First-person POV from a rider approaching a massive black dragon from behind on a wooden mountain platform. The dragon stands at a starting ramp facing a wooden gate reading "DRAGONFLIGHT TRIALS START" with dragon-emblem banners on each side. Mountains and clouds beyond. The rider wears worn white leather gloves, dirt on hands. A white leather saddle with straps sits on the dragon's back. Ambient crowd noise: distant cheering, horns, excited murmur from spectators below. 35mm anamorphic, handheld POV, heavy film grain, teal-amber palette, bright sunlight, photoreal VFX, no zoom. 0s–2s: POV approaching the dragon's flank. Hands reach up, grab the saddle edge, pull up. One leg swings over. POV settles into the white saddle on the dragon's back. Hands grip the saddle straps. Crowd noise swells slightly. 2s–4s: Seated POV. The dragon slowly turns its massive horned head to the right, looking back over its shoulder toward the rider with one large amber eye — a knowing sideways glance, intense but calm. The eye blinks once, slowly. 4s–6s: The rider leans forward and extends one gloved hand to the side of the dragon's thick scaled neck. Pats it firmly three times with warm confident rhythm — thud, thud, thud — feeling the hard scales under the leather glove. The rider says softly but firmly: "Are you ready, my friend?" 6s–8s: The dragon holds the gaze for one more beat, then slowly turns its head back forward toward the starting gate. A deep exhale through its nostrils — a heavy deliberate sigh, two thick streams of warm air visible in the mountain cold. Its jaw tightens. Eyes narrow with focus. The crowd noise builds. 8s–10s: The dragon lowers its body slightly, hind legs coiling, claws gripping the wooden platform, wings tucking tight against its body in launch position. Muscles tensing visibly under the scales. The rider leans forward flat against the neck, hands locked on the straps, body pressed tight. Both locked in, both ready. Crowd roaring. The starting gate still ahead. Freeze on the tension. Style: hyperrealistic VFX, photoreal massive dragon, detailed scales and eye, worn leather saddle and gloves, mountain competition environment, visceral POV, rider always firmly mounted, layered crowd and competition soundscape — cheering, distant horns, wind, dragon breathing — building to crescendo, no music. Negative: cartoon, CGI look, zoom, third-person, rider's face visible, dragon launching or flying, text, watermark, morphing anatomy.
