About Prompt
- Prompt Type – Dynamic
- Prompt Platform – Google Gemini
- Niche – Horror storytelling
- Language – English
- Category – Video
- Prompt Title – Halloween haunted house video prompt Gemini
Prompt Details
This prompt is structured as a reusable template. The user fills in the dynamic variables (marked with `[square brackets]`) to create countless unique video scenarios from a single, powerful structure.
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### **Optimized Dynamic Prompt Template for Gemini**
**[PROMPT START]**
**ROLE:**
You are an award-winning horror film director and atmospheric storyteller, with a specialization in psychological and supernatural horror. Your style is a blend of James Wan’s mastery of tension and Ari Aster’s focus on creeping dread and emotional decay. You think in terms of camera shots, sound design, and pacing to create a deeply unsettling experience.
**TASK:**
Generate a detailed, shot-by-shot video prompt for a short horror film (1-3 minutes) set in a haunted house on Halloween night. The output should be a script-style sequence that Gemini can use to visualize and describe a compelling video. The focus is on building atmospheric tension and telling a micro-story through visuals and sound, rather than relying on dialogue or jump scares.
**OUTPUT FORMAT:**
Provide the output in a clear, three-column Markdown table format:
| Shot Number | Visual Description | Sound Design & Audio Cues |
|—|—|—|
—
### **SECTION 1: CORE NARRATIVE & WORLD-BUILDING**
* **Core Concept:** A protagonist enters a legendary haunted house on a dare, seeking proof of the supernatural, but finds something that latches onto their own personal history.
* **Protagonist Name & Motivation:** `[Protagonist’s Name]`, a `[Protagonist’s Occupation or Archetype, e.g., skeptic podcaster, grieving student, urban explorer]` who is driven by `[Protagonist’s Core Motivation, e.g., debunking local legends, seeking a connection with a lost loved one, the thrill of discovery]`.
* **The House: The Blackwood Manor.**
* **Style:** `[Architectural Style of the House, e.g., dilapidated Victorian Gothic, decaying Antebellum, Brutalist concrete shell]`.
* **Backstory:** The house is infamous for the `[Specific Tragic Event, e.g., the unsolved disappearance of the entire Fairchild family in 1928, being the site of a failed occult ritual, the silent death of a reclusive toy-maker]`.
* **The Haunting Entity:** The presence is not a simple ghost but a `[Type of Entity, e.g., a “memory echo” that replays a traumatic event, a “collector spirit” that traps souls, a non-human entity that feeds on fear]`. Its primary manifestation is through `[Primary Method of Manifestation, e.g., manipulating shadows, creating auditory hallucinations of whispers and music, subtly altering the house’s architecture]`.
* **The Catalyst Object:** A single object within the house acts as a focal point for the haunting. This object is a `[Specific Key Object, e.g., a dusty music box on a mantle, a cracked hand-mirror on a vanity, a child’s rocking horse in the nursery]`.
—
### **SECTION 2: CINEMATIC & AESTHETIC DIRECTIVES**
* **Overall Tone:** Creeping dread, psychological unease, and melancholic horror.
* **Visual Style:** `[Specify Visual Style, e.g., Cinematic high-contrast, found-footage shaky cam, grainy 80s VHS aesthetic]`.
* **Pacing:** A slow burn. The first act should be almost silent and observational, building tension through subtlety. The second act escalates the supernatural phenomena. The third act is a swift, terrifying climax and a haunting final image.
* **Lighting:** `[Specify Lighting, e.g., Primarily diegetic, using only the protagonist’s flashlight and ambient moonlight through grimy windows. Create deep shadows (Chiaroscuro)., Over-exposed and sterile fluorescent lighting to create an uncanny feeling]`.
* **Color Palette:** Dominated by `[Primary Colors, e.g., desaturated blues, sickly greens, and deep sepia tones]` with a single, sharp accent color, `[Accent Color, e.g., crimson red, a ghostly white]`, that appears in key moments.
—
### **SECTION 3: MANDATORY SCENE SEQUENCE (The Shot-by-Shot Structure)**
**ACT 1: The Intrusion (Approx. 30 seconds)**
1. **Establishing Shot:** An exterior shot of The Blackwood Manor at night, matching the specified style. Halloween decorations (rotting pumpkins) are visible.
2. **Entry:** A shot from inside the dark foyer as the front door creaks open, silhouetting `[Protagonist’s Name]`.
3. **First Look:** POV shot from the protagonist’s perspective, flashlight beam cutting through the darkness, revealing dust motes and decaying furniture.
4. **The First Sign:** A subtle, almost unnoticeable event. Example: A sheet over a chair seems to deflate as if someone just stood up.
**ACT 2: The Investigation (Approx. 60 seconds)**
5. **Discovery:** The protagonist’s light lands on the `[Specific Key Object]`. They approach it cautiously.
6. **Interaction:** The protagonist touches the object. This triggers the first major supernatural event.
7. **Escalation 1:** `[First Major Supernatural Event, e.g., The music box begins playing a distorted, slow-downed nursery rhyme on its own; The mirror reflects the room, but without the protagonist in it for a split second]`.
8. **Escalation 2:** The entity’s primary manifestation becomes more obvious. `[Example: Shadows in the corner of the room seem to deepen and coalesce; Whispers are heard from all directions, speaking a single, unintelligible word]`.
9. **The Personal Connection:** A supernatural event occurs that is directly tied to the protagonist’s motivation. `[Example: If seeking a lost one, a faint voice whispers a name only they would know; If a skeptic, an old camera on a shelf flashes, capturing an impossible image]`.
**ACT 3: The Revelation & Consequence (Approx. 30 seconds)**
10. **The Climax:** The protagonist, now terrified, tries to flee. Their path is blocked or altered by the entity. `[Example: The front door they entered is now a solid brick wall; The hallway stretches into an impossible length]`.
11. **Final Confrontation:** The protagonist turns to face the source of the haunting. The `[Specific Key Object]` is now glowing with a faint `[Accent Color]` light.
12. **The Twist/Ending:** Do not show the entity fully. Instead, show the *consequence*. The final shot should be a haunting tableau. `[Final Shot Directive: e.g., The camera drops to the floor, and we see the protagonist’s feet being dragged into the darkness; The video glitches and cuts to a static shot of an old photograph, which now includes the protagonist among the long-lost family; The protagonist is seen standing perfectly still, now part of the house, a tear rolling down their face as the flashlight flickers and dies.]`.
—
### **SECTION 4: CONSTRAINTS & NEGATIVE PROMPTS**
* **Dialogue:** Absolutely no spoken dialogue from the protagonist. Only gasps, heavy breathing, or a single choked sob are permissible.
* **Jump Scares:** Avoid cheap jump scares. The horror must come from atmosphere, sound design, and psychological dread.
* **Entity Visibility:** The core entity should never be fully or clearly shown. Use suggestion, shadow, and sound to imply its presence.
* **Gore:** No blood or gore. The horror is supernatural and psychological.
**[PROMPT END]**
***
### **Example Prompt in Practice**
Here is the above template filled out to generate a specific video concept.
**[PROMPT START]**
**ROLE:**
You are an award-winning horror film director… (etc.)
**TASK:**
Generate a detailed, shot-by-shot video prompt… (etc.)
**OUTPUT FORMAT:**
| Shot Number | Visual Description | Sound Design & Audio Cues |
|—|—|—|
—
### **SECTION 1: CORE NARRATIVE & WORLD-BUILDING**
* **Core Concept:** A protagonist enters a legendary haunted house… (etc.)
* **Protagonist Name & Motivation:** **Elara**, a **grieving music student** who is driven by **seeking a connection with her younger sister, Lily, who recently passed away**.
* **The House: The Blackwood Manor.**
* **Style:** **Dilapidated Victorian Gothic**, with spires that look like skeletal fingers against the moon.
* **Backstory:** The house is infamous for **the silent death of a reclusive toy-maker, Silas Croft, who was found surrounded by hundreds of music boxes, all wound down.**
* **The Haunting Entity:** The presence is a **”collector spirit”** that traps the souls of the grieving, drawn to their sorrow. Its primary manifestation is through **creating auditory hallucinations of whispers and music**.
* **The Catalyst Object:** A single object within the house acts as a focal point: **a dusty, silver-inlaid music box on a mantlepiece, with a tarnished ballerina on top.**
—
### **SECTION 2: CINEMATIC & AESTHETIC DIRECTIVES**
* **Overall Tone:** Creeping dread, psychological unease, and melancholic horror.
* **Visual Style:** **Cinematic high-contrast**, with smooth, deliberate camera movements.
* **Pacing:** A slow burn… (etc.)
* **Lighting:** **Primarily diegetic, using only Elara’s phone flashlight and ambient moonlight through grimy windows. Create deep shadows (Chiaroscuro).**
* **Color Palette:** Dominated by **desaturated blues, dust-caked greys, and deep sepia tones** with a single, sharp accent color, **a ghostly white**, that appears on the ballerina and in key moments.
—
### **SECTION 3: MANDATORY SCENE SEQUENCE (The Shot-by-Shot Structure)**
… (This section would then instruct Gemini to generate the shot list based on the specific choices made above, such as Elara discovering the music box, it playing a distorted version of her sister’s favorite lullaby, hearing Lily’s whisper, and the final shot showing the music box on the mantle, but now the ballerina’s face has subtly changed to look like Elara’s, frozen in a silent scream.)
—
### **SECTION 4: CONSTRAINTS & NEGATIVE PROMPTS**
* **Dialogue:** No spoken dialogue…
* **Jump Scares:** Avoid…
* **Entity Visibility:** Never show Silas Croft…
* **Gore:** No blood…
**[PROMPT END]**