Flagfall

Self-contained cinematic micro-story, photorealistic, shot on anamorphic lenses. Setup: a lone astronaut descends a lander ladder onto a pristine ivory desert under twin pale moons, boots printing the first marks in untouched dust, breath loud inside the helmet; a reverent ambient choir over the hiss of the respirator. Cut to: hero slow push-in as the astronaut drives a gleaming flag into the ground and steps back into a proud salute, visor reflecting the alien sunrise; the choir swells to a triumphant peak. Cut to: a gust of wind clears the haze and the camera cranes up to reveal thousands upon thousands of older flags stretching to the horizon in every direction — faded, tattered, planted in neat rows; the choir cuts dead to bare wind, a long stunned beat on the astronaut's sagging salute, then a polite double-beep from the suit radio like a queue ticket being issued. Final shot: the astronaut slowly plants a second, much smaller flag beside the first and shrugs at the horizon; one dry timpani hit, hard cut to black. Teal and bone-white grade with warm sunrise amber, 35mm film grain, volumetric dust light, ultra-detailed, smooth confident camera movement, tight micro-short pacing, no text, no captions, no watermark.