Opening Chess Motif

Camera: Sony VX-2000
Location: Greenbelt Access Television Studio
Lighting: 2x 500w Halogen work light (aimed at white curtain)

"Unhindered by conscience, unrestrained by the boundaries of good and evil, men would, as they so often do, take their drive too far."

As the story developed I decided there should be some opening element to hint at the final outcome of the film. Chess just seemed like an easy way to accomplish this goal. Originally I imagined this taking place in a small, dimly lit room, with the setting sunlight pouring in a tiny window and casting long shadows across the chess pieces. (Yeah, right, not on my budget.) I revamped this idea into the present silhouette form because it would be easier to film and more abstract (the earlier plan had close-ups on the two players' faces, which would have given away too much).

The voice-over for the scene was written by Aaron and I and performed by Kelly Cahill, who appears in Executive Decision. I slowed the audio down to about 90% to lower her voice and give it more impact. We actually wrote and recorded this about one week before the film was set to premiere; it was just one of those tasks that kept being put off.

This is one of the few scenes in the film with original music, although it was written after the film was officially completed and not added until the internet release. The piece was written by Dahni on piano and I consider it the official theme of The Last Move.