A lot of folks commented about the Shotdeck short cut i shared in my Higgsfield comparison video, so I wanted to make a video specifically walking through that.

Looks like lots of folks got a lot out of this trick (using the Shotdeck film / TV / music video reference library and metadata to create GenAI prompts)!

One thing that folks have commented on though is that i only showed how i recreated shots from the originals, which is actually not how I usually use this technique! I was in such a rush when i made the video that i didn’t actually sit down and think to show what my actual process is when using Shotdeck for my own projects.

Recreating film scenes or replacing actors in movies that already exist is something a lot of people enjoy doing, but for me, the real value in this approach is really the ability to extract keywords and set ups to adjust them and apply it to my own ideas and stories. I think of it more like an homage!

I did the recreation for demo purposes to show how well the prompt style aligns with Shotdeck’s metadata – which aligns to an uncanny degree!

This is the original shot on Shotdeck:

This is the recreation I made in my demo:

Demo prompt:
Tags: sleuth, small apartment bathroom, looking directly up, redhead, big hair, adjusting her sunglasses, casual, light yellow t-shirt, curious, cinematic, sideways
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery 
Time Period: 2020s 
Frame Size: Wide Shot 
Type: Clean single, Directly Overhead
Composition: Center 
Lighting: Soft light, Top light 
Lighting Type: Daylight, Sunny 
Time of Day: Day
Interior/Exterior: Interior 
Set: Funeral Home > Bathroom 
Story Location: … Florida > Yulee 
Color: Balanced

Sample of an altered prompt using a character I made for my AI film “BREAKFAST”:

Adjusted Prompt (plus I added an image reference of my character):
Tags: small vintage bathroom, looking directly at up at camera, holding a rusty saw, curious, cinematic, standing sideways, brown wavy hair, plaid vintage dress, bathtub filled with rotten apples floating in black liquid, broken bathroom mirror, vintage sink
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery 
Time Period: 1950’s
Frame Size: Wide
Shot Type: Clean single, Directly Overhead camera
Composition: Center 
Lighting: Soft light, Top light 
Lighting Type: Daylight, Sunny 
Time of Day: Day
Interior/Exterior: Interior 
Set: Vintage farmhouse > Bathroom 
Story Location: … Kansas > vintage farmhouse
Color: Balanced

Video: