VHS FURY

VHS FURY, a local straight to VHS film studio, is in the process of creating a stable of scripts and movie ideas that they can turn to in the coming year in order to churn out more of the delicious, straight-to-VHS films that are their bread and butter. In this game, you play as the core group of people who come up with concepts for the new movies. 

The core group of people who come up with ideas for movies are split into four roles. The four roles are:

The Script Writer
The Financier
The Company Actor
The Cinematographer

Each of these roles is responsible for different aspects of the movies that VHS FURY is producing.  Play consists of the four roles vying to get what they want out of the movies that VHS FURY is producing. Sometimes, their goals will align, and sometimes, they will not. It is up to the players whether or not they wish to try and play this game in an agreeable manner, where they try to give everyone as much as they can, or in an antagonistic manner, with everyone trying to get only what they want, and ignoring the needs of others.  Before play starts, it may be a good idea to have a conversation with the group to find out what people are interested in seeing.  You may find out that it’s not as black and white as antagonistic or agreeable- people may be interested in watching the shades of grey that play out as different people push for their own individual goals!

Play is centered around a series of conversations that these people have while trying to knock out the movie line up for the coming year. Play always starts with the Script Writer.  Once the Script Writer has established the main idea for a movie, the other players can jump in to talk at any time to try and push their own agenda, as outlined in the character descriptions.

The Script Writer should start play by outlining their idea for a super awesome movie. They are in charge of framing the basic idea, and getting other people thinking about how the movie they describe meets their individual goals. Other players should chime in, trying to get their vision across in whatever way that looks like. This will look like a conversation between the characters as they struggle to have a meeting of their artistic visions. It is ok if by the end, the movie looks nothing at all like what the Script Writer initially came up with. The Script Writer is also encouraged to continue contributing as the conversation goes on- their role is not limited to the beginning of the conversation!

When at least 3 of the four roles are (somewhat) satisfied, or at the very least, don’t hate the plan for the movie they are going to be producing over the next year, the group should move on to outlining the next movie. The goal of this game is not to stall everyone out by insisting that things can only happen your way, or no way- everyone is united by the goal of needing to get this movie made. So while players are encouraged to some extent to dig their heels in, at some point, everyone needs to realize that making SOME movie is better than making NO movie, and proceed accordingly. 

Play continues until the company has an outline of their movies for the year- or 3-5 films, depending on how long each movie takes to come up with. Players should check in with each other periodically to see how everyone is feeling, and how many more movies the group wants to outline together.

When the movies are done being plotted, players will each get a turn to describe two scenes from the upcoming movies- one scene that they liked, where they got their way, and one scene that they didn’t like. They should describe the action, what they like/don’t like about it, and how that scene makes them feel, now that it’s in a completed movie.

Below are the descriptions for the different roles in VHS FURY. These roles can be played as any race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The only things that are established about them are what is written below. If you think of something that you think would be interesting to establish about your character, feel free to do so! You can either write it down, tell it to your fellow players, or just try to bring up that facet of your character in play.

Script Writer

The Script Writer will propose amazing, awe-inspiring movies- hang glider battles over Mount Everest, riding dragons across the Carribean, fighting for survival against giant spiders on top of Machu Picchu. The job here is to come up with gratuitous, over the top movies plots, with lots of action, heartbreak, and general awesomeness. Have fun with it! Don’t let reality, or budgets, or anything else get in the way of imagination.

What the script writer is excited about by movies:
●	Locations- Far flung, highly specific locales, where shooting a movie would look AWESOME
●	Big name actors- you want your movie to be BEAUTIFUL, and that means beautiful, talented people!
●	Awesome, perfectly rendered CGI!
●	Realistic monster suits!

What motivates the script writer:
●	Movie buff who has seen a ton of action movies
●	Considers themself an artist
●	Wants to get their name out as a premier action writer, and has to start somewhere!
●	They truly believe that if they just try hard enough, VHS FURY can come up with a good movie that will make their career.

Financier

The Financier will tell the group why that won’t work. They will bring up budgets, and tell everyone why the plot is too expensive. This job is to present boring, cheap alternatives to whatever nonsense the Script Writer has come up with. Have fun with this one too! No alternative, no matter how awful, is too terrible to suggest to the group.

What the Financier thinks about movies:
●	Why bother traveling to a far off land when you can just hang a picture outside a window, or write on a sign that you’re in that place?
●	CGI is expensive- why not some cardboard cutouts instead?
●	Costumes are expensive- just dig around at a Goodwill, and everything will be just fine! Or, better yet, dig around in your attic to see what you’ve got kicking around up there.
●	Extras are expensive, and so is paying extra actors- keep the personnel to a minimum

What motivates the Financier:
●	The more money that doesn’t get spent on production, the more money you can take home to your family. Your children are growing, and the bills are mounting up.
●	Movies are fine, but you really prefer books, and don’t see why anyone would bother watching something when they could read it instead. 
●	Getting things done yourself is a point of pride- if you can make the costumes/set yourself, why not do it?

Cinematographer

The Cinematographer will propose different ways the movie could be shot that they think are interesting. What if the movie was all a single take? What if the whole thing had a blue filter, to invoke feelings of sadness? What if everything was shot from the top down, giving the audience a bird’s eye view? You don’t care about what you’re filming, but you do care about the WAY you film it. Think of ways to push the craft in new directions- let nothing stop you!

How the Cinematographer feels about movies:
●	Movies are a vehicle for your art- the art of cinematography!
●	Any story can be interesting if it’s shown in a visually unusual way
●	You think that the combination of low budget movies and artistic film styles is the highest art there is- it says something about our society
●	You watch a LOT of movies

What motivates the Cinematographer:
●	The pursuit of art- the more cutting edge, the better!
●	Learning the equipment better, and discovering what camera effects you can put into a movie
●	Getting paid to pursue your art- truly, such a blessing!
●	You want to do something that has never been done before- or that has been done only rarely- something that will wow the cinematographic spaces like never before!
●	

Company actor

The Company Actor is the person who is in all the movies. They have a regular acting gig with the studio, are moderately attractive, and absolutely hate their job. They’ve been in every movie since VHS FURY founded, and they are beyond sick of it. That being said, they have a crippling fear of being forgotten, and they figure that acting in movies, even straight-to-VHS movies, is their best chance of being remembered after they are gone.

What the Company Actor thinks about movies:
●	They always dreamed of being in movies since a child- but it’s hard to retain that wonder when you see the monster being created out of glue and cardboard thirty minutes before you’re due to start shooting
●	On the weekends, they watch arthouse films and cry into their popcorn, wishing they could be involved in something like that

What motivates the Company Actor:
●	Being remembered- ideally, everyone would know their name
●	Having their face in a bunch of shots- close ups are preferable, to show off their fairly attractive features
●	Taking home a paycheck- they fear that they are not qualified to do anything else in this world

General play notes:

Although the Financier is the one who is in charge of money, everyone in the company knows that VHS FURY operates on a limited budget. Everyone should absolutely push for their ideas- but everyone also knows that getting what they want in one case may mean needing to sacrifice in other areas.  For example, if the Script Writer were to somehow get a foreign location for the film, they would know that that would eat up the budget, and they would have to cave to the demands of the Financier and the other characters who want lower budget things in other areas. Players are ENCOURAGED to compromise- even if they are playing an antagonistic game, because all the characters know that money is tight, and it is just impossible to get everything that they want, if the things that they want cost money.