DOCUMENTARY MODE

Documentary Mode is a supplemental toolkit that creates a custom framing for scenarios where players take the role of a production crew on the search for that killer shot of the supernatural and weird. Beyond simple survival, Documentary Mode shifts the focus of play towards attempting to document the truth, or at least capturing compelling moments on camera that can be used to make a groundbreaking end product. To get the shot, the Investigators will need to push into the dark places and face the horrors head-on, sometimes bending the rules or laws in order to uncover what is really going on.

DOCUMENTARY BACKGROUNDS

In lieu of the standard Backgrounds and Archetypes, have the players create their Investigators with Backgrounds based on the roles they will be taking in the film crew. Choose from those below, or create your own custom Backgrounds, and fill in additional character details as needed. If playing with a small crew, the characters may need to take on multiple roles and be strategic with which equipment gets left in the van, or they can hire on Associates to lend a hand.

Camera Operator: Shoulder mounted digital camera (bulky, Shots), tripod, programmable auxiliary camera (Shots), video cables.
Audio Technician: Portable six-track audio recorder (Shots), clip-on mics, extendable boom & mic (bulky).
Gaffer: Two lightweight LED panels w/ tripods (bulky), battery packs, light sensor, gaffer tape.
Producer: Laptop, $5,000 cash, handheld digital camera (Shots), tape measurer, laser pointer.
Director: Notebook with shotlist, walkie with earpieces for the whole team, digital camera (Shots).
Correspondent: Makeup, notebook, bag with three outfits, handheld audio recorder (Shots).
Grip: Multi-tool (d6), lifting straps, utility knife, zip-ties, electrical tape.
Location Scout: Lockpick set, bolt cutters, powerful flashlight, notebook.
Safety Officer: First-aid kit, binder of building codes, portable fire extinguisher, hi-vis vest.
Production Assistant: A dozen water bottles, bagged lunches for the crew, sunscreen, a pack of napkins, portable charger, spare memory card, backup battery.

CREW FRAMEWORKS

Along with their Background, the Investigators need to determine the type of production they are part of and how their end product will be distributed. That will influence how they approach their scenarios and the potential consequences of failure. Choose one from the list below or create one of your own.

NETWORK TELEVISION

You work for This Mysterious Life, an episodic paranormal investigation show. Your first season actually made it on air, but unfortunately was met with less than stellar viewership and middling reviews. The studio has given you a chance to right the ship and produce a second season, but you’re on a tight leash and are in danger of cancellation.

Establishing Questions:

You have a “guardian angel” at the studio who was able to convince the other executives to get you a second season. Who are they?
There was an episode of season 1 that was filmed, but never aired due to difficulties encountered during production. What happened?

INDEPENDENT

With the rise in true crime and creepypasta, you’ve decided to take the leap and produce your own paranormal videos that will be released straight onto video platforms, hoping for that slice of viewership and fame. You’ve invested big and got all the equipment, now you just need to capture some film that will stand out from the crowd. Who knows, maybe you can generate enough attention to get a studio to sign you on for a proper show with actual funding.

Establishing Questions:

What’s your channel name?
You made a great sacrifice in order to make this happen. What did you give up? What do you have to lose if this falls through?

CORPORATE

While technically independent contractors, the vast majority of your work comes from one client: Panopticon. As far as it goes, the jobs are generally straightforward. They send over a contract with a list of filming requirements, you shoot those requirements and hand over a finished copy. The pay is good and they even cover expenses if you keep itemized receipts. The majority of the jobs are boring stuff like documenting the public launch of a new product or an employee retreat, but every so often you get the strange assignments. Abandoned warehouses, dust covered laboratories, open fields, etc. The job pays well, but it doesn’t pay to ask questions.

Establishing Questions:

There was a job where you failed to fulfil your contract and yet Panopticon paid out anyway. What happened on the job that led to failure?
While on a job, you found something you all agreed to forget all about and not capture on film. What was it?

FOUND FOOTAGE

This framework works differently than the others. Instead of intentionally setting out to document the horrors, Found Footage involves Investigators unexpectedly getting caught up in the horrors, using cell phones and personal camcorders to document their experiences with the hopes that someone will find the footage if they were to perish. Instead of Documentary Background, begin with standard Investigators.

FILMING PHILOSOPHIES

There are a variety of ways a crew can approach their filming and production to support their artistic expression. When putting together a crew, consider how your philosophy will influence your choice of Investigator, equipment, operations, and audience. Of course, these grand ideations may go to hell once the horrors make their appearance.

Participatory: Focuses on the interaction between the filmmakers and their subjects. Very interactive and directly engages with the subject.
Observational: Filmmakers observe their subject in order to capture the truest state of their reality. Sometimes viewed as being a fly-on-the-wall observer of the subject.
Expository: A more straightforward approach that operates with a specific viewpoint on a subject, gathering evidence to support it. Photos, facts, recreations, and voice overs are common tropes.
Poetic: A more experimental mode that leverages visuals and style to illuminate inner feeling and truth. More focused on striking visuals and a sometimes non-linear style to be steeped in mood, tone, and feeling.
Reflexive mode: Highlights the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience, providing a glimpse into the process of making the documentary and its specific perspective.
Performative: Frames the filmmaker as the central character in their exploration of the subject.

PHASES

Documentary Mode has three distinct phases of play.

DEVELOPMENT

The period prior to the investigation where the crew has a chance to discuss their objective and filming philosophy, lay out their anticipated timeline and budget, acquire necessary equipment, and hire additional help as needed. The crew will need to lean on their research and contacts to identify potential investigations and start planning out the desired shots.

INVESTIGATION

The primary focus, where the crew put their skills and planning to the test as they attempt to collect usable audio and video while beset by strange horrors.

POST-PRODUCTION

If the crew survived the horrors, post-production is the period where they can review their work to determine if they achieved enough successful shots to produce an appealing final product.

GETTING THE SHOT

Once in the field, the filming process is fairly straightforward: set up the equipment, make your shot, then move on to the next. One of the most important aspects is determining what to prioritize, as time and resources are limited. Preparation and coordination are crucial to getting the perfect shot. Use the Development Phase to scope out ideas and plan certain shots to save time in the field, as coordination may be difficult in the heat of the moment. It’s also important to keep in mind that while most camera models have a built-in microphone, getting the perfect shot requires both clear video and audio components.

SHOTS

Each audio or video recording device can store 5 Shots, which represent an abstraction of the film, memory, and battery power of the device. Shots are assumed to be several minutes of recording that would get edited down into a usable scene. Additional film/storage/battery packs can be carried in an Inventory Slot. Each filming attempt uses up one of the device’s Shots, regardless of whether or not the attempt was successful. Items that can record have the tag (Shot).

DANGER

Documenting the strange and weird is dangerous. In addition to the risk of bodily and metaphysical harm, the high stakes and tense situations introduce chaos to the filmmaking process, which could ruin the end product. During high risk situations, the crew may need to make Saves to try and capture their footage. Having tools such as lighting, equipment, and taking time to set up may help mitigate the risk, but the Facilitator should weigh the situation and see if a Save is required.

Some resulting outcomes of failure could be:

Lost or corrupted footage
You need to stay in harm’s way longer to get the shot
Broken equipment
Bodily harm
Stress

COMBAT

In an ideal situation, filming would be conducted without any direct danger for the crew. But diving into dark and twisted locations to face the unknown is far from ideal. There may be instances where the crew come face to face with horrors that wish them harm. Unfortunately, this may also be the best opportunity the crew will get to capture footage of those horrors.

An Investigator cannot effectively use a weapon and operate camera equipment at the same time. Operators and technicians must balance staying out of harm’s way while still staying involved enough to capture usable footage. When it’s their turn in combat, the operators and technicians should narrate their attempts to stay safe while capturing footage. They may still need to make Saves even at the periphery of the encounters depending on their chosen actions. It’s the rest of the crew’s job to provide cover and keep the horrors’ attention occupied. That is, if they’re not just trying to save their own skin.

When engaged in combat, a single Shot can cover a standard encounter as long as the camera operator is able to keep filming for the duration of the combat encounter. The Shot fails if the operator prematurely stops filming or takes damage to an Attribute, though some footage may still be salvageable. This same logic holds for any supporting audio component.

If a Shot fails, all of the operators and technicians directly involved take 1 Stress. If the encounter is still ongoing, they can try again by setting up another Shot.

TYPES OF FOOTAGE

A good show tells a story and sells a narrative to the audience, even a documentary. A crew should prioritize a balance of footage to ensure they have enough to build their episode during Post-Production, keeping in mind the Shots they have at their disposal. Below are some general types of audio/visual shots that the crew can attempt to set up and record during the session. Note that the Shots they ultimately choose to attempt will impact their overall success.

B-Roll: These support shots are used to help fill in the gaps during editing to reinforce the main plot line. While B-Roll is often inconsequential footage such as location exteriors, it must be justifiably relevant to the investigation at hand.
Failed Shot: An unsuccessful attempt at recording the horrors. Some of the material may still be salvageable as B-Roll or supporting evidence.
Place of Interest: A recording of important places to the subject matter that may help uncover clues toward the larger mystery.
Person of Importance: Getting direct footage of important people to the subject is key. Depending on the documentary style this may be through direct interactions like interviews, or indirectly through recorded video of them or hidden audio recordings.
Indirect Evidence: Records that provide some tangential evidence of something strange or illegal going on. These often act as a setup for a larger payoff. They still leave room for doubt or connection to a different explanation.
Poor Quality Evidence: Capturing a direct shot of violence, the weird, or illegal activity while lacking a steady hand or clear secondary audio/video. The worse the quality, the more open to skepticism the evidence becomes.
High Quality Evidence: Evidence that is tangible and specific. Clear audio and video. The proof is hard to dispute.

RATINGS

Not all footage is going to be of equal quality and usefulness. You could theoretically build an episode entirely out of B-Roll, but you’d better have a hell of a good framing for it all if you want a positive audience reception. To account for this, each of the Types of Footage have been assigned a Rating based on their level of importance to the final product.

During the session, have the players keep a collected list of their attempted Shots and assign each attempt a Rating based on the guidelines below. At the end, these will be compiled and reviewed during Post-Production to determine if the crew were able to capture enough footage for a successful final product.

RATING POINTS

B-Roll: 1 point
Failed Shot: 1 point
Place of Interest: 2 points
Person of Importance: 3 points
Indirect Evidence: 3 points
Poor Quality Evidence: 4 points
High Quality Evidence: 6 points

POST-PRODUCTION

Once the horror has subsided and the crew have made it back to safety, it’s time to compile their final product! That is, assuming their equipment and footage survived alongside them.

Consult your list of Shots and as a group take a few minutes to describe what the end product looks like, combining the Shots together in a cohesive manner. There may be some Shots that you do not want to include in the final product or are not relevant.

Once the editing is finished and a final product is ready, tally up the Rating based on the Shots used in the final product and compare the total to the list below to determine how successful the end result was and how it was received by the target audience.

RATINGS & AUDIENCE RECEPTION

< 10: Flop. Ultimately unsuccessful at achieving its goal, resulting in low viewership and loss of money on production.
10-13: Break-Even. Not particularly compelling, but enough to meet contractual obligations or recoup the production costs.
14-16: Average. Some compelling elements, but stays within the circles of the core audience.
17-19: Noteworthy. Makes waves outside of the core audience. Attracts the attention of major Factions.
20+: Groundbreaking. Exceeds far beyond the target audience. Attracts the attention of The Bureau.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE

Not all evidence will be in the form that can be directly captured by the crew’s cameras and microphones. Some clues come from finding documents, files, recordings, and other pieces of evidence that tie to the larger mystery. Some crews may decide to quickly capture these pieces on their own devices, while others may take the evidence whole cloth to be poured over later. Consider how these may contribute to the crew’s Ratings.

PLAYING TO THE GENRE

Above all, these are still horror scenarios. It should be very difficult to capture legitimate evidence, as the horrors do not want to be documented and the addition of bulky equipment and desire to get close to the action puts the Investigators at an ever greater risk of harm. If it were easy, someone else would have already done it.

It’s also important to remember that the scenario doesn’t end when the crew runs out of film. At a minimum, they still need to survive to tell the tale. But for horrors that present a more immediate threat, the Investigators may be the only thing standing in the way of certain doom.

THE AUDIENCE

Who the end product is intended for should be taken under consideration when determining what to prioritize. Documenting damning evidence to hand over to law enforcement is different than trying to fill a 30 minute episode timeslot that strings an audience along to keep watching. Capturing shots alone often isn’t enough to achieve a successful outcome as the audience needs to have some means of comprehending the subject of filming. But even if you have solid and damning evidence, there will still be a contingent of folks that brush off the work as illegitimate, computer graphics, or a forgery.

Normal folks aren’t the only ones watching either. Handing over clear evidence of the paranormal to a studio or posting it online is a good way to attract the attention of the Bureau. They would love nothing more than to sweep the whole affair under the rug, leading to confiscation of the film and an intense interrogation. Sometimes a little plausible deniability is preferable.

STABILITY

Keep in mind the rules discussed in Cellphones & Stability in the Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition. The Investigators can use their equipment to help provide additional protection from the horrors, but it comes at a risk to the equipment. In some instances they may have no other choice if they want to get their shots.

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