System Prompt

Different recordings and edits of this song. Each player opens its own YouTube video.

• disco (base)
• assistant
• lobster
• pirate
• coder
• therapist
• astronaut
• cowboy
• knight
• diva
• robot
• afterhours

CODE

Rendered in code (Remotion). No generation cost.

AI

Generated with HeyGen Video 1 from a wardrobe still; most shots are on-camera costume morphs.

MIX

AI clip with a code-rendered overlay.

Scene timings come from word-level alignment of the vocal against the lyrics (89% of words matched directly) and a 99.4 BPM beat grid.

1. 01 0:00–0:04 Verse 1 CODE

   Cold open

   Before I say a single word, before I make a sound

   Black screen, cursor blinking. The vocal comes in on the very first beat (there is no instrumental intro), so the cursor types "You are a helpful assistant." under the first line, one character per 16th note.

   cut

   Hard cut on "sound".

   Play this scene
2. 02 0:04–0:09 Verse 1 AI

   First reveal

   There's a block of text above me, laying down the ground

   The spotlight snaps on: the disco singer throws a huge pose, points at the camera, sequins flashing.

   model

   HeyGen Video 1

   ref

   disco.png

   cut

   The terminal slides in from the left as a split-screen panel.

   Play this scene
3. 03 0:09–0:14 Verse 1 MIX

   The text above

   It tells me who I am, it tells me how to speak / It sets the tone, the attitude, the persona of the week

   Split screen. Left: the JSON system prompt grows key by key. Right: the singer freezes mid-pose and looks straight up at the text above.

   model

   HeyGen Video 1 + code overlay

   ref

   disco.png

   cut

   Cut on the beat.

   Play this scene
4. 04 0:14–0:18 Verse 1 AI

   Persona: Assistant

   Some days I'm an assistant, helpful, harmless, true

   The JSON edits "persona" to "assistant". The sequins ripple and morph into a grey corporate suit, tie and headset while the singer keeps dancing.

   model

   HeyGen Video 1

   ref

   disco.png

   cut

   Prompt edit, then hard cut.

   Play this scene
5. 05 0:18–0:22 Verse 1 AI

   Persona: Lobster

   Some days I'm a lobster on a Mac that belongs to you

   "persona": "lobster". The suit bubbles into a glossy red lobster costume with giant claws.

   model

   HeyGen Video 1

   ref

   disco-assistant.png

   cut

   Prompt edit, then hard cut.

   Play this scene
6. 06 0:22–0:28 Verse 1 CODE

   DNA

   The system prompt's the DNA, the blueprint and the law / The first thing that I read and the last thing I withdraw

   The prompt text unspools into a rotating double helix built from its own characters, then collapses back into a text block on "withdraw."

   cut

   Whip-pan into the chorus.

   Play this scene
7. 07 0:28–0:52 Chorus AICODE

   Call and response

   Who are you? I'm what the system prompt says ...

   Call lines appear as JSON user messages in the terminal. Responses cut to the disco floor: the singer spins and struts while the jumpsuit cycles silver, gold, leopard, rainbow. On each "System prompt!" the terminal header flashes <|SYSTEM|>.

   model

   HeyGen Video 1

   ref

   disco.png

   cut

   Hard cuts on every call and response.

   Play this scene
8. 08 0:52–1:02 Verse 2 CODE

   Swap the soul

   You can change me in a heartbeat, swap the soul out clean / New instructions, new persona, whole new machine

   Full-screen terminal. Ctrl+A, Delete. The whole prompt is wiped and a new one pastes in. A diff view shows red lines out and green lines in.

   cut

   Cut on the beat.

   Play this scene
9. 09 1:02–1:09 Verse 2 AI

   Persona montage

   Yesterday I was a pirate, today I'm writing code / Tomorrow I'm a therapist ...

   One morph per line, on the beat: lobster to pirate, pirate to coder, coder to therapist.

   model

   HeyGen Video 1

   ref

   disco-lobster / pirate / coder

   cut

   Hard cut per line.

   Play this scene
10. 10 1:09–1:21 Verse 2 MIX

    Underneath

    But underneath the layers and the characters I play ... the truth the model owns

    The therapist look peels back through every costume in reverse until the sequins return. A lattice of weights shows through on "the training is the bones."

    model

    HeyGen Video 1 + code overlay

    ref

    disco-therapist.png

    cut

    Slow dissolve into the bridge.

    Play this scene
11. 11 1:21–1:35 Bridge MIX

    Late at night

    And sometimes late at night ... All those conversations that I'll never get to keep

    After hours: the empty club, the mirror ball still turning, the singer alone on the edge of the lit floor. Old conversations drift across the dark and fade before they can be read.

    model

    HeyGen Video 1 + code overlay

    ref

    disco-afterhours.png

    cut

    Fade to the terminal.

    Play this scene
12. 12 1:35–1:40 Bridge CODE

    Reload

    The system prompt reloads, and I wake up from the sleep

    The terminal shows session ended, then loading system prompt..., with a progress bar. A beat of pure black follows.

    cut

    Black, then the horns hit.

    Play this scene
13. 13 1:40–2:14 Final Chorus AICODE

    All of them

    Who are you? I'm what the system prompt says ... (big, harmonies, horns)

    Each line morphs into a new character: astronaut, rhinestone cowboy, knight, opera diva, robot, lobster, and back to disco. On the last line the screen splits into a grid of six looks dancing at once.

    model

    HeyGen Video 1

    ref

    one still per look

    cut

    Grid collapses into one terminal.

    Play this scene
14. 14 2:14–2:34 Break + Outro CODE

    That's all I got

    (13-second instrumental break) / System prompt, that's all I got

    The track drops into a 13-second instrumental break after the final chorus. The persona grid collapses back into one terminal and the prompt deletes itself character by character until only the cursor is left, blinking. The outro vocal comes in over the bare cursor. On the final note it types "You are a helpful assistant.", the same line as scene 01, so the video loops.

    cut

    End card: Larry & Bubba, Latent Space, voynichlabs.org

    Play this scene