Contents
About Prompt
- Prompt Type – Scene-by-Scene
- Prompt Platform – Google Veo
- Language – English
- Category – Video/Story
- Prompt Title – VEO 3 Prompt for Time Travel Story – The Rewind Effect
Prompt Details
🎬 Scene 1
The scene opens within the cavernous, pulsating heart of a retro-futuristic 1980s laboratory, a cathedral of forgotten science. The air hums with the low, resonant thrum of analogue machinery. Dominating the room is the ‘Chronos Core’, a colossal spherical device latticed with copper wiring and glowing vacuum tubes that pulse with a soft, ethereal teal light. Banks of monolithic computers with chunky, beige casings line the walls, their green-on-black CRT monitors scrolling with endless lines of cryptic code. Exposed conduits and thick, insulated cables snake across the concrete floor and ceiling, casting long, distorted shadows under the moody, neon-blue and magenta backlighting. Dust motes dance in the beams of light slanting down from high, grated windows, suggesting the late hours of a long night. In the foreground, Leo, a man consumed by his work, hunches over a control panel, his brow furrowed in concentration. The panel is a symphony of clunky toggle switches, oversized dials, and a single, ominous red button under a clear plastic guard. On his left wrist, he wears the ‘Rewind Gauntlet’—a cumbersome prototype of brushed steel, brass fittings, and exposed, glowing wires that seems both brilliant and dangerously unstable. Across the room, Anya moves with a quiet grace, her focus on a secondary terminal connected to the Chronos Core. She adjusts a sensitive dial with a delicate touch, her reflection ghosting across the polished chrome of the machinery. The atmosphere is thick with a mixture of quiet intellectual fervour and a subtle, unspoken tension, as if the very air is aware of the precipice upon which they stand.
🎵 Tone: Anticipatory, tense
🎬 Scene 2
The fragile calm of the laboratory is shattered in an instant. A piercing, high-frequency alarm screeches through the space, accompanied by the flashing of stark, crimson warning lights that paint the room in apocalyptic strobes. The rhythmic hum of the Chronos Core escalates into a guttural, angry groan as a primary power conduit connected to its base begins to overload violently. A shower of brilliant, electric-blue sparks erupts from a fractured joint in the conduit, sizzling and spitting across the concrete floor like malevolent sprites. The teal glow of the core flickers erratically, now shot through with veins of angry orange light. Anya, who was moving to inspect a pressure gauge near the conduit, freezes in the sudden chaos. She is caught dangerously close to the malfunction, instinctively raising an arm to shield her face from the blinding electrical arcs. The air crackles with static electricity, making the hair on Leo’s arms stand on end. His face, illuminated by the flashing red lights and the intense blue glare of the arcing power, is a mask of pure, unadulterated horror. His eyes widen as he sees Anya’s silhouette framed against the impending disaster, a terrifying premonition flashing through his mind. The entire scene is a chaotic symphony of sight and sound, a moment of technological failure spiralling catastrophically out of control, frozen on the precipice of disaster.
🎵 Tone: Sudden panic, chaotic, dangerous
🎬 Scene 3
Just as the arcing conduit is about to erupt in a cataclysmic explosion, Leo slams his hand down on the activator on his Rewind Gauntlet. The world dissolves into a vortex of light and sound. The visual experience is a violent, analogue rewind effect: the scene appears to be recorded on a VHS tape that is being frantically rewound. Colours bleed and smear across the screen in horizontal bands of static, the image ghosting and warping. The sharp crackle of electricity and the blaring alarm are warped in reverse, their frequencies pitching up into an unbearable, distorted screech. For a fleeting moment, we see fragmented, reversed images—the sparks flying back into the conduit, Anya’s arm lowering, the red lights retracting into their fixtures. The effect is nauseating and disorienting, a complete sensory assault. Then, with a sudden, jarring jolt, reality snaps back into place. Leo finds himself standing exactly where he was eight seconds prior, his body rigid, a gasp caught in his throat. The lab is plunged back into the tense, moody calm of the moments before the incident. The crimson lights are gone, replaced by the steady neon glow. The alarm is silent, replaced by the low, familiar hum of the Chronos Core. The only evidence of the averted catastrophe is the frantic heaving of Leo’s chest and the wild, haunted look in his eyes.
🎵 Tone: Disoriented, frantic, urgent
🎬 Scene 4
The loop begins again, an identical carbon copy of the preceding moments, yet filtered through Leo’s newfound terror. The lab is exactly as it was: the same steady hum, the same dancing dust motes, the same scrolling green text. Anya is in the same position, turning from her terminal with a slightly quizzical look, about to question his strange behaviour. But this time, Leo doesn’t wait. Galvanised by the fresh memory of the disaster, he bolts from his console, his tweed jacket flying out behind him. He doesn’t waste breath on a full explanation, his words are a frantic, desperate plea. As he shouts, the inevitable happens. The piercing screech of the alarm cuts through his warning, and the relentless crimson lights begin their strobing assault on the senses once more. The power conduit, a monster reawakened by the unforgiving clock, begins to spark and spit with the same violent, electric-blue energy. Anya’s face registers a flicker of confusion at Leo’s shout, which is instantly replaced by dawning horror as the alarm confirms his words. She is still too close, her reaction a fraction of a second too slow. Leo sees it all unfolding again, a nightmarish déjà vu. The futility of his warning crashes down on him as he watches the scene repeat itself, his foreknowledge powerless against the speed of the event. With a guttural cry of frustration, his hand flies to the gauntlet again, the world already beginning to dissolve around him.
🎵 Tone: Desperate, repetitive, futile
🎬 Scene 5
Snap. The world resets again. Leo is back at his console, the phantom sensation of his failed sprint still echoing in his muscles. This time, there is no hesitation, no wasted breath on words. The moment reality solidifies, he is a blur of motion, a silent, desperate actor in a play he knows by heart. He shoves himself away from the panel with explosive force, his chair skittering backwards. His sole focus is Anya, who is once again turning from her terminal, her mouth just beginning to form a question. He doesn’t give her the chance. He closes the distance between them in three long, desperate strides, his hand outstretched not to warn, but to grab. His fingers brush the fabric of her lab coat’s sleeve just as the universe conspires against him again. The alarm shrieks its hateful song, the red lights flash, and the conduit erupts in a shower of brilliant blue. The force of his lunge, combined with the sudden shock of the alarm, makes him stumble. His grip on her arm fails. For a horrifying, slow-motion second, he is falling and she is frozen, framed perfectly against the violent electrical discharge. He sees the explosion begin, a bloom of white-hot energy expanding from the conduit. The heat washes over his face. It is a failure more intimate and visceral than the last. He hits the floor, his hand already slapping the gauntlet’s activator in a gesture of pure, instinctual rage before the blast wave can reach him.
🎵 Tone: Physical, frantic, increasingly desperate
🎬 Scene 6
The sickening lurch of temporal rewind deposits Leo back at his starting point, the sting of the concrete still fresh in his mind. A new strategy forms in his desperate, looping brain. Not her, the machine. He has to stop the cause, not move the victim. This time, as reality settles, his eyes don’t go to Anya. They dart to the side, locking onto a large, cherry-red fire extinguisher mounted on a nearby wall. Before Anya can even complete her turn, Leo is already in motion, his movements economical and precise. He pivots, sprints the short distance to the wall, and rips the heavy extinguisher from its bracket in one fluid motion. The metal clasp groans in protest. He hefts the cylinder, his knuckles white, and turns back towards the Chronos Core. And just as before, right on schedule, the world screams. The alarm blares. The red lights flash. The conduit begins to spit its electric fury. But this time, Leo is ready. He is no longer a victim of the loop but an active combatant, racing against the eight-second clock with a weapon in his hands. He charges towards the overloading conduit, the red extinguisher held before him like a shield and a lance, his face a mask of grim, near-maniacal focus. He is a man possessed, fighting the same battle for the fourth time, hoping this new tactic will finally break the cycle.
🎵 Tone: Determined, proactive, hopeful
🎬 Scene 7
Leo charges forward, the fire extinguisher roaring to life in his hands. A thick, billowing cloud of white CO2 gas erupts from the nozzle, engulfing the sparking power conduit. For a glorious, heart-stopping second, it seems to work. The electric-blue arcs sizzle and die within the freezing fog. But the victory is short-lived and spectacularly catastrophic. Instead of dousing the overload, the sudden, extreme temperature change and chemical reaction cause a disastrous feedback loop. The Chronos Core lets out a horrifying, metallic shriek, a sound of tortured machinery. The entire spherical device begins to shudder violently, its glowing teal light flickering and turning a sickly, unstable yellow. The conduit doesn’t just spark now; it begins to glow an intense, incandescent orange from within, the metal visibly warping under the immense heat and pressure. The overload, instead of being contained, has been magnified, turning the entire Core into a ticking time bomb. Anya screams, a genuine sound of terror, as the vibrations knock instruments from a nearby workbench. Leo stares, his face a canvas of disbelief and horror. This failure is far worse than the last. He has made everything ten times more dangerous. With the shriek of stressed metal filling the air, he fumbles for the gauntlet, his hopeful expression completely shattered, replaced by the grim visage of utter despair.
🎵 Tone: Catastrophic failure, shock, horror
🎬 Scene 8
The final rewind snaps Leo back into place. The accumulated psychic and physical toll of the loops has worn him down to a raw nerve. He stands at his console, but his posture has changed. The frantic energy is gone, replaced by a heavy, somber stillness. His eyes, dark and haunted, are fixed on Anya as she begins her turn. He sees her not as a problem to be solved, but as the person he was trying to protect. A terrible, heartbreaking clarity dawns on his face. He can’t stop the accident. The event is a fixed point. Every attempt to alter it has failed or made it worse. But he can change one variable: the target. A look of grim acceptance settles over him. As the first flicker of the impending alarm begins, he doesn’t run, shout, or grab for a tool. He simply walks towards Anya with a calm, deliberate stride. He looks her directly in the eyes, a silent apology and farewell all at once. Just as the conduit erupts with its familiar, violent energy, he reaches her. In one swift, powerful motion, he shoves her hard, sending her stumbling safely away, out of the blast radius. He takes her place. He turns to face the overloading conduit, his arms slightly open in a gesture of acceptance, his face illuminated by the blinding, beautiful, and terrifying blue-white light of the imminent explosion. The world whites out.
🎵 Tone: Sacrificial, tragic, resolved