DEAD TIDE
They don't need to swim.
Make your first AI zombie trailer. Turn a rough idea into a shot plan, build consistent reference frames, animate each beat and finish the edit. This is an original imagined World War Z sequel unofficial AI fan concept, not official movie marketing. A 30-second Seedance concept teaser exists. Its shot plan and exact master prompt are below. The original nine-frame storyboard is a separate expanded 60-second story plan, not a completed film.
Watch / The 30-second concept teaser
The finished Seedance teaser follows the rig, lifeboat, sonar, seabed reveal, climb, hatch and title. The expanded nine-frame storyboard below explores a separate possible 60-second edit, with helicopter and bridge beats not shown in this teaser.
30-second teaser / Exact Seedance master prompt
Use this as a complete single-generation prompt if your model supports 30 seconds with native sound. Otherwise generate supported lengths and edit to the windows below. Preserve physical continuity and avoid existing movie footage.
Create a complete 30-second extraordinarily photorealistic live-action-looking horror teaser "DEAD TIDE", an unofficial fan concept inspired by World War Z. Physically grounded prestige disaster cinema, photographed not illustrated: plausible North Sea steel offshore rig, wet rust, real wave shapes and weight, motivated blue-hour lighting, believable human movement, cinematic 35mm and 50mm lenses, restrained camera, organic grain, muted slate-blue shadows and sodium amber practical lights. No glossy game-engine appearance, no cartoon CGI, no fantasy body tornado. No recognizable actors. One clear story: survivors moved to an offshore oil rig, sonar finds movement beneath them, underwater infected have walked across the seabed, then they climb its support structure. Maintain the SAME rig geometry and lifeboat across all shots. 0–5 seconds: Establishing aerial slow push toward isolated weathered offshore oil platform at blue hour, scattered amber cabin lights suggest human refuge, small orange lifeboat moored beside lower bracing, choppy realistic sea. Deep wind, restrained wave roar, rope creak. No music. 5–8 seconds: Water-level detail empty orange lifeboat gently but ominously strikes rusted piling, wet rope drags in current; soft hollow knock echoes through steel. 8–12 seconds: Cut to dim control cabin. Closeup gloved operator at practical green sonar display: multiple approaching returns gather around central platform marker, no generated labels necessary. One ping then another. Operator softly says in natural British voice 'There are too many.' Electrical room hum and reverb. 12–19 seconds: Slow continuous underwater camera move revealing vast group of waterlogged infected trudging along silty shallow seabed toward huge steel legs. Moving searchlight passes through black murk onto realistic clothed foreground humans, deeper layers disappear into shadow. Weighted slow underwater steps stir mud clouds, fabric floats naturally in current, physically plausible motion and anatomy. No gore. A different soft female radio voice says 'They don't need to swim.' Let this line land in ominous near silence. 19–25 seconds: Low wide exterior shot just above waterline of wet infected physically hauling themselves onto rig cross-braces, gripping rusted metal and climbing over each other in a growing human mass. Water sheets off clothing. A few lose grip and splash back. Slow camera tilt upward reveals amber refuge high above. Grounded practical-stunt weight, coherent limbs and real steel scale, no magical liquid flesh, no inexplicable levitation. Sound wet scraping, waves, metal groans; distant alarm begins. 25–28 seconds: Interior closeup of original adult engineer in orange waterproof jacket hearing a heavy THUMP against a lower maintenance hatch, shadows moving beyond its wired-glass window. He slowly turns toward it. No celebrity resemblance. Alarm and metallic reverberation. 28–30 seconds: Wide exterior of the rig isolated amid dark sea; lower support structure now crawling with figures, tiny amber lights above. Leave a haunting final beat. Overlay simple clean white title 'DEAD TIDE' with small subline 'UNOFFICIAL AI FAN CONCEPT'. Abrupt cut to silence at 30s. AUDIO ESSENTIAL: original diegetic atmospheric sound and specified two short radio lines only; no score, no epic trailer music, no extra narration. Wind, water, rope creak, lifeboat knock, sonar pings with realistic cabin echo, dampened underwater ambience, scraping wet fabric, steel strain, muffled alarm, final hatch impact. No explosions, no fire, no gunfire, no graphic injuries. Prioritize believable lighting, textured detail, suspense and smooth realistic movement. Original generated footage, never existing movie footage. 16:9 and exactly 30 seconds.
Teaser shot & sound plan
- 00–05 | Offshore refuge — Aerial slow push to the same isolated steel rig at blue hour, amber cabins and orange lifeboat; deep wind, waves, rope creak.
- 05–08 | Lifeboat knock — Waterline detail, empty orange boat hitting rusted piling; rope drag and hollow knock.
- 08–12 | Sonar — Dim control cabin, green display gains multiple returns; pings and operator: 'There are too many.'
- 12–19 | Seabed reveal — Continuous searchlight move across weighted infected walking toward steel legs; near-silence under female radio: 'They don't need to swim.'
- 19–25 | Rig climb — Low wide shows physically weighted infected grasping cross-braces, some splash back; scraping, waves, metal strain and distant alarm.
- 25–28 | Hatch — Orange-jacket engineer hears THUMP at maintenance hatch, turns toward shadows beyond wired glass; alarm reverberates.
- 28–30 | Rig / title — Wide rig above crawling supports, tiny amber lights; clean title 'DEAD TIDE' and 'UNOFFICIAL AI FAN CONCEPT', cut to silence.
Review the two spoken lines, plausible scale, lifeboat and rig continuity. If the model cannot make legible titles, add DEAD TIDE and the unofficial disclosure in the editor. No music in this 30-second plan: the environmental sound and final silence carry the suspense.
Expanded 60-second story plan / Nine frames
The following nine storyboard panels and final edit windows propose a longer, different story. They are not footage from the 30-second Seedance teaser; the helicopter and bridge are proposed beats only.
01 / Build the idea
Logline: On an offshore survivor oil rig in the North Sea, sonar detects infected moving along the seabed. When they reach the supports, an engineer must sever a bridge before the last helicopter leaves. The emotional arc is safety → disbelief → impossible scale → sacrifice → uneasy escape.
Choose three anchors before making any clips: a consistent rig silhouette, an original engineer in an orange reflective survival jacket, and a cold blue-grey storm palette punctuated by amber lamps and rust. Avoid celebrity likeness, graphic gore, official branding and in-model text. Create reference stills first. Write down approved wardrobe, rig geometry, light direction and recurring objects.
02 / Plan with ApexVeo
Break the idea into nine visual beats below. Each time range is a final edit window, not a promise that a model can generate that long a clip. Generate at the durations your model supports, then trim, extend with alternate angles or use held frames in the editor. Put this board and the reference frames beside your shot list. Prioritize readable camera movement and a single action per shot.
03 / Generate one shot at a time
Use the shared prefix with each complete shot instruction below; each prompt also works alone. First make a still frame for each shot and compare across the board. Then animate only approved frames. Keep your source clips and revisions named 01–09. Shot 09 needs clean space for titles added in the editor.
Aerial push
Wide aerial approach toward a vast offshore survivor oil rig alone in the stormy North Sea, tiny rescue craft clustered near the legs. Camera pushes slowly toward the glowing structure over slate water. Cold blue-grey clouds, amber work lights and salt spray; credible industrial architecture and immense distance. Match the same rig silhouette and weather in subsequent shots. No gore, no text, no existing film characters.
Waterline detail
A scuffed orange enclosed lifeboat bumps against one leg of the same offshore rig, visibly empty, rope dragging through dark water. Low waterline camera drifts beside it as waves slap the steel; dusk storm, cold blue-grey sea and a few amber rig lights reflected on wet surfaces. Keep the boat orange and the rig structure consistent. Quiet, ominous, non-graphic, no text.
Sonar closeup
Tight over-shoulder view of an original rig operator in a dim control room studying a sonar display as dense clusters of contacts appear beneath the offshore structure. Slow camera creep toward the screen; emerald sonar light grazes hands and console, amber warning lamps glow in the background. The contacts multiply but no legible generated words or numbers are required; add readable graphics in editing. Same storm outside. No gore.
Underwater searchlight wide
Immense underwater wide shot beneath the same oil rig: a searchlight from above reveals ranks of infected silhouettes walking steadily across the North Sea seabed toward its steel supports. Camera floats backward, revealing depth and scale; cold blue-grey murk, drifting silt, narrow pale beams, faint amber light high overhead. Human figures remain anonymous and non-graphic. Preserve rig geometry and direction of movement; no gore or text.
Closeup
Underwater close shot of one anonymous infected figure among many on the seabed slowly lifting its face toward distant lights on the rig. Camera holds still then inches closer; silt drifts across frame, cold blue-grey light shapes the face without wounds or graphic detail. Blurred crowd behind, realistic water pressure and suspended particles. Keep the same rig light direction and weather; no gore, no text, no celebrity likeness.
Epic wide
Epic wide exterior of the same offshore oil rig in violent North Sea spray as a vast living wave of anonymous infected silhouettes climbs its steel legs and supports toward the deck, rising together through the storm. Camera cranes back to reveal impossible scale, keeping the rig readable. Cold blue-grey rain, amber industrial lights, orange rust accents; non-graphic silhouettes only, no gore, no text.
Tense medium
Medium shot of the original orange-jacket offshore engineer wrenching a manual emergency release lever on a wet catwalk of the same rig, bracing against wind. Camera moves close with a slight handheld tension; amber hazard lights catch orange reflective strips against cold blue-grey storm. In the distance, anonymous silhouettes approach along steel. Keep engineer wardrobe and rig geography consistent. Non-graphic, no gore, no text.
Wide
Wide shot of a rescue helicopter lifting from the rig as the orange-jacket engineer and a handful of survivors escape; a mass of distant anonymous silhouettes surges near the helipad, below and behind. Camera tracks the helicopter upward into storm clouds. Cold blue-grey sky and spray, amber landing lights, believable rotor wash and steel structures matching earlier shots. Non-graphic, no gore, no text.
Title in the edit
Empty storm-dark North Sea horizon with the same offshore rig far away as a tiny amber silhouette, a subtle disturbance moving beneath the surface. Locked-off wide camera, cold blue-grey cloud and near-black water, restrained rust reflections, deep silence. Leave clean negative space in the center for an editor-added DEAD TIDE title and “They don't need to swim.” Do not ask the model to generate typography, no gore.
04 / Edit and finish
“We thought the water would keep us safe. Then we heard them beneath us. They don't need to swim.”
Optional original VO. Use wind and creaking steel for 0–12s; sonar pings and low underwater pulse for 12–32s; rising percussion and industrial impacts for 32–49s; helicopter rotor and a sharp breath for 49–55s; sudden silence and one distant ping under the title for 55–60s. Mix VO above effects. Add title cards, captions and the unofficial fan-concept disclosure in the editor, not the generation prompt. The existing 30-second Seedance teaser follows the separate seven-beat plan above; this nine-frame 60-second sequence is an expanded, unproduced story plan.
Continuity checklist
- Same rig silhouette and leg layout, orange lifeboat, orange-jacket engineer and storm?
- Blue-grey / amber balance, light direction and screen direction consistent?
- No changing props, extra limbs, celebrity likeness, gore, official marks or generated typography?
- Does the cut convey the story clearly without VO? If not, replace only the weak shot.
Make it yours
Replace the offshore rig with your sanctuary, seabed walkers with a hidden threat, orange-jacket engineer with an original protagonist, orange lifeboat with a recurring object and blue-grey / amber with your palette. Keep the nine beats: sanctuary → warning → evidence → reveal → recognition → escalation → human choice → escape → title. Frame first, animate one shot at a time, edit sound last.