About Prompt
- Prompt Type – Dynamic
- Prompt Platform – ChatGPT, Grok, Deepseek, Gemini, Copilot, Midjourney, Meta AI and more
- Niche – Supernatural / Horror
- Language – English
- Category – Cinematic / VFX
- Prompt Title – Sora Ghostly Encounter Prompt for Horror Shorts
Prompt Details
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### **Optimized Dynamic AI Prompt Template: The “Spectral Sequence” Prompt**
This template is designed to be a modular and highly descriptive framework. Its purpose is to give you maximum control over the AI’s generation by breaking down the scene into key cinematic and narrative components. By filling in the bracketed `[variables]`, you can create a vast array of unique and terrifying supernatural encounters.
#### **How to Use This Template**
Replace the text within each `[bracket]` with your specific details. Be as descriptive and evocative as possible. The more sensory details, specific camera movements, and emotional cues you provide, the more nuanced and cinematic the final output will be. This structure is universally compatible because it relies on descriptive natural language rather than platform-specific syntax.
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### **The Spectral Sequence Prompt Template**
**1. Core Concept & Logline:**
* **Prompt:** A `[Protagonist’s Role]` exploring a `[Location Type]` has a terrifying, close-quarters encounter with the `[Adjective for Ghost]` spirit of a `[Ghost’s Former Identity]`.
**2. Cinematic & Technical Specifications:**
* **Style:** Cinematic, hyperrealistic, horror short film.
* **Visual Fidelity:** 8K resolution, photorealistic textures, intricate detail, shot on a high-end cinema camera like an ARRI Alexa.
* **Lens & Framing:** Anamorphic lens creating subtle horizontal lens flares and a wide, cinematic aspect ratio. `[Specify Camera Shot, e.g., A slow dolly zoom, a shaky handheld shot, a static wide shot, a creeping low-angle shot]`.
* **Lighting:** `[Specify Lighting Style, e.g., High-contrast chiaroscuro with deep shadows, eerie low-key lighting from a single source, cold blue moonlight filtering through a grimy window, flickering fluorescent bulbs casting erratic shadows]`.
* **Color Grading:** `[Specify Color Palette, e.g., Heavily desaturated with cold blues and sterile greys, sickly green and yellow tones reminiscent of decay, stark monochromatic black and white, oversaturated vintage film look with heavy film grain]`.
* **Pacing:** `[Specify Pacing, e.g., Slow, deliberate, and tension-building, culminating in a sudden burst of frantic energy; unsettlingly calm and quiet throughout]`.
**3. Environment & Atmosphere:**
* **Location:** An interior shot of a `[Specific Location, e.g., derelict Victorian-era asylum ward, dusty and forgotten attic of a suburban home, water-damaged basement of a lighthouse]`.
* **Time of Day:** `[Time, e.g., The dead of night, a perpetually overcast and gloomy afternoon, the disorienting “magic hour” just after sunset]`.
* **Set Dressing & Details:** The scene is filled with `[Key Environmental Details, e.g., peeling paint revealing layers of history, overturned antique furniture covered in thick cobwebs, rust-stained medical equipment, scattered children’s toys from a bygone era]`. The air is thick with `[Atmospheric Particles, e.g., swirling dust motes visible in light beams, a faint, unnatural fog clinging to the floor, shimmering heat haze despite the cold]`.
* **Atmospheric Mood:** The atmosphere is oppressive, claustrophobic, and filled with a palpable sense of `[Dominant Emotion, e.g., sorrow, malevolence, dread, confusion]`.
**4. The Supernatural Entity (The Ghost):**
* **Appearance:** The ghost appears as a `[Entity’s Form, e.g., tall, skeletal figure; a small, weeping child; a contorted, shadowy mass with indistinct features]`. Its form is `[Entity’s Materiality, e.g., semi-transparent and shimmering, glitching in and out of existence like a corrupted video file, solid but unnaturally pale and cold, composed of dark smoke and embers]`.
* **Distinguishing Features:** The most terrifying feature is its `[Specific Detail, e.g., empty, black eye sockets that seem to absorb light; a wide, silent scream permanently etched on its face; hands with unnaturally long, twitching fingers; a tattered period-specific garment that floats weightlessly]`.
* **Behavior & Kinesis:** The entity `[Entity’s Initial Action, e.g., stands perfectly still at the far end of the hallway, drifts slowly towards the camera just above the floor, manifests suddenly in a mirror’s reflection]`. It interacts with the environment by `[Describe Interaction, e.g., causing the temperature to plummet, making lights violently flicker, levitating small objects, emitting a low, guttural whisper without moving its mouth]`.
**5. Protagonist & Narrative Action:**
* **Protagonist:** A `[Protagonist Description, e.g., young female urban explorer in her early 20s, wearing practical clothing and a headlamp; a weary, middle-aged paranormal investigator clutching a flickering EMF meter]`. Their face shows a clear progression from `[Initial Emotion, e.g., cautious curiosity]` to `[Final Emotion, e.g., pure, abject terror]`.
* **Sequence of Events:** The shot begins with the protagonist `[Opening Action, e.g., cautiously pushing open a heavy door and sweeping their flashlight across the room]`. They freeze as they spot the entity. The camera `[Camera Action, e.g., slowly pushes in on the protagonist’s terrified face, then rack focuses to the entity in the background]`. The climax of the shot is when the entity `[Climactic Action, e.g., suddenly lunges towards the camera with impossible speed, its form distorting; raises a single, desiccated finger to its lips; vanishes and reappears directly behind the protagonist]`.
**6. Core VFX & Special Details:**
* **Primary VFX:** `[Describe the main visual effect for the ghost, e.g., Ethereal translucency with visible light passing through its form, a violent digital “data-moshing” and glitch effect on the ghost’s body, realistic ectoplasmic mist coiling and uncoiling from its feet]`.
* **Secondary VFX:** `[Describe other environmental effects, e.g., Lens distortion and chromatic aberration as the entity gets closer, breath crystallizing in the cold air, subtle warping of the background around the entity’s silhouette, film grain intensifies dramatically during the scare]`.
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### **Example Prompt: “The Glitching Nurse”**
This example follows the exact structure of the template above, filled in to create a specific, cinematic horror short scene.
**1. Core Concept & Logline:**
* **Prompt:** A young urban explorer exploring a long-abandoned psychiatric hospital has a terrifying, close-quarters encounter with the glitching, vengeful spirit of a 1950s nurse.
**2. Cinematic & Technical Specifications:**
* **Style:** Cinematic, hyperrealistic, horror short film.
* **Visual Fidelity:** 8K resolution, photorealistic textures, intricate detail, shot on a high-end cinema camera like an ARRI Alexa.
* **Lens & Framing:** Anamorphic lens creating subtle horizontal lens flares and a wide, cinematic aspect ratio. The shot is a slow, creeping dolly-in down a long hallway, transitioning to a frantic, shaky handheld shot for the final moment.
* **Lighting:** High-contrast chiaroscuro, with a single, powerful beam from the protagonist’s flashlight cutting through the oppressive darkness. The only other light is cold blue moonlight filtering through a large, grimy arched window at the end of the hall.
* **Color Grading:** Heavily desaturated with cold blues and sterile, institutional greys. Deep, crushing blacks in the shadows. A splash of faded, sickly yellow on the peeling walls.
* **Pacing:** Slow, deliberate, and tension-building, culminating in a sudden burst of frantic energy.
**3. Environment & Atmosphere:**
* **Location:** An interior shot of a derelict 1950s-era asylum ward.
* **Time of Day:** The dead of night, around 3 AM.
* **Set Dressing & Details:** The scene is filled with peeling, lead-based paint revealing layers of filth, an overturned and rust-stained gurney in the foreground, and medical charts scattered across the decaying linoleum floor. The air is thick with swirling dust motes visible in the flashlight beam.
* **Atmospheric Mood:** The atmosphere is oppressive, claustrophobic, and filled with a palpable sense of historical misery and malevolence.
**4. The Supernatural Entity (The Ghost):**
* **Appearance:** The ghost appears as a tall, slender nurse in a starched, but now tattered and stained, 1950s uniform and cap. Her form is glitching in and out of existence like a corrupted video file, with moments of sharp clarity followed by bursts of pixelated distortion.
* **Distinguishing Features:** The most terrifying feature is her face; it is mostly obscured by a “data-moshing” effect, but her eyes glow with a faint, phosphor-like malevolence from within the digital noise. Her movements are disjointed and unnatural, skipping frames like a lagging video.
* **Behavior & Kinesis:** The entity stands perfectly still at the far end of the hallway, partially obscured by shadow. As the protagonist gets closer, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling above her flicker violently and spark, responding to her presence. She doesn’t walk; she teleports short distances down the hall in a series of jarring, corrupted digital jumps.
**5. Protagonist & Narrative Action:**
* **Protagonist:** A female urban explorer in her early 20s, wearing a dark hoodie, cargo pants, and a powerful headlamp that is strapped to her forehead, supplementing the flashlight in her hand. Her face shows a clear progression from nervous excitement to pure, abject terror.
* **Sequence of Events:** The shot begins with the protagonist stepping into the long, dark hallway, sweeping her flashlight beam from side to side. Her light catches the figure at the far end, and she freezes. The camera slowly pushes in on her wide, terrified eyes, her breath catching in her throat. We rack focus to the nurse, whose form begins to glitch more violently. The climax of the shot is when the nurse, in a final, massive burst of digital corruption, lunges the entire length of the hallway in a single, distorted frame, screaming silently right into the camera lens.
**6. Core VFX & Special Details:**
* **Primary VFX:** A violent digital “data-moshing” and pixel-sorting glitch effect on the nurse’s body, which intensifies as she becomes more agitated. Her form should look like a corrupted piece of footage tearing the reality of the scene apart.
* **Secondary VFX:** Anamorphic lens flares from the flashlight. The protagonist’s breath crystallizing visibly in the cold air. The background behind the nurse subtly warps and bends as she moves. The film grain becomes extremely heavy and noisy during her final lunge towards the camera.