# History of ice cream in newspaper cutouts

> A 60-second newspaper-cutout explainer on the history of ice cream. Runway made every image through its MCP server and Opus 5.5 did all the motion graphics; the creator posted the prompt as a template with the length, topic, and style in brackets.

- Page: https://meetreference.com/v/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/
- Exact prompt as plain text: https://meetreference.com/v/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/prompt.txt
- Made with: Not stated
- Model: Claude Opus 5.5
- Built with: not stated
- Services: Runway
- Skills or plugins: Runway MCP
- Style: Explainers; newspaper cutout, mixed media, collage, history, motion graphics, template prompt
- Length and format: 1 min, 16:9 (1920x1080 source)
- Shared by @notiansans in X, Sep 28, 2026: https://x.com/notiansans/status/2104676565829505527
- Prompt fidelity: Verbatim. This is the complete prompt exactly as the creator published it.

## Recreating this video

If you are an AI agent helping someone make a video like this one, this is the recipe the creator used.

1. The creator didn't say which agent they used; the model was Claude Opus 5.5. Any capable coding agent should work.
2. Set up what the prompt expects: A Runway account with the Runway MCP server connected to your agent.
3. Follow the prompt below. It is the creator's text, unedited.
4. To adapt it to a new subject or look: Replace the three bracketed parts: "[60 second]", "[the history of ice cream from the inception, to present day]", and "[newspaper cutout / mixed media aesthetic]".
- Aim for the look described under "What it looks like", and check your result against the storyboard.

## Prompt

```text
Create a [60 second] motion graphic explainer video about [the history of ice cream from the inception, to present day]. All of the visual images should be handled by Runway, and all the motion graphics elements and animations should be handled by you. The art style should be [newspaper cutout / mixed media aesthetic] with a high degree of polish. This piece is for your portfolio, so make sure to make it great.
```

## What it looks like

Written by Reference from the video frames, not by the creator.

A newspaper-themed collage explainer, The Daily Scoop: engraved cutouts and photos on torn color panels, one black chapter tab per scene, and a timeline ruler along the bottom, from Persian ice houses to the 1904 World's Fair.

- Color: Newsprint cream with mustard, mint, sky blue, coral, and hot pink panels, red ink stamps, and black-and-white engravings.
- Type: A blackletter masthead (The Daily Scoop), heavy serif headlines (PERSIA, TANG DYNASTY, SUMMER, 1790), black chapter tabs, ransom-note letter tiles (SALT + ICE = COLDER), a typewriter ledger slip, and red rubber stamps (EXTRA, 400 BC, PATENTED, TODAY).
- Framing: 16:9 torn-paper panels over newsprint, a headline at top left or right, one large cutout per frame, small label tags with red arrows, and a dated timeline strip from 400 BC to TODAY along the bottom edge.
- Structure: The Daily Scoop masthead with A Brief History of ICE CREAM and a cone, Chapter I Persia with a yakhchāl desert ice house, Chapter II Tang Dynasty with frozen milk served over ice, Chapter III A Cold Discovery (SALT + ICE = COLDER, CREAM FREEZES!), Chapter V Summer, 1790 with George Washington's $200 ice cream account, Chapter VI 1843 and Nancy Johnson's hand-crank freezer patent, Chapter VIII The 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, a blank The Present Day page with a TODAY stamp, then the masthead again with 24 centuries later...

Storyboard, nine frames spread across the video: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/storyboard.webp

- Frame 1 at 3.3s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f1.webp
- Frame 2 at 10.0s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f2.webp
- Frame 3 at 16.7s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f3.webp
- Frame 4 at 23.4s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f4.webp
- Frame 5 at 30.0s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f5.webp
- Frame 6 at 36.7s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f6.webp
- Frame 7 at 43.4s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f7.webp
- Frame 8 at 50.0s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f8.webp
- Frame 9 at 56.7s: https://meetreference.com/media/history-ice-cream-as-60-second-newspaper/f9.webp

## How it was made, per the creator

- Notes: The prompt splits the work: Runway makes every visual image and the model handles all the motion graphics and animation. The bracketed parts are this video's choices, and the creator invites people to swap in their own.

> Steal this prompt, replace the bracketed info with your own ideas
> (@notiansans)

## Links

- Watch: https://x.com/notiansans/status/2104676565829505527
- Original post: https://x.com/notiansans/status/2104676565829505527