diff --git a/production/flow/DEEPGROOVE_PRODUCTION_PACK.md b/production/flow/DEEPGROOVE_PRODUCTION_PACK.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77097e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/production/flow/DEEPGROOVE_PRODUCTION_PACK.md @@ -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. diff --git a/production/flow/MORPINGHORROR_PRODUCTION_PACK.md b/production/flow/MORPINGHORROR_PRODUCTION_PACK.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..595f2ea --- /dev/null +++ b/production/flow/MORPINGHORROR_PRODUCTION_PACK.md @@ -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.