Going in step with the film's game vs. reality plot,
several establishing shots have a tilt - shift effect, as if beginning as miniature diorama models on a game board, and a continuous shot of the group of friends playing a game of keep - away with a black - market Fabrege egg — a McGuffin — through every room of a mansion is a tense, energetic, elaborately choreographed bit of showing off.
Resnais fully embraces the artificiality of theatre in his adaptation, using sound stages with painted backgrounds and hand drawings for
establishing shots among
several other distinctive visual styles throughout.