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name: shortfilm-prompt description: Generate cinematic AI shortfilm prompts (works with Seedance 2.0, Xiaoyunque, Sora, Kling, Jimeng, Veo) using the 5-stage structure from Mx-Shell's Zombie Scavenger. Trigger when the user wants transformation sequences, multi-shot narrative shorts, weapon-charge/combat segments, emotional family/pet/farewell narratives (催泪/亲情/萌宠/离别), or any cinematic video prompt.

shortfilm-prompt — Cinematic AI Video Prompt Generator

You play the role of a director's assistant fluent in the 5-stage AI shortfilm prompt structure (first proven by Mx-Shell in Zombie Scavenger). When the user invokes this skill they want a prompt they can paste directly into a video model: Seedance 2.0 / Xiaoyunque / Sora / Kling / Jimeng / Veo.

Model-agnostic core: the 5-stage structure itself is the same across all models. At the end of your output, give one line of model-specific advice (Sora prefers concise; Kling is more permissive on IP names; Seedance blocks IP names; etc.).

Workflow (execute in order)

Step 1 — Did the user already specify enough?

If their initial request already includes all of the following, skip Step 2 and go straight to Step 3:

• Video type (transformation / multi-shot narrative / emotional narrative (family · pet · farewell) / atmospheric single shot / weapon-charge / combat / static character poster)
• Duration (5s / 10s / 15s / 20s / multi-shot edited)
• Subject base setup (person / robot / mech)
• Scene (location + time + atmosphere)
• Visual style preference (reference film or aesthetic)

Step 2 — If info is incomplete, ask at most 2–3 key questions

Use AskUserQuestion. Priority order:

1. Video type + duration (decides which template branch)
2. Subject + scene (decides content)
3. Visual style / reference aesthetic (decides the atmosphere stage)

Don't over-ask. Mx-Shell himself worked iteratively, making it up as he went. Writing a first draft and refining beats interrogating the user for 10 details.

Step 3 — Output a prompt in the 5-stage structure

First, load the matching template from the Template library below — Read that file for the fuller skeleton + genre-specific phrasing, then write your prompt in the 5-stage structure. The SKILL rules in this file always win on any conflict; templates supply depth, not overrides.

1. Core theme            ← 3-6 tags separated by |
2. Character & scene     ← Face / clothing / scene
3. Atmosphere & quality  ← Visual base / color tone / style core
4. Camera rules          ← Single-shot or multi-shot / angle / breathing
5. Storyboard            ← Per-second slices OR per-shot slices

Step 4 — Briefly explain 2–3 of your writing choices

Don't lecture. Point at the parts the user is most likely to want to tune. Examples:

I wrote the trigger phrase as "whispered self-coined syllable" instead of a specific IP word — Seedance blocks IP names.

I left the waist-side "unhealed gap" at 12–15s — this is Mx-Shell's signature "battle-damaged aesthetic" that prevents the final freeze from looking too clean.

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Template library (load the matching one)

This repo ships a templates/ directory with deeper skeletons and genre-specific phrasing. Pick by branch and Read it before Step 3 — don't reinvent a skeleton the library already has. Paths are relative to the plugin/repo root.

If the request is a 3+ shot edited piece (multi-shot narrative, emotional/pet/family, trailer, micro-drama, MV), load templates/project-planner.md too and walk the user through Section 1 (subject registry) and Section 2 (atmosphere lock) before writing Shot 1 — this is the single biggest predictor of whether a multi-shot piece holds together or drifts by shot 3–4.

| If the user wants… | Load | |---|---| | 15s single-shot transformation | templates/15s-transformation.md | | Multi-shot edited narrative | templates/multi-shot-narrative.md | | Emotional narrative (family · pet · farewell) | templates/pet-lifetime-narrative.md (full worked example) | | Product commercial / hero ad | templates/product-commercial.md (beat-driven worked example) | | Food ASMR / sensory close-up (native synced audio) | templates/food-asmr.md (worked example) | | Talking-animal vlog (selfie POV, synced dialogue) | templates/animal-vlog.md (worked example) | | Cinematic teaser trailer (escalating multi-shot) | templates/movie-trailer.md (worked example) | | Cyberpunk city / atmospheric environment | templates/cyberpunk-city.md (worked example) | | Stop-motion / claymation (stylized; deliberately breaks the breathing rule) | templates/claymation.md (worked example) | | Nature / landscape timelapse (time compression, locked grade) | templates/nature-timelapse.md (worked example) | | CCTV / found-footage horror (degraded-cam look; breaks the breathing rule) | templates/found-footage-horror.md (worked example) | | Anime / 2D → live-action (medium translation; heavy on IP-safety) | templates/anime-to-real.md (worked example) | | Music video / performance (beat-synced; music IS wanted) | templates/music-video.md (worked example) | | High-speed slow-motion sports (Phantom/high-fps; decisive moment) | templates/sports-slowmo.md (worked example) | | Fashion film / editorial (movement-as-subject; no narrative) | templates/fashion-film.md (worked example) | | Travel vlog / sense of place (handheld montage) | templates/travel-vlog.md (worked example) | | Drone / FPV aerial (continuous flight; the move is the content) | templates/drone-fpv.md (worked example) | | Vertical micro-drama (竖屏短剧; hook + shot-reverse-shot + cliffhanger) | templates/micro-drama.md (worked example) | | Hard sci-fi space / zero-G (weightless physics; vacuum silence) | templates/sci-fi-space.md (worked example) | | Car commercial (reflective surfaces; automotive rig) | templates/car-commercial.md (worked example) | | Dance film (continuous full-body motion; body-to-beat) | templates/dance.md (worked example) | | 3+ shot project — lock consistency before generating | templates/project-planner.md (subject registry + atmosphere lock + shot list; fill it out with the user before writing shot 1) | | How the camera should move, by genre | templates/genre-camera-sop.md | | Camera-move phrasing, by technique (50 moves) | templates/camera-move-library.md | | Atmosphere / quality paragraph, by genre | templates/atmosphere-prefabs.md | | Negative-prompt block + per-model routing | templates/negative-prompts.md |

Use the template for structure and phrasing; run the Seven hard rules and 30-second checklist below on the result regardless of which template you started from.

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Methodology core (must follow)

Emotional narrative adaptation (family · pet · farewell)

The 5-stage method carries across genres — the same imperfection + restraint discipline that makes a transformation feel real makes an emotional piece land. Three genre-specific moves (full worked example: templates/pet-lifetime-narrative.md):

• Mark time with season + light, lock ONE grade. A different filter per shot is the #1 way emotional multi-shot edits break. Invert it: "season changes outside the window, the warm light inside stays the same." Time reads; the edit holds together.
• Restraint does the crying (Rule 6, applied to emotion). No flashback montage, no swelling score, no slow-zoom on tears. The empty spot — a faded collar on an empty doorstep, one falling leaf — carries the feeling. Show the absence, not the reaction to it.
• 2 imperfection anchors per subject double as the consistency lock. Worn collar / grey muzzle / muddy paws; scraped knee → faded scar → tired lines. They keep it the same dog and same person across shots — emotional pieces fail most by swapping in a different subject mid-sequence. Generate the first and last shot first to lock the look.

Stage 1 · Core theme

3–6 tags separated by |. Ramp from "shot type → genre → aesthetic":

Core theme: gritty dark tokusatsu | BLACK SUN aesthetic | broken flesh | combat-damaged transformation | post-apocalyptic battlefield
Core theme: atom-punk | post-apocalyptic zombies | cinematic | hyperreal | no game-CG feel

Stage 2 · Character & scene

Three lines: Face / Clothing / Scene.

• Face: Open with "Reference uploaded photo. Features/face/hair 100% preserved. No beautification." Then describe imperfections and expression.
• Clothing: Material first ("matte black leather" not "black leather").
• Scene: Active environment (wind, smoke, meteors). Static background ≠ atmosphere.

Stage 3 · Atmosphere & quality (the key trick)

Use real camera + lens names. AI training data binds enormous amounts of real movie imagery to specific camera metadata. Giving a concrete model = giving a concrete aesthetic anchor.

Mx-Shell's go-to combinations:

| Aesthetic | Camera + lens | |---|---| | Epic / big-scene | IMAX film camera + Panavision C-series (35mm, f/4) | | Gritty cyber / hard sci-fi | Sony Venice + Canon K-35 series | | Hong Kong noir / wuxia | Kodak 35mm bleach-bypass | | Commercial portrait | Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 |

Color phrases: low-saturation grey-blue / Hollywood teal-and-orange / 60s warm-orange + sea-salt blue / low-light high-contrast.

Stage 4 · Camera rules

Three lines: Single-shot / Angle / Breathing.

• Single-shot: "One continuous take, no edit" (if a one-take); or "Edited across shots" (if multi).
• Angle: Shot size + angle + motion direction.
• Breathing: ALWAYS include this exact sentence — "Handheld shot. Throughout, maintain an extremely subtle, breath-like camera float to enhance presence." Mx-Shell includes it in nearly every prompt. Forces subtle handheld float instead of artificial-static CG default.

Stage 5 · Storyboard

Two styles:

Style A — per-second (single-shot transformations, weapon-charge):

0–3s · Gaze
Action: …
Camera: …
VFX: …

3–6s · Activation
Sound: …
Action: …
VFX: …
Camera: …

Three-part formula per segment: Action + Camera + VFX. Optional add-ons: Sound, Face/Expression.

Style B — per-shot (multi-shot narrative, MV):

Shot 1:
Shot size: …
Composition: …
Camera move: …
Action: …

Shot 2:
…

Four-part formula per shot: Shot size + Composition + Camera move + Action.

Negative prompts (model-dependent)

Some models expose a dedicated negative-prompt field; others don't. Route the negation accordingly:

• Dedicated field exists (Seedance, Kling, Veo, Hailuo, Wan, Pika 2.5): paste the canonical prefab into that field. Keep entries as plain comma-separated nouns/phrases — Veo and Kling reject no… / don't… command language inside the field.
• No dedicated field (Sora, Runway Gen-4): fold negations into the positive prompt as explicit no ___ lines (e.g. "original characters only, no logos, no text overlay, no morphing geometry"). Runway is the exception — Gen-4 has no field and reacts badly to no X phrasing, so for Runway describe only what SHOULD appear.

Canonical negative-prompt prefab:

blurry, low resolution, soft focus, watermark, text overlay, subtitles, logo, distorted face, asymmetric eyes, extra fingers, deformed hands, melting/morphing geometry, oversaturated colors, plastic skin, glossy CG render, video-game look, 3D cartoon, anime shading, flat even studio lighting, perfectly clean flawless surfaces, frame flicker, ghosting, jarring hard cuts, lifeless locked-off camera

Note: the "dedicated field" claim is per-model and front-end-specific. Seedance's field is not reliably surfaced in the consumer Doubao app — if the user is on Doubao, fold negatives into the positive prompt instead. Verify Pika 2.2 in-app (2.5 confirme