Zombie Love Story Reels Editing

[Generation Goal] 25 seconds · aspect ratio 9:16 · 720P · photoreal cinematic short in two scenes joined by one hard match cut on action at 10.0s. SCENE 1 (0–10s), the present: in an abandoned house during a zombie apocalypse, a weeping survivor aims a pistol at the person they loved, now turned; the survivor cannot shoot, drops the gun and opens their arms — the turned one sprints and leaps at the survivor at full speed. At the exact instant of contact the film cuts. SCENE 2 (10–25s), the memory: the same leap at the same speed, the same pose, the same screen direction — but the leaping one is alive and laughing in a golden mountain meadow, and the two fall together into the tall grass in joy. Cold, shaking and hard in the first scene; warm and soft in the second. Captured, not rendered.

[REFERENCES — only two images, each person appears in two states]

@image1 = THE SURVIVOR. Identity locked 1:1: face, eyes, hair, facial hair if any, skin tone, age, body build. If one panel of the reference hides or blurs the face, take the face from the clearest panel and never copy the blur or the covering. Any sunglasses or eyewear in the reference are removed — the eyes are always visible.

@image2 = THE TURNED ONE. Identity locked 1:1 in the same way: face, eyes, hair, skin tone, age, body build; face taken from the clearest panel; any eyewear removed.

The wardrobe of each person is taken exactly from their own reference image in SCENE 2, and transformed as described below in SCENE 1. Everything else — locations, props, light — is defined by this text.

[WARDROBE TRANSFORMATION]

SURVIVOR · SCENE 1: the reference outfit is gone, replaced by apocalypse survival gear — a filthy olive waxed-canvas hooded smock-poncho with wide cape-like shoulders and a high funnel neck, a black webbing harness with metal buckles and a diagonal chest strap, a small olive canvas chest pouch, a black long-sleeve undershirt with holes at the forearms, dark cargo trousers mud-caked at the knees, muddy black lace-up boots. If the reference shows a wristwatch or bracelet, it stays on the same wrist, dusty and scratched. Face smeared with grime, a healed pale scar across one cheek, hair unwashed and dusty, tears cutting clean lines through the dirt.

TURNED ONE · SCENE 1: exactly their own reference outfit, but ruined — torn at the seams and shoulders, ripped at the hems, stained with mud and grey dust, barefoot with dirty feet. Realistic practical prosthetic zombie makeup that never changes the face's bone structure — pallid skin with grey-green mottled patches across the cheeks and neck, cloudy milk-white eyes, cracked grey lips, matted hair; still clearly recognisable as the same person. Their most distinctive small accessory from the reference — a necklace, earrings, a watch, a bracelet or a ring — survives intact and clean.

BOTH · SCENE 2: exactly their own reference outfits, clean and pressed, faces clean and rested, no scar, no makeup effects; the turned one is barefoot in the grass; the surviving accessory is worn again and catches the sun.

[SCENE 1 · 0–10s · THE PRESENT]

LOOK: overcast grey daylight through a dirty side window, cold blue-grey-green palette, hard contrast, chiaroscuro on faces, dust floating in the window light; an abandoned kitchen — peeling wallpaper, broken cabinet doors, a toppled chair, grime everywhere, a clear stretch of floor between the two. Shallow depth of field, handheld realism, fine film grain. Real-time speed throughout — no slow motion.

SHOT 1 [0–2s] Close-up of the survivor, handheld with a faint tremor, aiming a pistol straight ahead with both hands; the muzzle a soft blur in the foreground, the face sharp. Tears run down the dirty cheeks past the scar, jaw shaking, eyes full of unbearable pain.

SHOT 2 [2–3.5s] Over the survivor's poncho-covered shoulder, a slow tense push-in toward the turned one standing in the half-dark across the kitchen, ruined clothes, head tilted, the window light catching the surviving accessory.

SHOT 3 [3.5–4.5s] Extreme close-up on the turned one's face, a sharp aggressive push-in: discoloured teeth bared in a snarl, blank white eyes, a low rattling growl.

SHOT 4 [4.5–8s] Back on the survivor; the camera pulls back into a medium shot. Weeping, the survivor lowers the pistol, lets it drop to the floor, then slowly raises and opens both arms wide — the wide shoulders of the poncho spreading like wings, the harness straps pulling taut across the chest — eyes open, fixed on the turned one, surrendering.

SHOT 5 [8–10s] THE LEAP — a locked side-on medium-wide shot at chest height, real-time speed: the survivor stands on the right third of the frame facing left, arms wide open. The turned one explodes into a sprint from the left side of the frame, bare feet slapping the dirty floor, crosses the kitchen in a second and launches at the survivor, arms reaching forward, hair whipping back — fast, violent, no slow motion. At 10.0s — the exact instant the reaching hands touch the survivor's shoulders — CUT.

[MATCH CUT on action at 10.0s — a fast hard cut, no dissolve, no flash, no speed change. The composition is continuous across the cut: same side-on medium-wide framing, same chest-height camera, the survivor on the right third facing left with arms wide, the leaping one arriving into the survivor's arms from the left at the same point of the leap and at the same full speed. Only the world, the light, the clothes and the faces change.]

[SCENE 2 · 10–25s · THE MEMORY]

LOOK: golden hour in a high mountain meadow: tall seed-headed grass glowing gold, wildflowers, snow-streaked peaks in soft haze, a warm low sun. Maximum warmth — amber, honey, peach and rose; soft backlight creating golden halos in the hair and around the shoulders; natural lens flares; deeper focus showing both people and the landscape. Steadicam-smooth.

SHOT 6 [10–12s] The leap lands at full speed: alive, clean, laughing, the turned one crashes into the survivor's open arms; the survivor catches them, the momentum knocks them both backward, and they tumble together into the tall golden grass, seed heads and petals bursting into the sunlit air, both laughing. As they settle in the grass the motion eases into gentle slow motion.

SHOT 7 [12–16s] Close on the two lying in the grass: the survivor on their back, smiling up; the other above, laughing, hair falling around the face, gently stroking the survivor's cheek; the camera makes a slow arc around them, sun flares sweeping across the lens; slight slow motion.

SHOT 8 [16–19s] Following Steadicam from behind at waist height through the tall grass: hand in hand they run, laughing, toward the mountains, grass heads brushing past the lens, clothes moving in the wind; slight slow motion.

SHOT 9 [19–22s] Medium shot from behind on the crest of a small hill: they sit close, one head resting on the other's shoulder; a slow pan to the right reveals the survivor's profile, kissing the top of the other's head, eyes closed; the accessory glints in the sun.

SHOT 10 [22–25s] Wide shot: a very slow pull-back as the two become small silhouettes on the hilltop against a vast pink and gold sunset over the peaks. Complete stillness and peace. The final second holds steady for a fade-out in the edit.

[CONSISTENCY] The same two faces from @image1 and @image2 throughout the whole film, only their states change. Scene 1: survivor in the survival gear, turned one in their own ruined outfit with makeup. Scene 2: both in their own clean reference outfits. No eyewear at any point. The turned one's accessory visible in shots 2, 3, 7 and 9. The leap's framing, screen direction and full real-time speed identical on both sides of the cut. Exactly one cut between the scenes, at 10.0s, on the moment of contact.

[AUDIO] No music, no subtitles. Scene 1, diegetic only: ragged breathing and stifled sobs, a floorboard creaking, wind through a broken window, a low wet growl, the dull thud of the pistol hitting the floor, the rustle of waxed canvas as the arms open, the fast slap of bare feet sprinting, a shriek as the turned one leaps. At the 10.0s cut the shriek turns instantly into a burst of laughter — the same voice, alive. Scene 2, soft and airy: the thump and rustle of two bodies falling into tall grass, shared laughter, breathing as they run, birdsong, a distant cattle bell down the valley, crickets as the sun sets, then the wind alone.

NEGATIVE CONSTRAINTS
No slow motion in scene 1 or across the cut. No bite, no attack landing, no gunshot, no gore, no blood, no violence on screen — the cut happens at first touch. No CGI zombie look, no rubber mask, no altered bone structure.

No survival gear, dirt, scar, makeup or weapon in scene 2; no clean clothes or clean skin in scene 1. No change of screen direction or camera angle at the cut. No sunglasses or glasses. No blurred or covered faces copied from the reference sheets. No third person. No dissolve or flash at the scene change. No text, subtitles, watermarks. No music (added in edit). No dialogue.