# Recursion explained in nine video styles

> A 75-second explainer of recursion in which each explanation switches to a different video genre, nine in all. Every scene is drawn in React and SVG, with music and sound effects synthesized in Python, from a one-sentence prompt to Opus 5.5.

- Page: https://meetreference.com/v/recursion-explained-nine-radically/
- Exact prompt as plain text: https://meetreference.com/v/recursion-explained-nine-radically/prompt.txt
- Made with: Not stated
- Model: Claude Opus 5.5
- Built with: React, SVG, Python
- Style: Explainers; genre-shifting, self-referential, nested frames, computer science, playful, fast-paced
- Length and format: 1 min, 16:9 (1920x1080 source)
- Shared by @emollick in X, Sep 26, 2026: https://x.com/emollick/status/2103688362960019567
- 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. Follow the prompt below. It is the creator's text, unedited.
3. To adapt it to a new subject or look: Replace "recursion" (it appears twice) with your concept and keep "has a radically different video style" for the genre switching. "self-referential" suits recursion in particular, so swap it for a word that fits your topic.
- Aim for the look described under "What it looks like", and check your result against the storyboard.

## Prompt

```text
A video explaining recursion, where every explanation about recursion has a radically different video style, make this self-referential & clever & fast moving.
```

## What it looks like

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

A video about a video about recursion. Each scene is a different genre nested inside the last, tracked by a call-stack bar of genre tabs and a depth counter across the top.

- Color: Changes with each genre: terminal green on black, golden bokeh for the nature documentary, black-and-white noir, a purple-and-teal infomercial, gold trailer type on black, and a pastel explainer card at the core.
- Type: A monospace breadcrumb of genre tabs (INTRO, CORP, TERM, 8-BIT, DOC, NOIR, KIDS, TV, trailer) with a depth number; bold condensed white capitals with RECURSION in red; a terminal man page; italic serif for the nature documentary; typewriter capitals for noir; a red rubber-stamp BASE CASE; metallic gold capitals for the trailer.
- Framing: Frames inside frames: a video player nested in concentric outlines, a TV inside a set, a card inside gold frames. The breadcrumb bar runs across the top of every genre.
- Sound: Music and sound effects synthesized in Python, according to the creator.
- Structure: "PLAY A VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS RECURSION." over a nested player, a terminal man page for recursion, a nature documentary on the recursive fern, a film-noir office, a 1-800-RECURSE infomercial, a trailer building to "...THE BASE CASE.", noir again with a BASE CASE stamp, then "AND" with RETURN and depth 0 over the original explainer card.

Storyboard, nine frames spread across the video: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/storyboard.webp

- Frame 1 at 4.2s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f1.webp
- Frame 2 at 12.5s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f2.webp
- Frame 3 at 20.8s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f3.webp
- Frame 4 at 29.2s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f4.webp
- Frame 5 at 37.5s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f5.webp
- Frame 6 at 45.8s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f6.webp
- Frame 7 at 54.2s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f7.webp
- Frame 8 at 62.5s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f8.webp
- Frame 9 at 70.8s: https://meetreference.com/media/recursion-explained-nine-radically/f9.webp

## How it was made, per the creator

- One-shot: yes, a single prompt with no follow-ups
- Notes: Every scene is drawn in React and SVG, and the music and sound effects are synthesized in Python. The only files that aren't code are a few hundred small textures, such as film grain and bokeh, which were generated by code in advance to speed up the render, plus open-source fonts.

> Genuine one-shot
> (@emollick)

## Links

- Watch: https://x.com/emollick/status/2103688362960019567
- Original post: https://x.com/emollick/status/2103688362960019567
- Creator's reply on how it was built: https://x.com/emollick/status/2103691113509056757