THE PROMPT FROM THE REEL / 010

YOUR
FAMILY IN
THE STARS.

Every person is a line of light. The ones we lose become stars. This is how I made the video, so you can make one with your own family.

Get the prompt

Free · For Claude Code · Stops for your approval twice

EVERY PERSON
A LINE
EVERY GOODBYE
A STAR
1:56ONE LIFE.
MADE WITH CODE.

A QUICK INTRODUCTION

WHAT’S
THIS?

Visor, a small pixel robot, smiling

This is the prompt behind the family constellation reel. Paste it into Claude Code, tell it who is in your story, and it makes the video for you.

Each person is a glowing line climbing the sky with your age. Friends cross your path and go. Family stays. The ones you lose rise and become stars, and at the end the stars join into a constellation. No editing app: the whole video is drawn by code, frame by frame, so you can change a name or an age and render it again.

BEFORE YOU START

WHAT
YOU NEED.

  • Claude Code

    Where you paste the prompt. It writes the video and renders it for you.

  • Node

    Runs HyperFrames, the free tool that turns the page into an MP4.

  • ffmpeg

    Encodes the video and checks the length.

Missing one? The prompt checks first and asks before it installs anything.

THE PROMPT

COPY IT.
PASTE IT.

FOR CLAUDE CODE
Build me a Claude Code skill called "life-constellation" that makes a vertical video of a whole life told as lines of light: every person is a glowing line climbing a starry sky with my age, people join and leave, the ones who die rise and become stars, and at the end the stars join into a constellation. Work in phases and stop for my approval where I say so.

SETUP
- Check that I have Node and ffmpeg. Install only what's missing, and tell me first.
- Make the video with HyperFrames (npx hyperframes init <folder>): it renders an HTML page to MP4 frame by frame. 1080x1920, 30 fps.

1. THE CAST (stop for my approval)
- Ask me who is in my story and in which language the names should be. If I don't want to use real people, use this default cast: Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Me, Kindergarten friend, Grade school friend, Childhood friend, Middle school friend, First love, High school friend, College friend, Coworker, Wife, Son.
- For each person: the name shown on screen, a colour, and what happens to them:
  - FAMILY: already there before I'm born.
  - JOINS: arrives at age X and stays (partner, child, best friend).
  - CROSSES: passes through at age X and is gone a second later (school friends, a coworker).
  - LEAVES: moves away at age X (the line bends off the side of the screen).
  - BECOMES A STAR: dies at age X.
- Show me a table (name, colour, from age, to age, what happens) and wait for "ok".

2. THE CLOCK
- The camera follows my age. Map video time to age: about 2 s before I'm born up to age 85 in 116 s. Slow at the start, faster through the quiet middle years, slower again near the end.
- Keep it as a table of ages every 0.1 s, so every event can be placed on an exact second.

3. THE SKY (everything in one canvas)
- Every frame is a pure function of time: no timers, no requestAnimationFrame, no unseeded random. Listen to HyperFrames' "hf-seek" event and draw the frame for that time.
- Background: deep navy gradient, a few soft purple nebula clouds, about 500 small stars from a seeded random.
- A "now" line at 52% of the height. An age axis on the left: a tick every 5 years, the current age in yellow, the word "age" top left.
- 80 px = 1 year. Each person is a path in (age, x) space, drawn at y = nowY + (currentAge - age) x 80, so their past scrolls down under them. Fade the lines out in the bottom 25% of the screen.
- Draw each line in 3 passes (a wide faint glow, a medium glow, a bright 3 px core) in the person's colour. The head is a white glowing dot with the name just above it. If two names would touch, slide the second one sideways (small overlap) or move it a line out (big overlap), so no name ever sits on another.
- Family drifts in soft S-curves between keyframes, plus a tiny sine wobble so it looks alive. People who cross are straight diagonal lines that take about 3 s to cross the screen, slow enough to read their name, which sits under their line, clear of the family's names. They're dimmer and their trail fades a few seconds later.
- Becoming a star: the line bends sideways and stops, a spark with a dotted tail rises to a fixed spot in the sky in about 1.5 s, a ring flashes, and it stays as a small 4-point star with its name. Spread the stars around the top half so the final shape reads well.

4. THE ENDING
- I go last: my head flares with a big warm bloom and becomes the biggest star, right where I stand. The axis and the old lines fade out.
- My child keeps going: their line keeps climbing past the now line. Life goes on.
- Thin lines draw one by one between the stars: me, my partner, my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather, my father, back to me.
- At about 75% of the height, fade in "Life is a journey" in a classic serif, with a thin rule and, in italics: "Some walk with you for a while. Others stay in your sky forever."
- Finish with a 1.2 s fade to black.

5. CHECK (stop for my approval)
- Take a snapshot at every event (each arrival, each goodbye, each star, the ending). Check it yourself first: names overlapping, text cut off, a star hidden behind a name. Fix and check again (max 3 rounds), then show me the frames and a preview link. Wait for "render" or my changes.

6. RENDER
- Render 1080x1920 MP4 with no music: I'll add the song from Instagram's own library. Verify the length.

Save the whole workflow as the skill, so next time I just say: "make a life constellation" and give you the names.

HOW TO USE IT

FOUR STEPS.
TWO STOPS.

01

Paste it into
Claude Code

Open Claude Code in an empty folder, paste the prompt and send it.

02

Tell it who’s
in your story

Real names or the default cast. You get a table with every person, their colour and their ages. Change what you want, then say ok.

ok
03

Approve the
frames

One frame per moment, already checked for overlapping names. When it looks right, say the word.

render
04

Add the music
on Instagram

Post it and pick the song from Instagram’s library, with the loud part landing on the stars at the end.

Next time, just say “make a life constellation” and give it the names.

TIPS FROM MAKING MINE

THREE THINGS
I LEARNED.

  1. Let the quiet years run fast

    Childhood and the last years are where people come and go. The middle can fly. That change of pace is what makes the ending land.

  2. Music from Instagram’s library

    Pick a slow piano or strings track that builds. Start it so the loudest part lands on the stars and the constellation, not on the opening.

  3. Keep one line going

    When you become a star, let your child’s line keep climbing. That one detail turns a sad video into a hopeful one.

COMING SOON

THE WHOLE
SETUP.

Coming soon: a community where I share my whole setup for building and growing apps with AI, including the full versions of the video tools I use in my reels.

Follow @creaconbruno to know when the doors open.

Follow @creaconbruno
Visor, a small pixel robot, holding a paintbrushWHAT TO SAY NEXT TIMEmake a life constellation

Once it’s saved as a skill, that’s the whole job: names in, a finished video out.