---
url: https://superduperai.co/library/broll-search-query-generator-prompt/
title: From a sentence to five search queries and one generation prompt
description: A prompt that turns each line needing a cutaway into five queries for your own footage or a stock site, ordered from literal to loose, plus one generation prompt as the fallback when nothing is found.
category: broll
platforms: [any]
works_with: [claude-code, claude, chatgpt, any-llm]
tags: [b-roll, search, stock, generation, queries, agent, cutaway]
difficulty: beginner
verified: false
created: 2026-11-01
---

# From a sentence to five search queries and one generation prompt

A prompt that turns each line needing a cutaway into five queries for your own footage or a stock site, ordered from literal to loose, plus one generation prompt as the fallback when nothing is found.

## Prompt

```text
For each sentence below, produce search queries to find a cutaway that shows it literally, then a generation prompt as the fallback.

Per sentence:
SENTENCE: quoted.
THE THING TO SHOW: one noun phrase, the object or action the sentence is about.
QUERIES, 5, from most literal to loosest, each 2-5 words, no adjectives like 'beautiful' or 'cinematic':
1. the exact object + the exact action
2. the object + the setting
3. the object alone, close-up
4. the action alone, hands only
5. the setting alone, wide
FILTERS: orientation {9:16 or 16:9}, duration 5-15 s, no people's faces, no logos.
GENERATION PROMPT (fallback, one paragraph): subject with 2 visual details, one action, setting, shot size + one camera move, light, style lock: {style lock}, ambient sound, 5 s, 'no on-screen text, no faces, no logos'.
FOUND IN OWN FOOTAGE? If a clip in the list below shows the thing, name it first and skip the queries.

Own footage (optional, clip + description):
{paste clip list}
Sentences:
{paste sentences}
```

## Steps

1. Search your own footage first; the sidecar descriptions (or Life2Film's segment list) are what the queries run against before any stock site.
2. Run queries 1-3 on a stock site; if 4 and 5 are what you end up using, the shot is no longer literal, and the generation prompt is the better fallback.
3. Put whichever clip you choose on the contact sheet with its sentence; a stock clip can be off topic as easily as a generated one.

## Tips

- Hands-only queries (4) find usable footage for almost any 'doing' sentence without a face to match.
- Keep the query sets with the project. The next video on the same topic reuses half of them.

## Works with

- Claude Code: Runs as a skill or a prompt in the terminal; can read your files and write the result.
- Claude: Paste into claude.ai or the Claude app.
- ChatGPT: Paste into ChatGPT; works with any GPT model.
- Any LLM: Model-agnostic: Gemini, Mistral, a local model.