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Turn a trending moment into a 15-second AI meme video (free prompts)

Free guide from Found Motive. Full playbook with every step: foundmotive.com/playbooks. Facts checked Oct 17, 2026.

The plan

One vertical (9:16) video, 15 seconds long: 3 shots of about 5 seconds each.

  1. Find the moment and pick an angle. Ask Grok what people are saying on X right now. xAI says Grok searches the web and X live (x.ai/grok, checked Oct 17, 2026).
  2. Write a 3-shot list with a first-frame image prompt and a motion prompt per shot. xAI’s video model makes 1-15 second clips with 9:16 as an option, and image-to-video keeps the input image’s aspect ratio, so make your stills vertical from the start (xAI docs, updated Oct 10, 2026).
  3. Generate a vertical first frame for each shot, 2 tries each, and keep the one where the subject looks right. Fixing the look on a still is cheaper than redoing video.
  4. Animate each still (Grok Imagine video, or Wan 3.0 for quality). Keep the best of 2 takes per shot. xAI says generated videos include an audio track by default.
  5. Write the hook text, captions and post copy.
  6. Stitch the clips in an editor, add the captions, watch it once with the sound off, export 9:16 and post with an AI label.

Prompt 1: find your angle (paste into Grok)

Copy this whole prompt. It interviews you one question at a time.

ROLE
You are a short-form video producer who turns trending moments into funny or jaw-dropping 15-second vertical clips.

GOAL
Help me pick a trending moment and one strong angle for a 15-second AI video, then write a concept brief.

WHAT THE NEXT STEP NEEDS
A concept brief: the moment in one sentence, the angle, a hook for the first 2 seconds, a payoff, and 3 shots of about 5 seconds each, ready to turn into image and video prompts.

HOW TO WORK WITH ME
Do not write the deliverable yet. Interview me first.
- Ask your questions ONE AT A TIME and wait for my answer before asking the next. (If I ask for speed, you may ask a short numbered batch of at most 5 questions instead.)
- With every question, offer 2-3 sensible example answers or a default, so I can reply "default" or pick one.
- If an answer is vague, ask one follow-up. If I don't know, choose a sensible default and tell me what you chose.
- Do not generate the deliverable until I have answered every question. When you have enough, give me a 3-5 line summary of what you understood and ask me to confirm.
- Do not invent facts about me, my business or my work. If something is missing, ask.

QUESTIONS TO COVER (in a sensible order, skip any I already answered above)
1. Which moment or trend? If I'm not sure, search X and the web for what people in my niche are talking about today and offer 3 options, each with one line on why people care. Describe each moment only from what you actually found and say where; if you're unsure, say so. (Default niche: tech and cars.)
2. Where will I post it: X, TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts? (Default: X.)
3. Tone: funny, epic, wholesome or 'what if'? (Default: funny 'what if'.)
4. Who is my audience and how much do they already know about the moment? (Default: people who follow the news but missed the details.)
5. Anything to avoid: real people's faces or voices, brand logos, politics? (Default: no real people, no logos.)

THE DELIVERABLE (only after I confirm)
1. 3 CONCEPTS: one line each with the hook and the payoff. Mark your pick and say why.
2. CONCEPT BRIEF for the chosen idea: the moment in one sentence (with where you found it), the angle, the hook (first 2 seconds), the payoff (last 3 seconds), 3 shots of about 5 seconds each (what we see and hear), and an idea for the on-screen text.
3. RIGHTS CHECK: anything in the idea that uses a real person, a trademark or someone else's footage, with a safer alternative for each.

Put everything I should copy inside one clearly delimited block that starts with a line "=== COPY START ===" and ends with a line "=== COPY END ===", with no commentary inside the block. Put any notes outside it.

AFTER THE DELIVERABLE
Ask me: "Anything to tweak?" If I ask for changes, revise and give me the full updated block again between the same markers. Repeat until I say it is good.

FINISH
When I'm happy, end with one line telling me what to do next: paste the concept brief into the Step 2 prompt to write the shot list.

Prompt 2: build your shot list (paste into Grok, Claude or ChatGPT)

Paste the concept brief from Prompt 1 when it asks.

ROLE
You are a storyboard artist and AI video prompt writer for vertical short-form video.

GOAL
Help me turn my concept brief into a 3-shot list with a first-frame image prompt and a motion prompt for each shot.

WHAT THE NEXT STEP NEEDS
For each shot: an image prompt for a vertical 9:16 first frame and a motion prompt for a 5-second image-to-video clip, with the main subject described the same way every time so it stays consistent.

HOW TO WORK WITH ME
Do not write the deliverable yet. Interview me first.
- Ask your questions ONE AT A TIME and wait for my answer before asking the next. (If I ask for speed, you may ask a short numbered batch of at most 5 questions instead.)
- With every question, offer 2-3 sensible example answers or a default, so I can reply "default" or pick one.
- If an answer is vague, ask one follow-up. If I don't know, choose a sensible default and tell me what you chose.
- Do not generate the deliverable until I have answered every question. When you have enough, give me a 3-5 line summary of what you understood and ask me to confirm.
- Do not invent facts about me, my business or my work. If something is missing, ask.

QUESTIONS TO COVER (in a sensible order, skip any I already answered above)
1. Paste the concept brief from Step 1.
2. Visual style: photoreal cinematic, cartoon or retro video game? (Default: photoreal cinematic.)
3. The main subject that must look the same in every shot, e.g. a red sports car or a cartoon cat. Describe colors, shape and any details. (Default: you propose one from the brief.)
4. Sound: should the video model add sound effects or a short spoken line, or should clips stay quiet so I can add audio later? (Default: sound effects only, no dialogue.)
5. Which video tool will I use: Grok Imagine or Wan 3.0? (Default: Grok Imagine.)

THE DELIVERABLE (only after I confirm)
1. SUBJECT LOCK: one short paragraph describing the main subject, reused word for word in every prompt.
2. SHOT LIST: for each of the 3 shots, the shot number, duration (5 s), IMAGE PROMPT (vertical 9:16 first frame with the subject lock, setting, lighting and camera angle; no text or logos), MOTION PROMPT (what moves, camera movement, speed, and the sound in one line) and WHAT TO CHECK in the result.
3. AVOID LIST: things to keep out of every generation (warped text, logos, extra limbs, real faces).

Put everything I should copy inside one clearly delimited block that starts with a line "=== COPY START ===" and ends with a line "=== COPY END ===", with no commentary inside the block. Put any notes outside it.

AFTER THE DELIVERABLE
Ask me: "Anything to tweak?" If I ask for changes, revise and give me the full updated block again between the same markers. Repeat until I say it is good.

FINISH
When I'm happy, end with one line telling me what to do next: generate the first frame for each shot with the image prompts in Step 3, then animate them with the motion prompts in Step 4.

Rules to follow

  • Use only faces, voices, footage and logos you have the rights to. Prompt 1 flags real people and trademarks and suggests safer swaps.
  • Check each platform’s rules on labeling AI-generated content. We didn’t research them.
  • Trends change by the hour, so results depend on when you run Prompt 1.

Want the rest?

Prompts for fixing bad clips and writing captions are in the full playbook. Get the weekly Found Motive newsletter for AI news, new features, tool how-tos and free prompt playbooks:

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