▁or ▁surve ill ance ▁foot age — acc ording ▁to ▁an ▁analysis ▁of ▁ 5 0 0 ▁found - foot age ▁films ▁conducted ▁by ▁Found ▁Foot age ▁Crit ic . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁As ▁a ▁plot ▁device , ▁found ▁foot age ▁has ▁preced ents ▁in ▁literature , ▁particularly ▁in ▁the ▁ep istol ary ▁novel , ▁which ▁typically ▁consists ▁of ▁either ▁correspond ence ▁or ▁di ary ▁entries , ▁pur port edly ▁written ▁by ▁a ▁character ▁central ▁to ▁the ▁events . ▁Like ▁found ▁foot age , ▁the ▁ep istol ary ▁technique ▁has ▁often ▁been ▁employed ▁in ▁horror ▁fiction : ▁both ▁D rac ula ▁and ▁Fran ken stein ▁are ▁ep istol ary ▁nov els , ▁as ▁is ▁The ▁Call ▁of ▁C th ul hu ▁by ▁H . ▁P . ▁Love craft . ▁ ▁In ▁film making , ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 ▁cult ▁horror ▁feature ▁C ann ib al ▁Hol oca ust ▁is ▁often ▁claimed ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁first ▁example ▁of ▁found ▁foot age . ▁The ▁device ▁was ▁popular ised ▁by ▁The ▁Bla ir ▁W itch ▁Project ▁( 1 9 9 9 ). ▁Found ▁foot age ▁has ▁since ▁been ▁used ▁in ▁other ▁commer cially - success ful ▁films , ▁including ▁Par an ormal ▁Activity ▁( 2 0 0 7 ), ▁RE C ▁( 2 0 0 7 ), ▁Clo ver field ▁( 2 0 0 8 ) ▁and ▁Chron icle ▁( 2 0 1 2 ). ▁Review ing ▁V / H / S ▁for ▁The ▁A . V . ▁Club , ▁Scott ▁Tob ia ▁notes