Research-

I’m going to do basing my documentary off an app called Randonautica, this app can be downloaded and became a big thing in 2020. The main purpose of the app if giving people a location close to the area they are, people can then travel to this location to find hidden gems and explore new areas. However, many people used this app and found many disturbing things. “By prompting users to focus on a thought or intention before generating a location, the app subtly frames whatever they encounter as potentially meaningful. This creates a powerful feedback loop: users expect something unusual, and their perception becomes heightened, making ordinary or ambiguous situations feel eerie, significant, or even supernatural. In this way, the app experience is less about the location itself and more about how the mind interprets it.”

Several cases linked to Randonautica contributed to its reputation as unsettling or dangerous, though many were amplified by social media storytelling. One of the most widely discussed incidents occurred in Seattle, where a group of teenagers using the app were led to a suitcase on a beach that was later found to contain human remains. Other reported experiences tend to fall into less verifiable categories, such as users claiming they were led to abandoned buildings, isolated forests, or locations where they felt watched or unsafe. Some users have described encounters with strangers, trespassing situations, or being guided into areas that were physically dangerous like private property or rough terrain.

Randonautica itself is not inherently dangerous, it is simply a tool that generates random coordinates. The real risk comes from how people interact with it. Curiosity, suggestion, and the desire for a meaningful or thrilling experience can lead users to ignore common sense or safety precautions. The app demonstrates a broader truth about the internet: when randomness is combined with human imagination and shared storytelling, even ordinary experiences can feel unsettling.

 

 

 

Documentary

The Texas killing fields

 

The Texas killing fields is a 2022 documentary which was broadcasted on Netflix by Jessica Dimmock, the series is centred around the mysterious murders of four women in Texas in the 80s and 90s  and 35 other bodies were found not knowing from when or who they were in the main area known as the Texas killing fields, located in League City, Texas. Having a total hours viewed being at 23,880,000 total hours, as well as on rotten tomatoes there’s all positive reviews. The overall reason for my research into this documentary is because of the unsolved mystery and the missing people cases which is very related to the app randonautica. The documentary focuses on:

-          The pattern of disappearances and murders

-          The families of victims who have been waiting for decades for answers

-          Law enforcement's missed connections, jurisdictional issues and cold cases

-          Possible links between cases and potential serial offenders

-          The geography of the area and why it became a dumping ground

Rather than focusing on the killer it focuses on the victims, families and the failure in solving long and detailed crimes.

The main cover for the documentary is highly related to the themes in the documentary; the cross is seen as a memorial marker. Suggesting that there are those who have suffered and will be remembered, with spiritual and mournful links. The map that’s washed out in the background suggests that geography is a key theme in this documentary, the land and area is where the crime happened. This is why the colours are so dull and lifeless linking to the decay of age and cases that get forgotten about and left behind. In the corner to the left a bare tree branch is being shown, linking to the lifeless environment as it has to leaves/flowers as well as it being a common symbol in many horror movies and documentaries. Lastly, the typography. Its bold and distressed, creating the image of stamped evidence which we see in many police reports.

The series focuses on both the unresolved cases and the impact on the victims’ families, particularly through the emotional perspective of Tim Miller, whose daughter Laura was one of the victims. Visually, the documentary uses bleak, cinematic imagery of the barren landscape to evoke a haunting atmosphere that mirrors the sense of loss and frustration surrounding the investigation. For a media design project, you could draw on these stylistic elements muted colour palettes, desolate compositions, and layered textures to reflect the documentary’s tone of grief, mystery, and the passage of time.

Don’t f*ck with cats

The Netflix documentary “don’t f*ck with cats” is designed as a true crime story as well as  a commentary on the internet culture itself. A key theme in the documentary is the role of collective online behaviour. The internet “detectives” are portrayed as both heroic and flawed. On one hand, they demonstrate how digital communities can collaborate to uncover truth and hold people accountable. On the other, their actions highlight how easily online spaces can spiral into obsession, misinformation, and unintended harm. For example, the documentary shows how amateur investigations can misidentify suspects or interfere with official processes, raising questions about the limits of crowd-sourced justice. This reflects a broader idea: the internet empowers individuals, but without accountability or expertise, that power can become dangerous. the way the documentary is constructed also reflects one of its central dangers: it can unintentionally glorify or amplify the very figure it critiques. The series focuses heavily on the killer, Luka Magnotta, and his desire for attention, showing how his crimes escalated from animal abuse videos to murder while being watched and shared online. Critics argue that by presenting him as a central figure and replaying aspects of his content, the documentary risks feeding into the same attention economy that motivated him in the first place

This is where the connection to the app Randonautica becomes particularly relevant. Randonautica encourages users to explore random locations generated by an algorithm, often framed with ideas about intention and curiosity. While it seems harmless or even playful, it gained attention for leading users into unsettling or dangerous situations, reinforcing how digital tools can push people into the unknown. Both the documentary and the app highlight a similar psychological pattern: the internet doesn’t just provide information it encourages participation, curiosity, and risk-taking. In both cases, users are drawn deeper into an experience that feels meaningful or exciting but can quickly become harmful. the documentary is designed to make the viewer reflect on their own role within this system. By the end, it subtly turns the question back onto the audience: are we just observers, or are we part of the cycle that fuels these events? This is the same underlying warning that can be applied to apps like Randonautica.

the overall cover design displays bold yellow font which highlights the documentary name just as I have done in the designing of my documentary covers. The rest of the overall image is the repeated image of a cat’s face creating an echo like pattern, this can create an eerie feel as well as the feeling of being listened to and watched just as the documentary itself presents.

Beware the slenderman

Beware the Slenderman is structured very similarly to Don’t F**k with Cats, but instead of focusing on online detectives, it explores how an internet myth becomes psychologically real. The documentary follows the case of two young girls who committed a violent act inspired by the fictional online character Slenderman. What makes the design powerful is how it blends real-life interviews, police footage, and internet content showing how something that begins as a story online can evolve into something that feels real and dangerous. The editing constantly shifts between the “real world” and the “digital world.” It shows creepy forum posts, fan art, and fictional stories alongside interviews with the girls and their families.

The core message of Beware the Slenderman is that the internet doesn’t just reflect imagination it amplifies it. Slenderman began as a fictional character created online, but through forums, images, and stories, it evolved into something people believed in. The documentary shows how constant exposure to this content, especially in isolated or vulnerable individuals, can distort reality and influence behaviour. This is similar to Randonautica. While Randonautica doesn’t involve fictional characters, it does rely on suggestion, intention, and interpretation. Users are encouraged to assign meaning to random locations, which can make ordinary places feel significant or even threatening. In both cases, the danger doesn’t come from the tool itself, but from how the human mind interacts with it. Both Beware the Slenderman and Randonautica reveal how curiosity can turn into obsession. In the documentary, the girls become deeply immersed in the Slenderman myth, treating it as something real and powerful. Similarly, Randonautica users often report eerie or meaningful experiences because they are actively looking for patterns or significance.

The main design of the cover image for this documentary presents a gloomy and dark atmosphere which are presented through the lack of colour and figure in the middle known as slender man. Keeping the cover simple and clean creates a mystery so people are tempted to watch and know more based on the lack of info on the cover. Apart from where to watch, which will help in the overall number of views for the documentary. This is also popular due to the amount of people that know the stories linked to slender man which is similar to many people currently knowing what is happening with randonautica as it is becoming more popular online now.