The three main props included in this short film will be a TV, coke bottles, a chess board and chess pieces, post cards, and a missing flier.
I was debating on deciding if I wanted the TV to play a significant role in the story other than being white/background noise in order to improve the mise en scene. I decided that I would have an iconic mystery movie playing on the TV so that there would be a subtle allusion to the plot twist at the end of the intro in that Camille has been missing.
The coke bottles don’t play any significant role in the plot. I just wanted them to create a match cut with the chess pieces and give them some other props to interact with in order to make it seem like they are really just playing a casual game of chess.
The chess board and pieces are used to symbolize the two characters’ personalities as well as a metaphor for the rest of the movie. The contrast in how Camille plays the game versus Martin shows that Camille seems to be more confident than Martin and in some way always one step ahead. Like the chess game they were playing, Martin seems to not be able to keep up with Camille and this would continue onto his mission of finding her or what happened to her.
The post cards suggest that Camille travels very often. She and her dad have been visiting every state, and every time, Camille brings home or sends a post card to Martin as a souvenir. Martin has 49 post cards meaning that the trip that Martin and Camille talk about in the dialogue of this intro, is the last state on their list/where Camille would’ve disappeared.
The missing flier on Martin’s bedside along with all the other evidence/research he’s done on Camille show that Camille was missing and the whole intro was in his head. Camille wasn’t playing a board game with him, shes been missing and Martin has been trying to find her as soon as possible.
Jennifer Huynh Film 