Directed by HaoPai
Production
Color Grading & Editing
A reflection on life after a street incident: not about right or wrong, but a quiet gaze at the weight and fragility of an ordinary existence.
This short opens with a sudden street incident—a case of police violence that tragically results in the accidental shooting of a Black man. Yet the film deliberately avoids taking sides or assigning blame. Instead, in its second half, it turns toward a quiet, contemplative observation: tracing the man's everyday routines—how he lived, loved, and moved through unremarkable moments never meant to be remembered. My intention is to convey the weight of a life—every ordinary person carries a complete world of stories and emotions—and at the same time, its devastating fragility, how easily it can be cut short. The camera remains restrained and still, building emotion through accumulated details, allowing the audience to feel, in the silence, a lingering sense of grief and respect for what could have continued.
We may have seen similar storylines countless times in films and shows, but after all, they don’t happen right in front of us. So when I was working on the storyboard, I kept asking myself: what if I were actually there? What if the protagonist were my own family or friend—how would I react? That’s why I chose to show them frozen, at a loss, rather than giving exaggerated, tearful performances. Because no one could have foreseen that gunshot coming.
The perspective then shifts back to the protagonist. The story could certainly end there, but I wanted to add more depth to the character, so I have him reveal the next narrative thread: “I got a daughter.”
In portraying the character's everyday life, the key is to make the audience relate and empathize. Rather than layering on tragedies to accentuate his misfortune, I chose the warmest and simplest approach—capturing the quiet radiance of ordinary moments—so as to genuinely elevate the weight of his existence.
The final scene cuts back to reality, where the protagonist shows no vital signs. The camera slowly pulls away, punctuated by the occasional flicker of police lights in the darkness—and everything, quietly, comes to an end.