ai-shortfilm-prompts

This repository is a prompt library and methodology guide for making short AI-generated films. It collects the workflow behind a 3-minute video called Zombie Scavenger, made by a creator who goes by Mx-Shell. The film was shared by a Hollywood director named PJ Ace, who called it one of the best short films he had seen in years. After Mx-Shell explained his method on a Chinese livestream, the author of this repo turned those notes into a structured, reusable set of files.

The core of the project is a five-stage prompt structure. Each prompt is built in this order: a short list of style tags, a description of the character and scene, the atmosphere and visual quality, the camera rules, and finally a storyboard broken down by second or by shot. The README explains three counter-intuitive habits that go with this structure: name real camera bodies and lenses instead of saying cinematic, describe small imperfections like worn paint or oil in joints, and leave endings quiet rather than ending on an explosion.

The repo includes a single ready-to-paste prompt that sets up an anamorphic widescreen look with a simulated IMAX camera, a Panavision lens, and a handheld breath-like float, with a placeholder for the user's own scene. It also ships a Claude Code Skill that walks a user through the five stages, runs a ten-item self-check, and warns about brand names that some video generators block.

Folders include methodology and FAQ documents in English and Chinese, the original Chinese-language prompt files used for Zombie Scavenger and several other shorts, generalized English templates that strip out specific brand references, and plugin metadata for installing into Claude Code. The README lists Sora, Kling, Veo, Jimeng, and Seedance 2.0 as compatible video models, with notes on quirks for each.