SCP-1989
rating: +234+x

Item #: SCP-1989

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Outside scheduled experimentation times, SCP-1989 is kept in Storage Containment Unit A-29 at Sector-19. Experimentation may only be performed with prior permission from a member of Level 3 personnel, and the tray must be emptied of all testing materials before returning to storage. Testing of materials altered by SCP-1989 with other SCP objects is to be approved on a case by case basis.

Description: SCP-1989 is a Pioneer LD-V4200 single-sided LaserDisc player, capable of playing both CAV (Standard Play) and CLV (Extended Play) LaserDiscs. SCP-1989 was acquired at the Clemson, South Carolina home of film critic Derwent Masterson III on 05/11/1992 as part of the liquidation of his assets following his suicide; background intelligence and subsequent investigation revealed that the device was a birthday gift (see Addendum 1989-C). Initial inspection revealed internal congruence with other models of the same product line, with one exception: a non-standard disc tray different in shape but not material from the original design.

When powered on, inserted with a film disc and connected to a compatible television, SCP-1989 appears to operate normally, playing the portion of the film recorded on the film disc correctly and without incident. However, due to each side of a LaserDisc only containing up to sixty (60) minutes of possible recording space, most feature-length films require the playback of both sides, and sometimes multiple discs. SCP-1989 is a single-sided model player; manual inversion and reinsertion of the disc is required during every complete viewing. When any disc previously inserted into SCP-1989 is removed, inverted, and reinserted, the content of the film is changed: when play resumes, the image on the screen is also inverted, and gravity within the filmed environment adjusts accordingly. Within the first few seconds of playback, any unsecured objects, scenery or characters appear to collide with the new bottom of the scene, whether it be the ceiling or open sky.1

At no point, however, is the narrative broken: characters still present attempt to act out their recorded scenes and delivered lines even though the environment around them has drastically changed; in the event of an outside scene where actors have fallen into the sky, camera angles continue to change as if following unseen events, until the scene changes. Characters and objects in subsequent scenes appear to have recovered from the initial inversion, though the events on-screen continue to be hampered by the change in gravity, and characters who sustain fatal injuries from the inversion or descend into the sky do not reappear for the remainder of playback.

Addendum 1989-A - Testing Logs:

Addendum 1989-B - Acquisition Investigation Exhibit 1989-22c1:
Excerpt from Derwent Masterson's film review column in The Greenville News, printed 29/10/1992:

"…debate about whether film is an art form is nonsense: films are meant to be enjoyed for their exciting content, the thrills of their car chases and the beauty of their actresses… narrative in film is inconsequential. You could turn the finest film topsy-turvy and you won't find one shred of art or entertainment beyond what the writers intend, no narrative imperative: the story is there to entertain, it isn't real."

Addendum 1989-C - Acquisition Investigation Exhibit 1989-45c4:
Note retrieved amongst gift-wrapping paper in waste basket of Masterson home:

Carter

I hope this gives you a change of perspective. Enjoy, my friend.

Happy birthday,
Derwent

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