a lot of scientific information to back it up.

14. 
    

15. Thinking.

16. 
    

17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For metaphysical time, which is believed to be unreal, there 're a lot of philosophical investigations to support that.

18. 
    

19. Thinking.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Apart from the distinction between real and unreal in a conceptual time continuum, there's the imaginary one.

22. 
    

23. Pausing.

24. 
    

25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If time only exists in humans' imagination, is it real or unreal?

26. 
    

27. Thinking.

28. 
    

29. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How can I make time simple and readily understood?

30. 
    

31. Act 2

32. 
    

33. EXT. SHAUKIWAN ROAD - DAY

34. 
    

35. Waiting before traffic lights in his Smart car, Peter sees a Shaukiwan tram passing him.

36. 
    

37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's the same Shaukiwan tram that passed me by last Friday morning.

38. 
    

39. FLASHBACK

40. 
    

41. EXT. SHAUKIWAN ROAD - DAY (Last Friday)

42. 
    

43. Waiting before traffic lights in his Smart, Peter sees on his right hand side a Shaukiwan tram coming up and stopping just next to his Smart car.

44. 
    

45. PETER (Cont'd): I can see in its signage that it's going to Shaukiwan.

46. 
    

47. FLASHBACK UPON FLASHBACK

48. 
    

49. INT. LAW SCHOOL, HKU - DAY (1981)

50. 
    

51. Around 60 STUDENTS including Peter (27) are following a lecture being delivered by a LECTURER (30s).

52. 
    

53. LECTURER: Who's the hypothetical ordinary and reasonable person? In England, it's "the man on the Clapham ominbus". In Hong Kong, the equivalent expression is "the man on the Shaukiwan tram".

54. 
    

55. Peter smiles.

56. 
    

57. END FLASHBACK UPON FLASHBACK

58. 
    

59. The artworks painted on the tram catch Peter's attention.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The proprietor of the advert emphasizes on its trade mark.

62. 
    

63. Peter uses his phone to take a snapshot of the tram.

64. 
    

65. RETURN TO PRESENT

66. 
    

67. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's why I remember this Shaukiwan tram. Today, I arrive here at approximately the same time as last Friday.

68. 
    

69. Peter smiles.

70. 
    

71. EXT. TAI TAM ROAD - DAY

72. 
    

73. Waiting at the end of a car queue, Peter focuses on the scene on his left. He then takes a few photos and checks the images.

75. PETER (V.O.): They're the best that I can take from here.

76. 
    

77. Peter checks the images again.

78. 
    

79. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They look like the waters that I saw in Plitvice Lakes back in 2017,

80. 
    

81. MONTAGE OF PETER'S PLITVICE LAKES SIGHTSEEING EXPERIENCE 2017

82. 
    

83. A. Peter and his tour GROUP are taking a ferry ride in the lake waters.

84. 
    

85. B. They then walk around the lakes, taking photos and videos.

86. 
    

87. END MONTAGE

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We had a great time. But I can't tell whether the waters at Jiuzhaigou or those in Plitvice lakes look better.

90. 
    

91. Pausing.

92. 
    

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I visited Jiuzhaigou in 2015.

94. 
    

95. MONTAGE OF PETER'S JIUZHAIGOU SIGHTSEEING EXPERIENCE 2015

96. 
    

97. A. Peter and his tour GROUP are taking a vehicle ride around the lake areas.

98. 
    

99. B. They then walk around the lakes, taking photos and videos.

100. 
     

101. END MONTAGE

102. 
     

103. INT. STUDY - DAY

104. 
     

105. Peter works on his laptop, listening to music from his phone. We hear:...time after time...

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): This one is by Cyndi Lauper, not bad.

108. 
     

109. Then we hear anther song:...time after time...

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This one is by Matt Monroe. My favourite; Uncle Ray's favourite too.

112. 
     

113. Then we hear movie theme music of Somewhere In Time.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No one doubts about time.

116. 
     

117. Peter is in thoughts.

118. 
     

119. Act 3

120. 
     

121. NT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT

122. 
     

123. Phone in hand, Peter is thinking.

124. 
     

125. PETER (V.O.): I think time is just a human construct. It's needed for humans' operations. It's real in that sense.

126. 
     

127. Pondering.

128. 
     

129. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If we think about other celestial bodies without human existence, is time relevant at all? The bodies can sense nothing even if there's time.

130. 
     

131. Thinking.

132. 
     

133. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How do we distinguish actions then and now ie those completed from those not yet completed? How can we tell the difference if there isn't any unit of measurement such as time.

134. 
     

135. Thinking.

136. 
     

137. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Can we focus on their changes instead? Beings and non-beings change.

138. 
     

139. Pondering.

140. 
     

141. PETER (V.O.): Objectively, they've changed, but subjectively, they may not have changed - like the many flashbacks and montages that I've.

142. 
     

143. Pausing.

144. 
     

145. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'll do my best to explain, in due course.

146. 
     

147. FADE OUT.

148. 
     

149. THE END