Purser

Fictional demo. Purser is an invented business account with corporate spend cards for startups. Bank, rates, fees and regulatory wording are illustrative and labelled so on the page.

1. Development

Product truth. A US business account plus physical and virtual cards. Each card carries its own rules (role → allowed merchants, monthly limit, approval steps). Payments appear live, receipts are collected by text reply, any card freezes instantly, month end is an export. Audience. Founders and finance leads of 5–50 person startups, solution-aware (they know the category from the incumbents), comparing on control, fees and safety. Primary action: Open an account. Secondary: Talk to sales (50+ cards, migrations).

Logline. A founder who wants the team to spend freely without losing track hands out cards with the rules printed into them, and finds the month closes itself.

Audience arc. Arrive: "cards for the team means a mess of receipts and one scary statement." Leave: "each card carries its own limit and approvals, I can stop one in a second, and the money sits at a bank."

2. Casting session

Dramatic problem: lending control without losing it — trust in the team plus a grip the founder can feel.

Candidate	Mechanism that solves it	Signature shot	Risk / wrong for
Billy Wilder — The Apartment (1960), Joseph LaShelle (camera), Alexandre Trauner (design)	Opens on statistics told by one clerk, then finds him in a forced-perspective office of identical desks; a key lent to others on a schedule; ends on a hand of cards being dealt	A floor of identical units receding to a vanishing point under a ceiling of light panels, one of them singled out	Risk: grey office reads dull if the light is flat. Wrong for: anything that needs night or spectacle
Jim Jarmusch — Night on Earth (1991)	Five taxi rides in five cities at the same instant, joined by clock title cards and a running meter: spend happening everywhere at once	Five city clocks over black, one meter ticking	Clocks as instruments repeat the last two productions (live clock, skin clock); night palette repeats the ER demo; the turn is not about control
Alfred Hitchcock — Rear Window (1954)	One fixed seat that sees every window, each a small story: the dashboard that sees every card	The blind rising on the courtyard	Reads as watching employees. Wrong for a product whose promise is trust in the team

Cast: Wilder, The Apartment. Set aside Jarmusch (instrument and palette repetition, wrong turn) and Hitchcock (surveillance reading kills trust). Competitor test: a competitor could not use this unchanged, because it is built on the card as a dealt, lent object with its rules on its face, and ends on the deal. A generic "dashboard" fintech has no deal.

Mechanisms (each visible):

1. Statistics first, then one face in the crowd → the hero opens on an example Tuesday counted out (odometers: 14 cards · 37 payments · 6 cities · 1 account), then the camera finds one card. Hero.
2. Trauner's forced-perspective floor → a CSS-3D floor of identical grey cards receding to a vanishing point under a ceiling of light panels; the lead card stands up out of it. Hero.
3. The key lent on terms (the schedule of who gets it when) → each card is lent on terms you set by hand: role, limit, approvals, printed onto the card face as you set them. Controls.
4. Flat even top light, B&W widescreen, people small in a wide frame → a monochrome greys world lit from a ceiling grid; one accent; wide frames with lots of floor; copy at the frame edges. Everywhere.
5. Repetition with variation (the same gesture returns meaning something else) → the same card frame returns in every chapter in a new state: face-down, issued, ruled, frozen, in the stack, dealt. All.
6. Ends on the deal ("Shut up and deal.") → the last image is the team's hand of cards fanned on the table; the CTA is the next card to deal. Finale.

Filmography (last three: Fincher/Zodiac, Anno/Shin Godzilla, Sciamma/Portrait): differs on director, medium (CSS-3D cards in a monochrome office vs drawn line / typeset documents / WebGL bottle), type (Bricolage Grotesque condensed + Geist + embossed mono), lead (a corporate card), interaction (drag a limit + hold to freeze), ending (a dealt hand), instruments (deck chapter counter + your-card slip).

3. Medium

Designed, monochrome, CSS 3D: cards as DOM planes in a forced-perspective grey office, set type with embossed card lettering, one green. No canvas, no photographs, no generated images. Wilder's mechanism becomes this mark-making because the film's drama is one ordinary unit among hundreds of identical ones under even light; flat grey planes in true perspective are exactly that, and the card is a flat object. Why not WebGL: a card is a 0.76 mm plate: it needs perspective, not lit geometry. CSS 3D keeps every name, limit and status on the card as real, crisp DOM text that the controls rewrite live, and costs nothing on a phone.

4. Lead, location, assets

Lead: one card — MAYA OKAFOR · DESIGN (the visitor may re-issue it to Jonas or Priya). Verb: dealt, ruled, frozen, settled.

#	State	Scene
1	Face down, top of a deck being dealt	Loader
2	Issued: stands up out of the floor of identical cards, green live edge	Hero
3	Fills the frame: we pass through it (invisible cut)	Hero exit
4	Ruled: role, limit and approvals printed on its face as you set them	Controls
5	Frozen: frost across the face, edge goes grey, status flips	Controls (hold)
6	Used: its payments arrive on the board (or are declined if frozen)	Board
7	Settled: gathered into the month's stack with its spend tallied	Month end
8	Dealt: the centre card of the team's hand	Finale

Supporting cast: 13 other team cards (grey), the payments board, receipts as paper slips. Location: an office floor reduced to cards, lit by a ceiling grid of light panels; the controls, safety and finale happen "inside the card" on its graphite plastic. Asset call: none to ask — no paid generation (brief), no footage needed. All art is CSS/SVG. Fonts: Google Fonts (OFL). Stand-ins: every number, the bank, all names.

5. Screenplay

See copy.md (≈ 900 visible words incl. FAQ and footer).

6. Award pass

WORLD OBJECT   The spend card (CR80, 1.586:1, card-corner radius). Loader = the deck dealt; cuts = each reading
               section arrives as a card dealt over the last (card-corner top, settles from a slight angle);
               buttons = small card plates with a chip mark; progress = a deck of chapter cards bottom-right;
               status = a mini card of the visitor's own card bottom-left; finale = the dealt hand.
LEAD STATES    face-down → issued → passed through → ruled → frozen → used → settled → dealt (8, above)
LOADER         Shot one: six card backs dealt into a stack where the hero card stands; the top card turns face
               up and is the lead. Headline and CTA are in the DOM and visible from first paint (≤ 1.1 s).
CUT MATERIAL   Card edges: reading sections are dealt over each other (card-corner top + 1.2° settle).
               Exception: one invisible cut — the camera passes through the lead card into its graphite.
ACCENT         Green #2BD27A = "live: money can move here". Only on the live card edge, ACTIVE status, lit
               approval step, slider value, and the CTA (opening the account is what makes money live). Frozen
               = no green. Budget < 4 % of any frame.
TYPE           Display Bricolage Grotesque (wdth 75, 700, −0.045 em) · text Geist 400. Switch device: embossed
               card lettering — names, limits and statuses set in Share Tech Mono caps with a raised emboss,
               wherever words would be printed on a card. Display extreme: huge (H1 12.6 vw, money figures
               ≥ 11 vw) because the figures are the proof; H2s deliberately small (≤ 4 vw).
INSTRUMENTS    (1) wordmark top-left; (2) CTA card top-right; (3) deck chapter counter bottom-right (top card
               names the chapter, edges behind = chapters left); (4) "your card" slip bottom-left: holder ·
               limit · ACTIVE/FROZEN, updated by the visitor's choices.
VERB           Deal a card on your terms: choose who, drag the limit, hold to freeze.
TRIGGERS       7 kinds — autoplay (loader, hero stats, board), scroll-entry (month total, finale fan), click
               (role, FAQ), drag (limit), hold (freeze), hover/focus (fees, card tilt), scroll-scrub (hero push,
               pass-through, read-fill, month stack). Scrub = 4 of 15 performances.
TYPE CAST      Signature odometer (opening stats → the limit under your hand → the month total), + card-flip,
               split-flap, slot-roll, select-box, read-fill (table below)
RHYTHM         Set pieces: hero, controls, month end, finale. Calm documents: board, fees, safety, FAQ.
               Phone: card sticks at the top of the controls with the steps below; floor tilts steeper; deck
               counter hidden, your-card slip becomes the bottom bar.

Trigger table

Beat	Performance	Trigger	Keyboard / touch	Reduced motion
Loader	Deck dealt, top card turns face up	Autoplay (once, ≤ 1.1 s)	none needed	Skipped: deck at rest, card face up
Hero	Stats odometers roll to 14 · 37 · 6 · 1	Autoplay on load (once)	—	Final values
Hero	Push into the floor; lead card turns to face us	Scroll scrub	Page Down / Space	Still at 0.55
Hero exit	Pass through the card (invisible cut)	Scroll scrub	Page Down	Plain block boundary
Hero	Lead card tilts to the pointer	Hover	— (decorative)	Off
Controls 01	Role → slot-roll lands on the category; card holder + merchants change	Click	Buttons, Enter/Space; tap	Instant land
Controls 02	Limit → odometer follows the hand; approval chain lights; card limit reprints	Drag	Arrows ±$100, PgUp/PgDn ±$1,000, Home/End; touch drag	Odometer jumps to value
Controls 03	Hold → frost creeps over the card; ACTIVE card-flips to FROZEN	Hold 1.2 s	Hold Space/Enter; long-press	Progress ring only, flip instant
Board	Payments clatter onto a split-flap board, newest on top	Autoplay loop (starts on entry, pauses off-screen)	Pause button	Paused at a composed board
Fees	Selection frame draws round a fee	Hover / focus	Tab to a row; tap	Box drawn instantly
Safety	Statement lit word by word	Scroll scrub	scroll	Fully lit
Sections	Each section dealt over the last	Scroll scrub (cut)	scroll	Flat
Month end	Team cards gather into one stack, receipts clip on	Scroll scrub	scroll	Stacked still
Month end	Total rolls to $18,406.52	Scroll entry → plays once	—	Final value
FAQ	Answer opens	Click	Enter/Space on summary	Instant
Finale	Deck fans into the team's hand	Scroll entry → plays once	—	Fanned still

Type cast

Effect	Job	Trigger	Where
odometer (signature)	Proof and control as a mechanical count	Autoplay on load → drag → scroll entry	Hero stats; the limit under your thumb; the month total
card-flip	A card changing state	Hold complete (and hold again to reverse)	ACTIVE ↔ FROZEN tag on the card
split-flap	Payments arriving, schedule-board style	Autoplay loop	Payments board (holder, merchant, amount)
slot-roll	Who the card is for → what it may pay for	Click (role)	"This card pays for [SOFTWARE]"
select-box	Pointing at the fee you are asking about	Hover / focus / tap	Fee amounts
read-fill	The safety statement read aloud	Scroll scrub	Safety statement

The audience's part

Action       choose a role, drag the monthly limit, press and hold to freeze
Response     slot reels land on the category; the odometer rolls under the thumb and approvals light; frost creeps
Consequence  the card keeps its holder, limit and status: the your-card slip, the payments board (declines if
             frozen, approvals if above the threshold), the month-end tally and the finale's centre card all show it
Equivalent   buttons; native range input (arrows / PgUp / Home / End, touch drag); hold Space/Enter or long-press

7. Skeleton and shot list

Skeleton: ramp to a hands-on plateau, calm valley, a second peak, a quiet deal. Turn early-middle (~30 %, the freeze). Opens mid-count (statistics). Ends on the dealt hand with the CTA as the next card.

#	Scene	Beat / copy	Shot · lens · angle	Move	Light / colour	Build	Cut out	Length	Energy	Money frame	Mobile
0	loader	deck dealt	CU on the deck	cards slide in, top turns	ceiling light	DOM cards, intro tl	becomes hero card	≤1.1 s	5	card face up	same
1	arrival	H1 + stats + CTA	WS, one-point perspective, eye level	push in z, card turns to face	even top light, grey	CSS-3D floor + ceiling, lead	invisible cut through card	260	7	card faces us over the floor, H1 behind	floor steeper, card under H1
2	controls	3 steps	MCU of the card, sticky	none (hands)	graphite, card lit	sticky card, tabs, range, hold	dealt-over (light)	flow	9 (hands)	frozen card	card sticky top
3	board	live payments	MS of a board	autoplay	light	split-flap rows	continuous doc	flow	5	full board	3 columns
4	fees	fee list	flat doc	—	light	select-box rows	dealt-over (dark)	flow	3	box on "$8 each"	1 column
5	safety	statement + 4	flat doc, big type	read-fill	graphite	read-fill	dealt-over (light)	flow	4	statement lit	1 column
6	close	month closes	WS of 14 cards → one stack	gather (scrub)	light	grid → stack, odometer	push	260	7	stack + total	stack above total
7	faq	6 questions	doc	—	light	details	dealt-over (dark)	flow	2	—	—
8	deal	finale	MS of a hand fanned	fan plays on entry	graphite, one green	hand, CTA	footer	150 hold	6	hand + CTA	hand smaller, CTA full width