Motifs and their meanings

Many famous movies have motifs, or reoccurring symbolism, in them, to hint at a larger theme for the audience to decipher themselves, such as the Girl in The Red Coat in Schindler's List. Cumha has three motifs, which we use to hint at the greater plot.

1. Nature: we use shots of nature to represent the dream The Boy has invented where he and The Girl are a couple. Any shots of reality do not feature nature, even though Scene Three is shot outdoors, it's on a bare concrete platform. While there is nature close by, it's behind a fence and The Boy has his back to it, symbolising the unachievable nature of his fantasy.  

2. Red: Cumha has a very limited colour scheme, we purposefully choose costumes and locations with dark or otherwise dull colours. The most colour used is during Scene Two, particularly the closeup shot of The Girl's mouth, against a flowery background. We choose the colour red, the colour of danger and wanting, to decorate The Girl in, focusing on her lipstick, as lips are traditionally associated with romance. The colour red is also seen on the clock in Scene One, linking his expectations about the future to The Girl. 

3. Clocks - Scene One and Scene Three both open onto shots of a clock (a watch, in the second case), which allows the ticking to act as a sound bridge. The clock symbolises The Boys dreams of the romance and The Girl, as every time a clock is seen, The Girl appears shortly after. Having the clock smashed in the poster is a hint at the audience about the reality of the movie's twist.

It isn't necessarily a motif, but another reoccurring feature of Cumha is the use of focus pulls, which we use to symbolise the trickery of Cumha, as the audience is expecting one story but gets another i.e. their focus is shifted from the trick to the truth.