Glenn Williams
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Field note

Wrong Flute

A wizard looking for love.

Prompts

Image prompt
{
  "prompt": "An absurd eccentric wizard strolling down the main street of a small fantasy village. This is a fresh wizard design, whimsical and ridiculous rather than grand - short and stocky with a barrel chest and stumpy legs, walking with a bow-legged waddle, arms swinging wide. He has a broad flat face with a wide toothy grin, an enormous walrus-like grey moustache that droops well past his chin, big round rosy cheeks, tiny beady eyes crinkled with cheer, and one raised bushy eyebrow permanently arched. He is bald with a single long silver ponytail sprouting from the crown of his head, and wears a squat wide-brimmed hat that sits flat on his skull like a mushroom cap. His robe is a loud patchwork of clashing plaid and polka-dot fabrics, cinched with a rope belt hung with clanking ladles, keys, and vials. He carries a comically short crooked staff no taller than his knee, tapping it as he walks, and wears enormous floppy boots several sizes too big. He nods and grins at villagers as he passes. The village street is charming and lived-in - crooked timber-framed cottages with thatched roofs, hanging shop signs, a bakery, a well in the square, market stalls with fruit and cloth, villagers going about their business, chickens underfoot, cobblestones, flower boxes in the windows. Warm morning sunlight, soft long shadows. The whole scene is whimsical, cozy, and comedic, a jolly absurd wizard waddling through his village. Hyperrealistic fantasy photography, whimsical character detail, charming village street, warm morning light, 8K cinematic render."
}
Video prompt
Mode: Image-to-video using the attached reference image(s) for character, environment, and ART STYLE. Match the reference's painterly hand-illustrated look in EVERY shot.
MULTI-SHOT edit. HARD CUTS between shots, no crossfades. Deadpan comedy: a wizard plays a magic flute hoping to charm a beautiful tavern woman, and summons a swarm of street cats instead.
Create a 15-second comedy. A wizard strolls a fantasy village, spots a lovely woman working at a tavern, plays a magical flute to charm her, and instead attracts a horde of cats.
Use the attached reference image(s) for identity. Keep the wizard consistent across EVERY shot: a short round wizard with a huge white handlebar mustache, thick eyebrows, a rosy nose, a wide flat feathered hat, a patchwork multicolored robe hung with keys, spoons, and vials, and big swirled boots, walking with a crooked staff down a cobblestone fantasy village street.
SHOT LIST:
Shot 1 (0:00-0:03) WIDE
The wizard strolls jauntily down the colorful village street, staff tapping the cobblestones, humming to himself, market stalls and crooked houses around him. CUT.
Shot 2 (0:03-0:06) MEDIUM
He stops short. Across the street, a beautiful woman works at a tavern doorway, wiping a mug. The wizard's eyes go wide, his mustache lifting as he grins, instantly smitten. CUT.
Shot 3 (0:06-0:09) MEDIUM
With a flourish, he pulls a small ornate magical flute from his robe, raises it to his lips with a confident waggle of his eyebrows, and begins to play, glowing musical notes swirling out of it. CUT.
Shot 4 (0:09-0:11) MEDIUM, the woman
The woman glances over, entirely unmoved, and goes right back to wiping her mug, ignoring him completely. CUT.
Shot 5 (0:11-0:13) WIDE
Behind him, dozens of scruffy street cats come pouring out of alleys, windows, and barrels, streaming toward the wizard, drawn by the enchanted flute. CUT.
Shot 6 (0:13-0:15) MEDIUM
The wizard is engulfed by a swarm of purring cats winding around his legs and clambering up his robe. He lowers the flute, deadpan and defeated, as the woman walks away unimpressed. Hold.
Audio:
Whimsical village music with bustling market ambience, tapping staff, chickens clucking. A charming magical flute melody with a sparkling shimmer as he plays. Then a rising tide of meowing and purring as cats swarm in, the flute melody faltering into a flat comedic sting. No dialogue. No subtitles.
Style:
Bold painterly illustration matching the reference in EVERY shot, thick visible brushwork, hand-painted storybook look, rich saturated fantasy village palette, expressive cartoon faces, deadpan comedic tone, film-quality animation.
Negative Prompt:
style change between shots, anime, 3D render, CGI, photorealism, scary mood, gore, second wizard, duplicate wizard, changed colors, missing mustache, missing hat, deformed face, deformed hands, blurry face, crossfades, dissolves, smooth transitions, gibberish signs, on-screen text, subtitles

The process

Having the woman remain in the doorway until the end was the most challenging.

staging
All field notes Imitation →