AI Video Prompt Examples #3: Ballad of a Dead Pixel
Music Video Case Study
In this series, I present the prompts that were used to create my music videos, which I exhibit internationally in various film festivals.
As I note in Some Brief Observations on AI Filmmaking, perhaps the most important prompts are the ones not used, because their failure to produce compelling moving imagery is essential for honing in on the ones that end up being the most usable.
Short Synopsis
A zombie apocalypse story in a voxel world.
Long Synopsis
The idea for the music track Ballad of a Dead Pixel emerged from an interest in the nostalgic evocations of chiptune synthesis — the use of emulated low bit depth audio for timbre generation — reminiscent of a bygone era of video gaming. The music video can just as well be called Ballad of an Undead Pixel, but I had already released the track long before developing the video premise.
The audiovisual composition draws parallels between the sonic palette and the visual realm of retro video games. The idea of a ‘dead pixel’ (also an undead pixel!) serves as a guiding metaphor, reflecting both the imperfections of digital displays and the transient, glitch-like nature of life itself.
In the music video, produced through generative AI, I expanded upon these themes by developing a world of voxels — three-dimensional pixels that pay homage to the nostalgic aesthetics of early video games. In a manner inspired by the iconic film Tron (1982), I imagined the microscopic pixel/voxel world of a video screen as a populated and personified environment, complete with cities, economies and politics.
A ‘dead pixel’ refers to the malfunctioning subunit of a display screen — a solitary blemish that disrupts the visual field. Within the context of the music video’s narrative, this concept manifests metaphorically as a society plagued by a cataclysmic viral outbreak and its abruptly violent solution. Imagining a voxel universe akin to a digital ecosystem, I envisioned a world teeming with both minimalist architectural beauty and visceral danger. This visual landscape served as the backdrop for the unfolding tale.
As the melody progresses, the narrative takes an unexpected turn — a sect of bioterrorists harnesses the potency of jungle viruses, initiating a wave of affliction that morphs unsuspecting urban dwellers into the undead. While the conventional depiction of zombie film action proved challenging within the confines of generative AI text-to-video technology, I found a suitable alternative approach. The video assumes a more atmospheric and abstract quality, focusing on the interplay of light and shadow, the rhythm of voxel shapes and colors, and nuanced shifts in mood.
Ballad of a Dead Pixel explores the fascination with technology’s past and its potential for shaping our future. By reimagining the video screen’s dense pixel grid as a voxel world, I sought to create a more immersive experience, inviting audiences to journey through abstract 3D spaces that mirror our own in both its rationalized orders and its discord. The result is a fusion of nostalgia, clash of political ideologies and aesthetic experimentation.
Prompts
Cinematic action first person view zoom into a voxel jungle path in the evening with colorful wildlife in chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art
Cinematic action first person view zoom into voxel jungle bushes in the evening with three mad scientists chasing speeding animals in chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art
Cinematic action voxel jungle in the evening closeup of villain scientist with goggles and face mask in chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art
Cinematic action of a voxel person walking through a crowded city street in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action first person view walking through a crowded city street of voxel people in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action tracking shot through a crowded city alley of voxel people, shops, market, food, animals in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action first person view zoom of a voxel jungle clearing with robot lab equipment and animals with medical equipment and technicians in white lab coats at night with colorful wildlife in chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art
Classic closeup of a voxel scientist in a voxel lab looking through a voxel microscope in a voxel world chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action closeup in a voxel jungle clearing of a chemistry lab table with chemistry equipment at night in chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art
Cinematic action flying closeup of floating voxel Covid viruses and spike proteins and voxel bacteria in chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art
Classic closeup of a voxel scientist in a voxel lab looking through a voxel microscope in a voxel world chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action aerial shot of voxel shipping containers daytime in the style of pixel art
Cinematic action aerial shot of voxel container ships daytime in the style of pixel art
Cinematic action medium shot through a crowded city alley of speeding walking voxel people, shops, market, food, animals in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action medium shot through a populated city alley of speeding walking voxel people, shops, market, food, animals in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action medium shot of a voxel family eating dinner at night in a restaurant in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action medium shot of a voxel family eating dinner at night in an outdoor restaurant in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Classic wide shot of voxel city buildings at night chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art.
Classic wide shot of voxel person in living room chair in front of television at night chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art.
Cinematic action of a voxel zombie in a window in the morning in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Medium shot cinematic action of voxel zombies inside a small elevator in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Medium shot cinematic action of voxel zombie city people walking down the street in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Medium shot cinematic action of voxel zombie city people walking down the street in a voxel world in the style of horror movie pixel art.
Medium shot cinematic action of voxel bloody city people walking down the bloody red rain street in a voxel world in the style of horror movie pixel art.
Medium shot cinematic action of giant floating bloody brain skull in a voxel world in the style of horror movie pixel art.
Closeup cinematic action of sleeping voxel person having a nightmare in the style of horror movie pixel art.
Aerial shot cinematic action of voxel city block bloody red rain street explosions yellow fires black smoke at night chiaroscuro lighting in a voxel world in the style of horror movie pixel art.
Classic medium shot of a voxel United States president in Washington D.C. news conference in a voxel world in the style of pixel art.
Classic aerial shot of a nuclear explosion in a city in a voxel world at night chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art.
Classic wide shot of fiery and smoky city ruins in a voxel world at night chiaroscuro lighting in the style of pixel art.
