Video still from the music video “I’m Gonna Chase You With My Drone.”

How to Write Better Prompts for AI-Generated Video Clips

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AI video generation is opening new doors for musicians, filmmakers, educators, and storytellers. But the art isn’t just in the technology — it’s in the way you write prompts. A strong prompt is like a film director’s shorthand: it tells the system who and what the scene is about, where it’s happening, how the camera should behave, what mood to create, and even how sound might play into it.

Below is a structured approach to prompting, inspired by classic elements of filmmaking. Once you understand these building blocks, you can craft prompts that produce richer, more cinematic clips — whether for a music video, an experimental short, or a social media post.

The Anatomy of a Strong Prompt

Think of a video prompt as a sequence of layered instructions. A useful way to structure it is:

SUBJECT + CONTEXT + ACTION + STYLE + CAMERA + COMPOSITION + AMBIANCE + AUDIO

Each element adds depth:

• Subject: Who or what is on screen.
• Context: The environment or setting.
• Action: What the subject is doing.
• Style: A visual or emotional treatment (dreamlike, gritty, cinematic, abstract, etc.).
• Camera: Movement or perspective (tracking shot, dolly zoom, overhead, handheld).
• Composition: Where elements are placed in the frame.
• Ambiance: The mood or atmosphere, often through lighting or texture.
• Audio: Optional suggestions of sound — whispers, echoes, distant rumble — that help set tone. You can also add lines of dialogue inside of quotation marks, with models such as Google’s Veo 3.

For music videos, one benefit is that you don’t need perfect sync between visuals and sound — the clips function more like visual textures that can be edited together without reference to speech, since you typically wouldn’t attempt actual lip sync to vocals and lyrics with AI, at least with current models.

Sample implementation:

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Example Prompt Breakdown

Let’s look at an example and see how the structure works in practice:

Cinematic, a woman’s face glows in candlelight inside a damp basement, standing in the center of the frame, shadows flickering across the walls as the camera slowly dollies into her fearful eyes. Dripping water and creaking footsteps echo in the ambiance. The woman whispers: “They said I was the only one left…” as a low rumble grows beneath the silence. No subtitles.

Notice how every layer is covered: subject (woman), context (basement), action (whispering), style (cinematic), camera (dolly), composition (center frame), ambiance (flickering shadows, water, footsteps), audio (low rumble, whispers).

Sample Prompts to Try

Here are some fresh prompts you can experiment with. Always end with “No subtitles” and avoid brand or identity references (such as “Pixar” or “Christopher Nolan”), since many models will reject them.

1. Dreamlike, a child releases a glowing lantern into the night sky on a deserted beach, waves lapping softly in the distance. The camera tracks upward as the lantern floats higher, revealing hundreds more drifting toward the stars. The child’s laughter echoes faintly, blending into the ocean breeze. No subtitles.
2. Moody, a lone figure in a rain-soaked alley leans against a brick wall, neon signs reflecting in puddles. The camera pans slowly from the ground upward, revealing their face beneath a dripping hood. A distant siren wails, mixed with the rhythmic patter of rain. No subtitles.
3. Surreal, dancers made of flowing ink swirl across a desert landscape at sunset, each step leaving trails of black liquid in the sand. The camera circles them in a wide orbit as wind gusts stir clouds of dust. A low hum vibrates through the air. No subtitles.
4. Energetic, a skateboarder launches off a ramp under an overpass, graffiti glowing under harsh streetlights. The camera follows in a handheld style, jerking slightly with each move. The sound of wheels grinding mixes with faint cheering from unseen friends. No subtitles.

Best Practices for Video Prompting

• Think like a filmmaker: Treat your prompt as a mini script. Imagine what the scene looks like, sounds like, and feels like.
• Be specific but not overloaded: Too many conflicting details can confuse the system. Pick one or two strong images to anchor the scene.
• Use verbs generously: Words like whispers, glows, flickers, surges, dissolves create movement and emotion.
• Experiment with camera language: Try dolly in, tracking shot, bird’s-eye view, handheld shake — these can drastically change the clip’s feeling.
• Mind the mood: Lighting and ambiance words (misty, glowing, flickering, stormy, warm) help set tone as much as subject matter.
• Skip brand names: Stick to descriptive language rather than identity references, which models often block.

Summary

By layering subject, context, action, and style with cinematic details like camera movement and ambiance, you can turn short text prompts into evocative video clips. Whether you’re making a full music video or simply experimenting with visual storytelling, a well-written prompt is your most powerful tool.