A special camera (mind control)

A film student is in deep debt. They can’t find work so they move home where their family tries to make them feel better but their money is tight too. One day, trying to help them feel better, one of their relatives gives them a digital camera someone left them as collateral on a poker night. It’s pretty high quality but it’s not a known brand so pawn shops won’t take it.

So student tries to get a few bucks as a photographer when they notice something odd about the camera: when they give orders, everyone who is in the shot has to obey. There are some catches: once the shoot is over, they go back to thinking or doing whatever they were before it began. Additionally, the effect is lost if the subject ever leaves the frame...including if something blocks the camera’s view. Also, if the battery goes out, the effect ends. Finally, if their reflection is caught in the frame, they fall under its control.

Of course, this could be quite useful. If they could use it to shoot a movie, they could get the perfect performances. Seems their dreams of making it on the film industry might be possible...only thing is no studio is going to just let them use their own camera. They’d have to do indie work...and they need to pay their debts off right now...

What to do, what to do?

interesting premise

So anyone caught in the camera's finder must obey the togger's verbal orders? Screw filmmaking! Charge the battery, mount a wide-angle lens, walk into a place stocking valuables, and order the bunnies-caught-in-headlights to load valuables into your bag. Back out slowly, then walk away nonchalantly.

Oh wait, we need hot sex. Use that wide-angle (a Zenitar or Takumar fisheye), mount the camera in a high corner of the bedroom, and lead in your victim er I mean fuckmate. Or must the togger retain physical contact with the camera? No remote operation, then. But they could receive much oral sex and toe-sucking. A shoulder mount keeps the magic camera in place. You don't want to drop it.

For drama, a victim realizes what happened, pilfers the camera, and uses it on the first togger. Revenge! But they make some mistake. Hilarity ensues. And of course all images magically recorded are streamed online unless the wireless card is pulled out. That lesson is learned the hard way.

I like the premise.

My first and favorite thought is that the camera is from the far-future and is actually transmitting the video/images back to a jaded audience that gets off on watching their descendants get sexually-humiliated.

Could also be aliens instead of the far-future, I guess.

Other option could be that the camera is haunted by the spirit of an amateur porn director/actor ?

All interesting ideas!

Hypoxia, you are correct that theft could occur with it but the limitations would make it a bit difficult, even with precautions:

For example, let’s say they rob a jewelry store: if the person they are robbing gets too excited helping and accidentally walks in front of the camera, anyone who is no longer in frame (including security) can now act. Additionally, they can’t make them erase footage from security tapes and keep everyone in frame...and of course, if anyone comes up behind them, they’ll be in a real bind. Of course, a quick disguise could help with the escape.

Now one of the people the camera is used on stealing it and using it themselves? Oh yes! That would be a delightful twist and could even turn it into an anthology with a different person getting the camera each story.

For example: our protagonist uses it to blackmail a former teacher while they remember willing doing what they were told to do while under the camera’s influence, they are able to figure out the camera has some sort of mind control ability once the blackmail starts. They snatch the camera, and test it out on some coworkers, only to have it snatched away from someone who comes up behind them. Person doesn’t know what the camera does, so they take it home and leave it out where one of their kids gets a hold of it and try to shoot some selfies, only to find themselves buying into their belief they are the sexiest person on the planet, doing a strip tease for the camera and falling more and more under their snowballing desires. They only stop when the battery runs out or someone cones and either gets them out of frame (which could include fucking them, if they either cover them completely from the camera when on top or tossing their clothes on the camera). Camera then ends up getting picked up by the kid’s mom who wants to use it for a project at her work.


Chuck wolf: I like all those ideas, especially aliens or future folk (could be parallel dimension to avoid time paradoxes) bores and wanting to se how depraved things could get.