velementsCards pin onto a cork board one by one, then red string hangs from pin to pin with real sag until the key suspect is circled.
Category
Archival and investigative graphics for true crime, history and explainer films: evidence boards, newspapers, timelines, case files and documents.
Cards pin onto a cork board one by one, then red string hangs from pin to pin with real sag until the key suspect is circled.
A ruler of year ticks glides under a fixed playhead, the big year counter rolls with it and each dated event drops a card as it passes.
A full newspaper page sets its own columns, then the camera pushes into your paragraph and a highlighter sweeps the exact words you marked.
A full front page sets itself from your masthead, headline and deck, with halftone photo and side stories, then spins in and lands.
A typed memo lays out from your fields and paragraphs, black marker bars sweep over every marked phrase, then the last one lifts to reveal it.
Torn newspaper clippings slap down one after another, each sized to its own headline with body columns and the odd halftone photo.
A manila case folder slides in, takes a stamp, swings open on its hinge and fans out typed pages with a paper-clipped photo.
A phone record printout feeds out row by row on banded tractor paper, then every call to the same number is circled and linked in the margin.
A central figure sits on the page while the people around them pop in, hand-drawn lines reach out and each link gets its own torn relationship tag.
A numbered court transcript sets each question and answer under its speaker, then a reading band steps line by line and highlights the words you marked.
A memo types itself onto the page letter by letter with uneven ink and a feeding platen, then a classification stamp slams across the top.
Front page after front page spins in and slams onto the pile, each one leading with a different headline, until the camera settles on your first.
A vertical case chronology scrolls up past a fixed marker, the date counter rolls alongside and each event card slides out from the spine as it passes.
Old deckle-edged prints drop one by one into a loose pile, each with its own sepia scene and caption, then the top print lifts toward the camera.
A film contact sheet develops frame by frame, a grease pencil crosses out the rejects and circles the one shot that matters, then the camera moves in.
Ledger entries print one by one while arrows sized by each amount arc between the accounts involved, and a running total counts the money moved.
A typed letter gets marked up by hand: wobbly underlines and loops land on each phrase you mark, then arrows lead out to scribbled notes in the margin.
A hand-drawn street map sketches itself street by street, a pin drops on the scene, a dashed route traces the path there and a taped photo lands beside it.
A countdown ruler slides toward zero hour, the T-minus counter ticks down and each moment before the incident drops a card as the playhead reaches it.
A telegram form types its header fields, then strips of printed tape paste onto it line by line, with STOP between every sentence you enter.
Build them from your own facts rather than from a fixed template. The layout comes from the text you type: the board places a card per name and hangs real string between the pins, the newspaper sets its own columns, and the timeline spaces its years to the dates you enter.
Investigative and history channels lean on a small set of paper graphics: the red string board, the front page, the highlighted document, the case file and the scrolling year ruler. Each one is slow to build by hand because every card, column and string is a separate layer. These presets generate the whole piece from a list of names, dates or lines of text.
Read the full guide: Documentary graphics: evidence boards and timelines20 editable presets, including Evidence Board String, Timeline Year Scrub, Article Highlight Push, Newspaper Front Page, Document Redaction Pass and Newspaper Clipping Collage. Every one opens in the browser editor, where you change colors, timing and any text before you download.
None of them loop. Every preset in Documentary & Investigation plays once, which suits cuts, openers and one-off moments.
MP4 for any editor or platform, and WebM with a transparent background for overlays. Every preset exports in 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 and 4:5 from 720p up to 8K, with a commercial license in your name.
Editing and previewing are free. You only spend a credit when the finished file lands on your machine.
