About Prompt
- Prompt Type – Dynamic
- Prompt Platform – ChatGPT, Grok, Deepseek, Gemini, Copilot, Midjourney, Meta AI and more
- Niche – Time Travel / Sci-Fi
- Language – English
- Category – Short Film / Storytelling
- Prompt Title – Sora Time Travel Adventure Prompt for Sci-Fi Shorts
Prompt Details
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### **Optimized AI Prompt Template: Sora Time Travel Adventure**
This template is structured to provide the AI with a clear, hierarchical understanding of your vision, moving from the general to the specific. This method, often called “top-down prompting,” helps ensure stylistic consistency across multiple generated clips that will form your short film.
**Instructions for Use:**
Fill in the bracketed `[sections]` with your specific ideas. Be as descriptive and evocative as possible. The more sensory details you provide (sights, implied sounds, textures, light), the better the AI can interpret and render your scene.
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#### **[PROMPT TITLE: A brief, evocative name for your story, e.g., “The Echo of Chronos,” “Paradox Run”]**
**[LOGLINE / CORE CONCEPT]:** A one or two-sentence summary of the entire short film. This acts as the guiding star for the AI, establishing the central conflict and theme from the outset.
* *Example: A disillusioned temporal agent from a sterile utopia must hunt down a “living paradox” through the neon-drenched streets of 1980s Tokyo, only to discover the anomaly is a beautiful, chaotic part of his own forgotten history.*
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### **Part 1: Global Directives & Style Guide**
*This section defines the unchanging visual and atmospheric DNA of your entire film.*
* **Overall Visual Style:** `[Describe the overarching aesthetic. Is it gritty retrofuturism, sleek high-tech minimalism, biopunk, or solar-punk? Mention specific artistic influences if applicable, e.g., “inspired by the cinematography of Blade Runner 2049 and the production design of Arrival.”]`
* **Cinematography:** `[Specify camera work. e.g., “Shot on 35mm film, anamorphic lenses creating cinematic lens flares and a wide aspect ratio. A mix of smooth, gliding steadicam shots and tense, handheld close-ups. Shallow depth of field to isolate characters.”]`
* **Color Palette:** `[Define the dominant colors and their meaning. e.g., “A bifurcated palette: the future is dominated by sterile whites, cool blues, and metallic silvers. The past is a vibrant explosion of saturated cyberpunk neons—magenta, cyan, and electric yellow. Scenes of temporal distortion should feature chromatic aberration and light leaks.”]`
* **Lighting Style:** `[Describe the quality of light. e.g., “High-contrast, dramatic lighting. The future uses soft, diffused light from unseen sources. The past is lit by rain-slicked streets reflecting neon signs and harsh, flickering fluorescent lights.”]`
* **Pacing & Mood:** `[Describe the emotional tone and rhythm. e.g., “Tense, mysterious, and ultimately wondrous. The pacing starts slow and methodical, accelerating into a frantic chase, and concluding on a moment of poignant reflection.”]`
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### **Part 2: Character & Object Dossier**
*This section provides consistent reference points for key recurring elements.*
* **Protagonist: [Character Name]**
* **Appearance:** `[Detailed description: age, ethnicity, facial features, hairstyle, any distinguishing marks like scars or cybernetics.]`
* **Attire:** `[Describe their costume in detail. Mention textures and materials. e.g., “A form-fitting, matte-grey temporal suit with faint, glowing cerulean circuitry. The material is a seamless, synthetic polymer that subtly ripples with movement.”]`
* **Demeanor:** `[How do they carry themselves? e.g., “Precise, world-weary, and emotionally reserved, moving with an efficient, almost robotic grace.”]`
* **Key Object: [Object Name]**
* **Description:** `[Describe the crucial piece of technology. e.g., “The ‘Weaver’—a handheld temporal device made of polished obsidian and brass. When active, it projects a shimmering, complex hologram of timeline threads. It hums with a low, bassy thrum.”]`
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### **Part 3: Scene-by-Scene Narrative Breakdown**
*This is the core of the dynamic prompt. Each scene is a separate but connected instruction, building the story shot by shot. Use clear action verbs and sensory details.*
**Scene 1: The Anomaly**
* **Setting:** `[A pristine, minimalist Time Variance Control Center in the year 2342. Vast, white walls, holographic data streams floating in the air, a single obsidian desk in the center.]`
* **Shot 1 (Wide Shot):** The Time Variance Control Center is calm and sterile. The protagonist, `[Character Name]`, stands alone, observing a massive, serene holographic projection of the timeline. The camera slowly pushes in on him.
* **Shot 2 (Extreme Close-Up):** A sudden, violent jolt of red light flashes across `[Character Name]`’s face. His eyes widen in alarm. In the reflection of his eye, we see the serene timeline hologram violently glitch and fracture.
* **Shot 3 (Medium Shot):** `[Character Name]` frantically manipulates his ‘Weaver’ device. The hologram it projects sputters chaotically. He slams his hand on the obsidian desk, grabbing a small temporal beacon before sprinting out of frame.
**Scene 2: The Jump**
* **Setting:** `[A temporal displacement chamber. A circular room of concentric, spinning rings of light and metal.]`
* **Shot 1 (Tracking Shot):** `[Character Name]` runs down a stark white corridor. The camera tracks with him, emphasizing his urgency. The only sound is the frantic padding of his boots.
* **Shot 2 (Low Angle Shot):** He leaps onto the central platform of the displacement chamber. The massive rings around him accelerate to a blinding speed, casting shifting, dramatic shadows across his determined face.
* **Shot 3 (Point-of-View Shot):** From `[Character Name]`’s POV, the world dissolves into a vortex of stretched light and color. A blur of historical epochs flashes by in milliseconds.
**Scene 3: The Arrival**
* **Setting:** `[A grimy, rain-soaked alley in 1980s Neo-Kyoto. Puddles reflect towering neon signs written in Japanese. Steam rises from sewer grates.]`
* **Shot 1 (Static Shot):** The alley is empty. Suddenly, reality shimmers and distorts. `[Character Name]` materializes, collapsing to his knees on the wet asphalt. His sleek suit is shockingly out of place against the urban decay.
* **Shot 2 (Close-Up):** He looks at his ‘Weaver’ device. The holographic threads it shows are now tangled around a single, pulsing red anomaly located nearby. He looks up, his breath fogging in the cold air, a look of grim resolve on his face.
* **Shot 3 (Wide Shot): A final shot of him standing up, a solitary, futuristic figure silhouetted against the vibrant, chaotic, and unfamiliar backdrop of the past as he begins his hunt.**
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### **Example Prompt: “The Chronos Glitch”**
**[LOGLINE / CORE CONCEPT]:** A meticulous Temporal Archivist accidentally unleashes a chaotic, organic anomaly from a forgotten historical era into his sterile, hyper-modern city, forcing him to chase it before it unravels reality.
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### **Part 1: Global Directives & Style Guide**
* **Overall Visual Style:** Sleek, minimalist futurism clashing violently with uncontrolled, biopunk chaos. Inspired by the clean aesthetics of the film *Gattaca* being “infected” by the vibrant, organic decay seen in the game *The Last of Us*.
* **Cinematography:** Shot with a high-definition digital camera like an Arri Alexa, using sharp, precise anamorphic lenses. The future scenes use locked-down, symmetrical tripod shots. The chase scenes use dynamic, low-angle tracking shots that emphasize speed and disorientation.
* **Color Palette:** The future city of Aethel is defined by monochromatic whites, greys, and soft blues. The “Chronos Glitch” anomaly introduces shocking, forbidden colors: deep forest greens, rusty oranges, and vibrant floral pinks.
* **Lighting Style:** Aethel is illuminated by shadowless, ambient glow panels. The anomaly emits its own pulsating, warm, golden-hour light, creating dramatic, long shadows wherever it goes.
* **Pacing & Mood:** Begins with a serene, almost meditative calm, which is then shattered by panicked urgency. The mood is one of awe and terror, as the protagonist is both horrified and mesmerized by the beautiful chaos he has unleashed.
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### **Part 2: Character & Object Dossier**
* **Protagonist: Kael**
* **Appearance:** A man in his late 20s, with sharp, intelligent features, pale skin, and neatly slicked-back dark hair. His expression is one of perpetual concentration.
* **Attire:** A seamless, high-collared white uniform made of a smart fabric that repels all dirt. The only color is a small, silver emblem of the Chronos Archive on his chest.
* **Demeanor:** Moves with quiet precision. He is clearly uncomfortable with mess and unpredictability.
* **Key Object: The Chrono-Locus Device**
* **Description:** A transparent crystalline prism held in a silver gimbal. When inactive, it is perfectly clear. When active, it contains a swirling, miniature galaxy of captured temporal moments.
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### **Part 3: Scene-by-Scene Narrative Breakdown**
**Scene 1: The Archive**
* **Setting:** The Grand Archive of Aethel. A cavernous, silent, white chamber where moments from history are stored as shimmering, stable light spheres on pedestals.
* **Shot 1 (Wide Shot):** Kael walks methodically through the Archive. The camera glides alongside him. He gently touches a sphere showing a Roman Centurion, frozen in time.
* **Shot 2 (Close-Up):** He approaches a new acquisition: a sphere containing a moment from the “Pre-Collapse Era.” Inside, a patch of overgrown, wild forest floor is visible. He activates his Chrono-Locus to scan it.
* **Shot 3 (Extreme Close-Up on the Sphere):** As the scanner passes over it, a single, glowing golden spore within the sphere pulses with light and unexpectedly phases *through* the sphere’s containment field.
* **Shot 4 (Medium Shot):** The golden spore drifts lazily in the air for a second before landing on the pristine white floor. Instantly, vibrant green moss and tiny, glowing mushrooms erupt from the point of contact, spreading with impossible speed. Kael stumbles back in shock and horror.
**Scene 2: The Contamination**
* **Setting:** The central plaza of the city of Aethel, a vast expanse of polished white marble under an artificial sky.
* **Shot 1 (Low Angle Tracking Shot):** The “Glitch”—now a rolling wave of impossible flora, rusty metal vines, and colorful fungus—pours out of the Archive’s doors and into the plaza. Citizens in white uniforms scream and scatter in panic.
* **Shot 2 (Wide Shot):** Kael sprints after the Glitch. The camera is positioned high above, showing the stark, beautiful contrast of the organic chaos spreading like a vibrant ink stain across the sterile white city.
* **Shot 3 (Close-Up):** A huge, impossible flower with bioluminescent petals blooms from the side of a minimalist building, shattering its perfect facade. Kael stops and stares for a half-second, a flicker of awe mixed with his panic.
**Scene 3: The Resolution**
* **Setting:** At the edge of the city, overlooking a vast, grey expanse. The Glitch has reached the city’s perimeter.
* **Shot 1 (Medium Shot):** Kael finally corners the core of the Glitch. It has coalesced into a small, pulsating tree of light and rust, humming with life. He raises his Chrono-Locus, which is glowing intensely, ready to erase it.
* **Shot 2 (Extreme Close-Up):** An extreme close-up on Kael’s face. He is breathing heavily. His perfect uniform is now smudged with dirt and pollen. A single tear traces a path down his cheek. He sees the raw, untamed beauty in the chaos.
* **Shot 3 (Final Wide Shot):** Kael slowly lowers the device. He watches as the Glitch-tree sends a single, glowing root over the edge of the city and into the grey nothingness beyond. On the sterile ground, a single blade of green grass begins to grow. The shot holds as Kael watches, no longer an archivist, but a witness.