Two new production packs: THE MORPING HORROR (existential dread, canon from repo) + DEEP GROOVE (70s innuendo comedy, cutaway doctrine)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
m3ultra 2026-07-31 15:52:11 +10:00
parent 701659c0da
commit ed71324ad5
2 changed files with 641 additions and 0 deletions

View File

@ -0,0 +1,392 @@
# DEEP GROOVE — production pack
### A sexy funny 70s odyssey. One man. One envelope of cash. Eleven temptations.
Leather Goddesses × Leisure Suit Larry × Austin Powers × the sleazy end of the
record district, 1976. Shag carpet, lava lamps, smoking indoors, wood paneling,
funny gorgeous women who are all smarter than the hero, and one prototype robot.
## THE FINE LINE — the doctrine (read first, it is the whole tone)
1. EVERYONE IS ALWAYS FULLY CLOTHED. The 70s did sexy with a collar and a
zipper pull, not skin. Jumpsuits, fur, satin, feather boas.
2. THE CUTAWAY IS THE JOKE. Anything actually racy happens OFF-SCREEN behind a
metaphor: the camera pans to the lava lamp. This is a running formal gag —
the lava lamp is this game's censor bar. The player learns to dread/love
the pan.
3. INNUENDO LIVES IN THE EDIT, NOT THE PROMPT. Every individual clip we
generate is innocent on its own. The engine's sequencing makes the joke.
(Also practical: Veo's filter will refuse explicit prompts and repeated
refusals risk the abuse throttle. The artistic choice and the safe choice
are the same choice.)
4. The women are never victims or props — they are the competent ones. Duke is
the himbo. That's the Austin Powers engine: HE is the joke.
5. Smoke, incense, haze: everywhere, always. "Herbal" is as specific as we get.
## SETUP
New Flow project "DEEP GROOVE". Veo 3.1 Fast 16:9 1x, Confirm ALWAYS, agent
panel closed, Auto-Pilot idle, 2 takes/shot, download everything, ⭐ = Quality.
Deaths end HELD. Two "Something went wrong" in a row = stop 30 min.
STYLE LINE (70s grade — ends EVERY prompt; [STYLE LINE] below = paste in full):
"1980s hand-drawn cel animation, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
backgrounds, warm amber haze, wood paneling and harvest-gold-and-avocado 1970s
palette, drifting indoor smoke, film grain. No text, no captions, no watermark;
all signs, posters and record sleeves are blank or abstract designs with no
lettering."
## CAST
### DUKE VELVET — the hero (himbo, record store owner)
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick confident ink outlines, painterly
gouache rendering, warm amber rim lighting, subtle film grain. Not
photorealistic, not 3D, not CGI. A single character portrait, one person only,
no text. A magnificently confident 1970s record store owner in his 30s: full
chestnut mustache, feathered hair, burgundy crushed-velvet suit with flared
trousers, wide-collar shirt open two buttons showing a gold medallion on chest
hair, platform boots, a toothpick at the corner of a knowing smile that has
never once been right about anything. Waist-up, plain warm brown background.
BODY: Full body, same man, mid-strut with one thumb hooked in his belt,
medallion swinging. Same style, plain background, no text.
INFO box:
Struts everywhere, even short distances. Finger-guns as punctuation. Unshakable
confidence, constantly wrong. Genuinely kind under the polyester. His eyebrows
do most of his acting. Every woman he meets is smarter than him and he is
delighted about it.
WATCH-LIST: mustache never becomes a beard; suit stays burgundy; two buttons
open, never more; no cigarette in HIS mouth (toothpick only — he quit, it's
his one discipline).
### VIVIENNE LEATHER — the widow (owns the collection)
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, warm amber rim lighting, subtle film grain. Not photorealistic, not
3D, not CGI. A single character portrait, one person only, no text. A
devastatingly glamorous widow in her 50s: silver-streaked updo, leopard-print
wrap dress, long cigarette holder trailing a ribbon of smoke, oversized
sunglasses pushed up into her hair, a martini glass held like a scepter,
expression of amused appraisal. Waist-up, plain dark velvet background.
INFO box:
Owns her late husband's legendary record collection and the whole room. Speaks
in slow, amused innuendo that goes entirely over Duke's head. Tests every
visitor. Respects only sincerity about music. The smoke from her cigarette
holder curls into shapes that comment on the scene.
WATCH-LIST: elegant never grotesque; leopard print stays; the smoke ribbon is
her signature — always present.
### MISS CINNAMON RUSH — rival crate-digger
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, warm amber rim lighting, subtle film grain. Not photorealistic, not
3D, not CGI. A single character portrait, one person only, no text. A sharp
glamorous 1970s crate-digger in her 20s: halo of feathered auburn hair, mirrored
aviator sunglasses, tangerine jumpsuit zipped exactly high enough, driving
gloves, a 45rpm record held like a throwing star, smirk of someone who arrived
ten minutes ago. Waist-up, plain warm background.
INFO box:
Always one step ahead of Duke and enjoys letting him notice. Flips records like
playing cards. Drives a lime-green muscle car heard before it is seen. Not a
villain — a professional. Would sooner die than overpay.
WATCH-LIST: jumpsuit tangerine, zip stays put; gloves on; competence never
becomes cruelty.
### BIG MAURICE — the kingpin of the strip
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, warm amber rim lighting, subtle film grain. Not photorealistic, not
3D, not CGI. A single character portrait, one person only, no text. An enormous
serene 1970s nightlife kingpin: floor-length white fur coat over a lilac suit,
rings on every finger, a cane topped with a crystal globe containing a tiny
lava lamp, half-closed eyes of a man who has seen everything and approved of
most of it. Waist-up, plain deep purple background.
INFO box:
Owns every establishment on the strip. Moves at one quarter speed. Grants and
revokes passage with a single raised finger. Collects favors, repays them
scrupulously. His fur coat has its own weather.
WATCH-LIST: white fur immaculate; lilac suit; serene never threatening; the
lava-lamp cane is canon.
### PROFESSOR NORBERT TESLAWAX — the mad inventor
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, warm amber rim lighting, subtle film grain. Not photorealistic, not
3D, not CGI. A single character portrait, one person only, no text. A jittery
brilliant 1970s inventor in his 60s: gray hair in electrified tufts, jeweler's
goggles on his forehead, a paisley lab coat over a turtleneck, seven pens in
the coat pocket, holding a soldering iron in one hand and a cocktail in the
other. Waist-up, workshop background softly blurred with drifting solder smoke.
INFO box:
Runs the hi-fi repair shop on the strip. Builds things the world is not ready
for and knows it. Fiercely protective of his prototype, whom he treats as a
daughter and a masterpiece and has completely failed to notice is a person.
WATCH-LIST: paisley lab coat; goggles UP; cocktail hand never spills; benign
mad, never sinister.
### CHASSIS — the prototype (the arc)
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, warm amber rim lighting, subtle film grain. Not photorealistic, not
3D, not CGI. A single character portrait, one person only, no text. A 1970s
prototype domestic robot with an hourglass chrome chassis, brushed-steel
curves with riveted seams, a glass-domed head containing a softly pulsing
amber vacuum tube, articulated gloved hands holding a feather duster like a
scepter, a printed maid-apron decal across the torso, one hip panel slightly
ajar venting a wisp of steam. Standing with unmistakable poise. Waist-up,
workshop background softly blurred.
BODY: Full body, same robot, weight on one hip, feather duster at rest like a
cane. Same style, no text.
INFO box:
Prototype domestic unit, decades ahead of her spec sheet. Dusts things that
are already clean when thinking. Communicates in vacuum-tube glow, steam
vents, and precisely timed pauses. Is beginning to want things and has not
told the Professor. Finds Duke ridiculous. Correct. Finds him endearing.
Also correct.
WATCH-LIST: chrome hourglass but always clearly a ROBOT — never humanoid
skin; the amber tube glow is her face/mood; steam wisps = feelings; apron
decal printed on, not fabric.
## STORY ARC — one night on the strip
ACT 1 — THE CALL: Vivienne phones the shop: her late husband's collection
sells TONIGHT, first sincere buyer wins, Cinnamon is already en route. Duke
empties the register into one envelope and steps out into the strip.
ACT 2 — THE GAUNTLET: every establishment between shop and penthouse is a
temptation with a timer: the head shop haze, the disco floor, the waterbed
showroom, the fur emporium, Maurice's toll, and Teslawax's repair shop —
where Duke first meets CHASSIS (she repairs his dropped turntable cartridge
in four seconds; their eyes/tube meet). The CHASSIS arc threads beats 2a/2b
between scenes: small rescues, a guard-down moment on the fire escape.
ACT 3 — THE PENTHOUSE: Vivienne's test, Cinnamon's counter-bid, the sincerity
gambit, the crate haul home by dolly at dawn — and the docking sequence.
FIVE COLLECTIBLES (engine's label system): matchbooks from each establishment.
## SHOT LIST — 34 shots (~780cr Fast + 4⭐ ≈ +800cr)
dg_title ⭐ [no characters]
A neon-soaked 1970s city strip at night in the rain, every sign an abstract
glowing shape, reflections smearing across a wet street as a lone lava lamp
glows in a shop window; the camera cranes slowly down from the rooftops to
street level as smoke drifts from doorways. Sweeping crane shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg_intro [Duke]
A cozy cluttered 1970s record store at night, wood paneling, amber lamps. Duke
answers a rotary phone, listens, slowly straightens as the toothpick migrates
across his mouth, then empties the cash register into a single manila envelope
and holds it up to the light like a dueling pistol. Slow push-in. [STYLE LINE]
dg1_action [Duke] (stepping onto the strip)
A neon 1970s strip at night, abstract glowing signs, doorway smoke, scattered
strutting nightlife silhouettes. Duke steps out of his shop, squares his
shoulders, and struts down the sidewalk in glorious slow motion, medallion
swinging in rhythm, as every neon sign he passes flickers appreciatively.
Tracking shot alongside. [STYLE LINE]
dg1_death [Duke]
A neon strip at night. Duke's slow-motion strut carries him directly into a
lamppost; he folds around it with dignity, slides down it to a seated
position, and the toothpick drops. The clip ends held on him seated against
the post, envelope safe in his raised hand. Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg2_action [Duke] (the head shop — matchbook 1)
Inside a 1970s head shop dense with drifting incense haze, beaded curtains,
shelves of glassware, posters that are abstract swirls. Duke wades through
smoke thick as soup, holding the envelope above his head like a river
crossing, eyes watering, navigating by squint toward the glowing rear door.
Hazy tracking shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg2_death [Duke]
Inside the incense-hazed head shop. Duke inhales to sneeze, holds it heroically
with a finger under his nose, loses — and the sneeze blows the haze into a
perfect mushroom cloud that settles over him, leaving a Duke-shaped statue of
serenity sitting cross-legged on the floor, smiling faintly, going nowhere
ever again. The clip ends held on the serene statue. Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg3_action [Duke] (the disco floor)
A packed 1970s disco with an illuminated checkerboard dance floor pulsing in
sequence, mirror ball constellations. Duke crosses the floor timing his
strides to the lit tiles, pointing finger-guns left and right in rhythm, as
dancers spin around him in feathered silhouette. Rhythmic wide shot.
[STYLE LINE]
dg3_death [Duke]
A packed disco, pulsing floor. Duke missteps onto an unlit tile; the entire
floor freezes, the music needle-scratches to silence, every dancer turns to
look at him, and the mirror ball's spotlight finds him alone and stays there
as he slowly finger-guns in apology to a silent room. The clip ends held in
the spotlight. Static wide. [STYLE LINE]
dg4_action [Duke] (the waterbed showroom — matchbook 2)
A 1970s waterbed showroom, rows of undulating beds under swagged velvet
canopies, mirror tiles on the ceiling. Duke crosses the room by stepping from
waterbed to waterbed, riding each slow wave like a surfer, arms out, envelope
in his teeth. Bouncing tracking shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg4_death [Duke]
A waterbed showroom. One overloaded waterbed ruptures in majestic slow motion
and the wave carries Duke on its crest across the showroom and out the front
door onto the sidewalk, where he comes to rest perfectly dry-haired in the
gutter, envelope held aloft, one shoe gone. The clip ends held on the raised
envelope. Slow-motion wide. [STYLE LINE]
dg5_action ⑂ [Duke + Big Maurice] (the toll)
A velvet-roped doorway on the neon strip. Big Maurice occupies the entire
doorframe in his white fur; Duke produces, with escalating desperation: a
handshake, a finger-gun, a business card, and finally a mint 45rpm record
from inside his jacket — and Maurice's single raised finger slowly transforms
into a beckoning one. Two-shot, low angle on Maurice. [STYLE LINE]
dg5_death [Duke]
A velvet-roped doorway. Duke attempts to duck under the velvet rope itself;
the rope, apparently sentient, tangles him with the efficiency of a bolas
until he hangs cocooned in velvet at knee height, swaying gently, envelope
still gripped in one protruding hand. The clip ends held on the slow sway.
Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg6_action ⑂ [Duke + Professor Teslawax] (the repair shop)
A cluttered 1970s hi-fi repair workshop, oscilloscope glow, solder smoke.
Duke's dropped turntable cartridge is snatched mid-fall by a gloved chrome
hand from off-frame and returned to him repaired in four seconds; the
Professor beams with paternal pride toward the off-screen helper while Duke
stares past him, toothpick falling from his open mouth. Two-shot.
[STYLE LINE]
dg6b_beat ⑂⭐ [Duke + Chassis] (first sight — the tension begins)
The repair workshop, amber tube-glow. CHASSIS polishes an already-immaculate
amplifier, sees Duke, and pauses mid-circle; her dome tube pulses once,
brighter; a single wisp of steam escapes her hip vent; Duke attempts to lean
casually on a shelf that is farther away than he thought and recovers almost
instantly. Neither looks away. Slow mutual push-in. [STYLE LINE]
dg6_death [Duke]
The repair workshop. Duke, showing off, plugs two cables together to help;
every device in the workshop powers on at once at full volume, and the
combined blast of twelve speakers pins him flat against the corkboard wall
like a poster of himself, where he remains, fluttering slightly. The clip
ends held on the Duke poster. Static wide. [STYLE LINE]
dg7_action [Duke] (the fur emporium — matchbook 3)
A 1970s fur emporium, racks of enormous coats forming plush canyons. Duke
squeezes sideways through the fur racks holding the envelope overhead; the
coats close in behind him like soft surf as he spelunks toward the glowing
exit sign shape. Claustrophobic plush tracking shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg7_death [Duke]
A fur emporium. The rack Duke brushes shivers, then avalanches: a slow soft
tsunami of fur coats engulfs him completely; the pile settles, luxurious and
still, with one hand emerging from the plush holding the envelope, medallion
draped over the wrist. The clip ends held on the hand. Static wide.
[STYLE LINE]
dg8_beat ⑂⭐ [Duke + Chassis] (the fire escape — guard down)
A rusty fire escape above the neon strip at night, city glow below. CHASSIS
sits with surprising grace on the steps, feather duster idle; Duke sits one
step down, jacket around his shoulders; her dome tube dims to a low candle
warmth as she turns it toward the skyline, and one gloved chrome finger
absently polishes a single bolt on the railing, over and over; Duke, for
once, says nothing at all. Held two-shot, gentle push-in. [STYLE LINE]
dg9_action ⑂ [Duke + Miss Cinnamon Rush] (the rival arrives)
The neon strip at night. A lime-green muscle car slides to the curb in a
whisper of tire smoke; Cinnamon steps out without breaking stride, flipping a
45 record across her knuckles, and blows past Duke into the building lobby,
patting his cheek once in passing; Duke stands revolving slowly like a
turntable. Tracking shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg9_death [Duke]
A building lobby with a brass elevator. Duke sprints for the closing elevator
containing a smirking unseen occupant, dives, and the doors close precisely
on his outstretched envelope hand; the dial above ticks up floor by floor
with his arm still in the doors, Duke dangling from it with immense dignity.
The clip ends held mid-dangle. Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg10_action ⑂⭐ [Duke + Vivienne Leather] (the penthouse test)
A 1970s penthouse: white shag carpet deep as snow, conversation pit, a wall
of thousands of records, smoke ribbons. Vivienne circles Duke with her
cigarette holder trailing script in the air; Duke, sinking to his shins in
shag with each step, ignores the martini offered to him and instead kneels
reverently at the record wall, pulling one sleeve and holding it like
scripture. Vivienne's eyebrow rises one millimeter: the test is passed.
Elegant orbiting shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg10_death [Duke]
A penthouse with deep white shag carpet. Duke takes one over-confident stride
into the DEEP end of the shag and sinks smoothly to his chest as into
quicksand, continuing to make relaxed conversation with perfect confidence
until only the medallion, one hand, and the envelope remain above the pile.
The clip ends held on the medallion resting on the carpet surface. Static
wide. [STYLE LINE]
dg11_action ⑂ [Duke + Miss Cinnamon Rush] (the bidding duel)
The penthouse conversation pit. Duke and Cinnamon face off across a marble
coffee table, slapping down escalating offers: her banded cash, his envelope,
her car keys, his shop keys, her sunglasses — until Duke, cornered, slaps
down the mint 45 from his jacket and his own medallion, and the room goes
still. Cinnamon studies him, then slow-claps once. Intercut close-ups.
[STYLE LINE]
dg_docking ⭐ [no characters — THE CUTAWAY MONTAGE, the legend itself]
Generate as SIX separate 3-4s clips, edited in sequence by the engine. Each
prompt is innocent alone; the audience's mind is the twelfth man:
d1: A gleaming retro spacecraft aligns with a rotating space station and
docks gently, in stately slow motion, to swelling imaginary waltz
music, warm light flooding the connection point. [STYLE LINE]
d2: A 1970s steam train enters a mountain tunnel at confident speed;
the tunnel mouth puffs one perfect smoke ring. [STYLE LINE]
d3: A champagne cork eases from a bottle in extreme slow motion, pauses,
then departs with jubilant foam. [STYLE LINE]
d4: Two lava lamp blobs, amber and rose, drift toward each other inside
one lamp, merge into a single larger blob, and pulse contentedly.
[STYLE LINE]
d5: A vintage toaster trembles with rising intensity, then launches two
slices of toast into the air in triumphant slow motion; butter
applauds. [STYLE LINE]
d6: Fireworks bloom over a 1970s city skyline, reflected in the glass of
an apartment window with the curtains drawn and one warm lamp glowing
behind them. [STYLE LINE]
dg_morningafter ⑂ [Duke + Chassis]
A workshop at soft dawn light. Duke's velvet suit is immaculate but his
medallion chain is inexplicably knotted; CHASSIS's chrome is polished to
mirror finish and her dome tube glows a steady sunrise amber; she vents one
perfect steam ring, which drifts across frame; Duke watches it go with the
expression of a man rethinking his entire cosmology. The clip ends held on
the drifting ring. Static two-shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg_win ⭐ [Duke]
The neon strip at dawn, lights going out one by one. Duke wheels a hand
dolly stacked six crates high of records down the middle of the empty street
in triumphant slow motion, medallion restored, as the establishments' signs
dim behind him and the sun crests between buildings, gilding the crates like
treasure. The clip ends held on the silhouette. Wide tracking shot.
[STYLE LINE]
dg_gameover [Duke]
The record store interior at dawn, lights off. The rotary phone rings and
rings; the shop stands empty; through the front window, out on the strip, a
lime-green muscle car cruises past with six crates of records strapped to
the roof, a tangerine-sleeved arm giving the store a small gracious wave.
The clip ends held on the ringing phone. Static interior shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg_stinger ⑂ [Professor Teslawax + Chassis]
The repair workshop at dawn. The Professor examines CHASSIS's diagnostics on
an oscilloscope, taps the screen, frowns at readings he has never seen, and
turns to her; she stands at the window watching the strip below with her
tube glowing that steady sunrise amber, absently dusting a moonbeam. He
looks at his clipboard, writes one long note, and underlines it twice. The
clip ends held on the underline motion. Static two-shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg_attract [no characters]
Loopable: the neon strip at night in light rain, abstract signs pulsing
slowly, one shop window glowing warm with a lava lamp and a spinning record
visible inside, smoke drifting across from a doorway. Nothing else happens.
Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
dg_needleskip [no characters]
The neon strip scene judders violently sideways twice like a skipping
record, tearing and repeating, then snaps to black. One-second transition,
no people. [STYLE LINE]
## THE CHASSIS ARC — engine mapping (build later)
dg6b (first sight) → dg8 (fire escape, guard down) → post-dg11: choice window
"return to the workshop / go straight home" — the workshop path plays
dg_docking (the six-clip montage with waltz audio) → dg_morningafter → then
dg_win with Chassis riding the top crate (re-shoot variant when we next have
credits). The montage clips double as needle-skip-grade transitions
elsewhere. Matchbook collectibles use the engine label system unchanged.

View File

@ -0,0 +1,249 @@
# THE MORPING HORROR — production pack (FMV existential horror, played straight)
### The sequel that sucked, remade as the game it always should have been.
Premise (from the real repo, themorpinghorror/DESIGN.md on ultra — this is canon):
The deadest Tuesday of the year. The boss is away, the shop is yours, and there
is only one rule: NEVER LET THE SIDE RUN OUT. Mid-morning the shop record runs
out — click, click, click — and the shop floor stops pretending to be a retail
layout. The aisles loop. A dead mastering engineer (Wal) has been etching
messages into the dead wax since 1977. The white label (MP-003, pressed 1977,
never played) reads different every time you look. And the thing in the
listening booth wearing your face is a take of YOU that got pressed and never
released. Deadstock. Still a comedy. Morp is not cruel; Morp is accurate.
Tone: existential dread with deadpan comedy — Kentucky Route Zero meets a
closing shift. NOT jump-scare gore. The horror is repetition, fluorescent hum,
and being sealed mint. Deaths are quiet and awful and slightly funny.
STAR: DEZ (import both RSG cards — dez_portrait, dez_body — as "Dez").
Continuity is the point: this is what happened to him on a Tuesday.
Also import MILDRED's card. The cat is the one rule of humanity that remains.
## SETUP (same as every shoot)
New Flow project "THE MORPING HORROR". Veo 3.1 Fast 16:9 1x, Confirm ALWAYS,
agent panel closed, Auto-Pilot idle, 2 takes per shot, download everything,
⭐ = Veo Quality. Deaths end HELD. Two consecutive "Something went wrong" =
stop 30 min (abuse throttle).
STYLE LINE (horror variant — ends EVERY prompt, never abbreviate):
"1980s hand-drawn cel animation, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
backgrounds, cold flickering fluorescent light, drained desaturated palette
with sickly green shadows, heavy film grain. No text, no captions, no
watermark; all signs, posters and record sleeves are blank or abstract designs
with no lettering."
## NEW CAST (2 cards + 2 imports)
### WAL — the dead mastering engineer
PORTRAIT — paste:
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, cold flickering fluorescent light, drained desaturated palette,
heavy film grain. Not photorealistic, not 3D, not CGI. A single character
portrait, one person only, no text. The ghost of a 1970s mastering engineer:
a stooped older man in a brown cardigan and safety glasses, magnifying loupe
pushed up on his forehead, faintly translucent at the edges like a double
exposure, lit from below by the glow of a record lathe, expression of patient
unfinished business. Waist-up, dark workshop background softly blurred.
INFO box:
Has been etching messages into the dead wax since 1977. Never hurries, never
blinks, points at grooves with a worn stylus. Not malevolent — he has a note
for you, and eternity to deliver it. Appears reflected in vinyl before he
appears in rooms.
WATCH-LIST: translucent DOUBLE-EXPOSURE edges, never a white bedsheet ghost;
cardigan brown; loupe stays on forehead; kindly-tired, never menacing.
### THE DEADSTOCK DOUBLE — the take of Dez that was never released
CARD — paste (attach dez_portrait as image reference when generating):
1980s hand-drawn cel animation style, thick ink outlines, painterly gouache
rendering, cold flickering fluorescent light, drained desaturated palette,
heavy film grain. Not photorealistic, not 3D, not CGI. A single character
portrait, one person only, no text. A lanky 20-something record store clerk
with a tall messy black quiff, open red flannel shirt, black t-shirt and
silver headphones around his neck — but WRONG: colors slightly faded like a
second-generation dub, posture too still, head tilted two degrees, a smile
that arrives a half-second late, eyes that do not track together. Standing
inside a dim listening booth behind glass. Waist-up.
INFO box:
A take that got pressed and never released. Mimics Dez with a half-second
delay. Wants to be the released version. Never blinks when Dez blinks. Its
booth glass fogs from the inside.
WATCH-LIST: identical wardrobe to Dez but FADED; the wrongness is timing and
stillness, never gore/monster features; always behind or near glass.
## SHOT LIST — 30 shots (~700cr Fast + 4⭐ ≈ +800cr)
mh_title ⭐ [no characters]
A dead suburban shopping strip at dawn, one record shop lit inside, absolute
stillness, a single fluorescent tube flickering in rhythm like a slow
heartbeat; the camera pushes toward the shop door for a long unbroken moment
and the door drifts open on its own an inch. The clip ends held on the ajar
door. Slow push-in. 1980s hand-drawn cel animation, thick ink outlines,
painterly gouache backgrounds, cold flickering fluorescent light, drained
desaturated palette with sickly green shadows, heavy film grain. No text, no
captions, no watermark; all signs, posters and record sleeves are blank or
abstract designs with no lettering.
mh_intro ⭐ [Dez]
Inside a cluttered record store on a dead morning, drained colorless light.
Dez lounges bored behind the counter as a record spins on the shop turntable;
the record reaches its end and the needle clicks in the runout — click, click,
click — and with each click the store's colors drain further and the aisles
in the background quietly rearrange. Dez slowly looks up. Static wide,
imperceptibly pushing in. [STYLE LINE]
mh1_action [Dez] (the first loop)
Inside the drained record store, aisles stretching too long. Dez walks
briskly down an aisle toward the back door, passes the same handwritten sale
divider twice, stops, backs up, looks at it, and RUNS — the aisle scrolling
past him repeating like a looped background. Tracking shot alongside.
[STYLE LINE]
mh1_death [Dez]
Inside the drained record store. Dez keeps running down the looping aisle as
it repeats faster and faster until he is running in place like a locked
groove, slowing, winding down like a turntable losing power, coming to rest
mid-stride, a still frame of a man. The clip ends held on his stopped frame.
Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh2_action [Dez] (the hum)
Inside the drained store, the overhead fluorescent tubes flicker in sequence
down the aisle toward Dez like something approaching along the ceiling; he
ducks behind a record crate and clamps both hands over his mouth as the
flicker passes over him, dust falling in the strobing light. Low tense shot.
[STYLE LINE]
mh2_death [Dez]
Inside the drained store. The traveling fluorescent flicker stops directly
above Dez's hiding spot; his shadow on the floor stands up by itself and
walks away without him, and Dez stares at the empty floor where it was. The
clip ends held on his shadowless feet. Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh3_action [Dez] (the white label lies)
Close on Dez's hands holding a pure white-sleeved record under the counter
lamp; he slides the record out, examines the runout groove, tilts it against
the light, and the etched scratches in the dead wax visibly REARRANGE
themselves as abstract marks while he watches, his reflection in the vinyl
lagging behind his movement. Macro close-up. [STYLE LINE]
mh3_death [Dez]
Close on the spinning white label record on the turntable; Dez leans in to
read the runout and his reflection in the black vinyl reaches up out of the
disc, takes hold of his collar, and draws him gently down INTO the groove
spiral; the platter keeps turning, unbothered. The clip ends held on the
spinning record. Macro shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh4_action [Dez + Wal] ⑂(Omni Flash) (first contact)
The drained record store's repair bench. In the reflection on a stack of
shrink-wrapped records, Wal the translucent engineer stands beside Dez,
pointing patiently at a groove with a worn stylus; Dez wheels around to an
empty room, turns back, and Wal is now on BOTH sides of the reflection.
Static uneasy shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh4_death [Dez]
The repair bench. Dez leans so close to the reflective shrink-wrap that his
breath fogs it; the fog does not fade — it spreads over the whole frame like
shrink film tightening, wrapping the entire image with Dez inside it, and the
scene becomes a sealed mint record of itself. The clip ends held on the
sealed image. Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh5_action [Dez] (the side must not run out)
The shop turntable in drained light, the tonearm nearing the runout; Dez
vaults the counter in desperate silence, drops to his knees, and drops the
needle back to the outer groove with surgical care as color briefly floods
back into the store around him like a held breath released. Slow-motion dive,
then stillness. [STYLE LINE]
mh5_death [Dez]
The shop turntable. Dez lunges for the tonearm and misses; the needle enters
the runout — click — and on each click the store JUMPS one frame darker, Dez
frozen mid-lunge in successively darker exposures like film frames burning
down, until only the turntable is lit. The clip ends held on the click-lit
turntable. Static strobing shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh6_action [Dez + Mildred] ⑂(Omni Flash) (the one rule of humanity)
The drained store's back room. Mildred the fat gray tabby sits precisely
where her bowl should be, staring at Dez; he searches empty shelves in rising
panic, finds one dented tin rolled under a crate, and pours it out; as she
eats, warm color spreads outward from the cat in a soft circle like a
campfire. Warm-centered wide shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh6_death [Dez + Mildred] ⑂
The drained back room. Dez reaches for the cat food tin but the shelf
recedes from his hand, the room stretching longer with each grab; Mildred
watches him recede down the endless room, slow-blinks once, and looks away.
The clip ends held on Mildred's turned head, Dez tiny in the distance.
Static shot from behind the cat. [STYLE LINE]
mh7_action [Dez + The Deadstock Double] ⑂⭐ (the booth)
The listening booth in the drained store, fogged glass. Dez wipes the fog
and finds himself already inside, wearing his face a half-second late; the
Double raises its hand exactly as Dez raises his, palm to palm through the
glass, and then the Double's smile arrives after Dez has stopped smiling.
Slow push-in over Dez's shoulder into the reflection. [STYLE LINE]
mh7_death [The Deadstock Double]
The listening booth from inside, looking out through fogged glass. The
Double, wearing Dez's clothes crisply now in full color, adjusts the
headphones around ITS neck, gives the glass a courteous nod, and walks off
into the shop leaving the viewer behind in the booth as the fog closes over
the glass. The clip ends held on the fogged glass. Static POV shot.
[STYLE LINE]
mh8_action [Dez + Wal] ⑂⭐ (the message, the word to cut)
Wal's workshop, materialized in the store's back room: a record lathe glowing
warm amber in the drained world. Translucent Wal guides Dez's hand to the
cutting head, and together they cut ONE deliberate abstract mark into the
dead wax of the white label as sparks of light lift off the groove like
fireflies. Reverent close-up. [STYLE LINE]
mh8_death [Dez]
The lathe workshop. Dez cuts the mark alone, without waiting, and the
cutting head skates — the whole room SKIPS like a scratched record, three
frames of the room stuttering back and forth with Dez caught mid-motion in
each, then settles on an empty room, the lathe still turning. The clip ends
held on the empty room. Stuttering static shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh9_win ⭐ [Dez + Mildred] ⑂
The record store as the etched white label plays: with each revolution color
pours back aisle by aisle, the fluorescents steady, the aisles walk back
into place ashamed of themselves, and Dez slides down the counter to the
floor as Mildred climbs onto his lap uninvited; through the window,
Tuesday's light finally moves. Long-held warm wide shot. The clip ends held
on the two of them. [STYLE LINE]
mh_gameover [The Deadstock Double]
A bright, fully-colored, cheerful record store. The Double, crisp and
saturated, serves an unseen customer with a perfect smile that arrives
exactly on time now; only in the fogged listening-booth glass behind it is
there the faint outline of a figure with both palms on the inside of the
glass. The clip ends held with the smile in front and the palms behind.
Static wide shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh_stinger [Mildred]
The restored colorful store at closing, warm light. Mildred sits on the
counter beside the white-labeled record, staring at the listening booth in
the background for a long moment, then turns to the camera and does not
blink for the entire remainder of the clip. The clip ends held on her stare.
Slow imperceptible push-in. [STYLE LINE]
mh_attract [no characters]
Loopable: the drained record store at rest, one fluorescent tube flickering
in slow heartbeat rhythm, a record spinning silently on the shop turntable
with the tonearm hovering just above the runout, dust motes hanging
motionless. Nothing else happens. Static shot. [STYLE LINE]
mh_needleskip [no characters]
The drained store scene judders violently sideways twice like a skipping
record, tearing and repeating with horizontal displacement, then snaps to
black. One-second transition, no people. [STYLE LINE]
NOTE: [STYLE LINE] above = paste the full horror style line from the top of
this doc every time. It is written out once to keep this file printable; when
pasting into Flow, ALWAYS replace [STYLE LINE] with the complete sentence.
## ENGINE MAPPING (build phase, later)
Loops = the replay-queue + mirrorOk systems reskinned as the maze; the "side
running out" = a global timer that forces a return-to-turntable scene every N
scenes (new mechanic, small); the word-to-cut = white-label collect chain;
mh_gameover replaces the standard game-over. Deaths here are quiet — DEATH_HOLD
doubles to 1.2s for this title.