A good AI video rarely starts with a long list of adjectives. It starts with direction.
If your prompt says only “a cinematic woman walking through Tokyo,” the model has to decide what the woman looks like, how she walks, where the camera sits, how it moves, what time of day it is, and whether the scene has dialogue, ambience, or silence. Each undefined choice creates another opportunity for the output to move away from what you imagined.
The most reliable AI video prompts work more like compact shot briefs. They tell the model what is on screen, what changes over time, how the camera observes it, what the visual language should be, and what the audience should hear.
This AI video prompt guide gives you a reusable structure for writing better prompts, then shows how to adapt it for Kling 3.0, Wan 2.7, Veo 3.1, and Seedance 2.0 on AKOOL.
The Anatomy of a Great AI Video Prompt
The simplest useful framework is:
Subject → Action → Camera → Style → Sound
Use these five components in that order when writing text to video prompts. You do not need an elaborate paragraph for every generation; you need enough information to remove the most important ambiguity.
1. Subject — What are we looking at?
Identify the person, product, object, or environment with the visual details that matter.
Weak:
A woman in a city.
Better:
A woman in her early 30s wearing a dark red trench coat stands alone on a rain-soaked street in downtown Tokyo at night.
Do not describe every visible detail. Prioritize identity anchors—wardrobe, material, color, age, product shape, or other features that should remain stable.
2. Action — What changes during the shot?
Video needs a temporal instruction. Use concrete verbs and describe one understandable motion arc.
Weak:
A cinematic sneaker.
Better:
A white running shoe drops onto wet pavement, compresses on impact, then splashes water outward as a runner pushes off.
Avoid stacking six unrelated actions into a five-second shot. More instructions do not automatically create more control.
3. Camera — How should we see the action?
State framing and movement explicitly when they matter.
Weak:
Dynamic camera.
Better:
Low-angle medium close-up. The camera tracks beside the runner, then slowly pushes toward the shoe as it strikes the pavement.
Useful vocabulary includes wide shot, medium shot, close-up, overhead, low angle, handheld, dolly in, tracking shot, orbit, pan, tilt, rack focus, and slow push-in.
When text alone cannot reproduce a complex movement reliably, reference-driven workflows are often more precise. AKOOL's guide to controlling motion and style with Video Reference explains how an existing clip can guide camera movement, action, and atmosphere instead of describing everything verbally. (Akool)
4. Style — What should the shot feel like?
Describe lighting, palette, texture, genre, and photographic treatment rather than relying on the word “cinematic.”
Instead of:
Cinematic commercial.
Try:
Premium sports-commercial look, cool blue shadows, warm practical lights, wet reflective pavement, high contrast, shallow depth of field, restrained film grain.
Specific visual relationships give the model more useful information than generic quality labels such as “epic,” “professional,” or “4K masterpiece.”
5. Sound — What should we hear?
For models with native audio, sound belongs in the prompt from the beginning.
Example:
Audio: fast footsteps on wet asphalt, water splashing with each stride, distant traffic, low pulsing electronic bass. No dialogue.
If dialogue is needed, keep it short and attribute the line clearly:
The woman looks toward camera and says, "We're just getting started."
Audio: quiet city ambience and light rain behind her voice.
Kling's evolution toward integrated audiovisual generation started before 3.0; AKOOL's overview of Kling 2.6 native audio covers synchronized dialogue, ambience, and effects as part of the same generation process. (Akool)
Model-Specific Prompt Tips
The five-part framework works across models, but identical video generation prompts will not always produce identical behavior. Different models reward different kinds of direction.
AKOOL also supports unified generation/editing models such as Kling O1; understanding those Kling O1 features is useful when your workflow combines prompting with references, shot extension, or natural-language editing. (Akool)
Prompting Kling 3.0 for multi-shot storytelling and character consistency
Kling 3.0 is especially useful when your prompt describes a short sequence rather than one static composition. AKOOL documents 3–15-second generation, native audio, enhanced subject consistency, and an AI Director-style system that can structure wides, close-ups, and cutaways from a single description. (Akool)
For a Kling prompt guide mindset, describe the story in ordered beats. Tell the model what remains constant between those beats.
Example:
15-second cinematic coffee commercial.
Shot 1: Wide shot of a quiet kitchen at sunrise. A woman in a cream sweater enters frame and places a black ceramic mug on the counter.
Shot 2: Medium close-up. She pours fresh coffee into the same mug; steam rises through warm morning light.
Shot 3: Close-up of her hands lifting the mug, then cut to her smiling after the first sip.
Keep the same woman, cream sweater, black mug, kitchen layout, and warm amber color grade across every shot.
Audio: soft coffee pour, ceramic contact on wood, quiet morning room tone, subtle acoustic music.
The important technique is continuity language: explicitly identify which character, wardrobe, prop, or environment should stay unchanged. See Kling 3.0 multi-shot storytelling for the model's multi-shot, native-audio, and reference capabilities. (Akool)
Prompting Wan 2.7 for motion and stylization control
Wan 2.7 is better approached with a clearly defined motion path plus a stable visual treatment. AKOOL's published preview emphasizes more natural movement, stronger stylization, consistency, start/end-frame control, reference inputs, and instruction-based editing. (Akool)
Instead of adding five competing styles, establish one art direction and explain how the motion evolves.
Example:
A red vintage sports car enters from the left and accelerates along a winding coastal road. The camera begins in a low front three-quarter tracking shot, moves alongside the driver's door, then gradually falls behind as the car exits the curve.
1970s European road-film aesthetic, slightly desaturated teal shadows, warm sunlight, subtle film grain, realistic suspension movement and tire contact. Maintain the same red paint, car proportions, and color grade throughout.
When the selected workflow provides reference or keyframe controls, use them instead of putting every appearance constraint into prose. The overview of Wan 2.7 motion control covers its motion, style-consistency, reference, and start/end-frame direction. (Akool)
Prompting Veo 3.1 for cinematic realism
Veo 3.1 responds well to screenplay-like natural language that connects subject, action, environment, camera, and sound. AKOOL's Veo guide recommends a structure combining cinematic style, character detail, movement, environment/lighting, audio cues, and technical camera direction. (Akool)
Use physical cause-and-effect instead of disconnected keyword strings.
Example:
A tired chef closes a small restaurant after midnight. He turns off the final pendant light and walks toward the back door as the room falls into darkness one section at a time.
Slow dolly backward at eye level, 50mm cinematic perspective, natural handheld micro-movement. Warm tungsten light transitions into cool blue light from the alley.
Audio: metal chairs scraping lightly, refrigerator hum, a distant car passing outside, then the click of the final light switch.
Veo is particularly useful when camera direction and sound are part of the same scene logic. AKOOL currently describes Veo 3.1 as supporting reference-guided consistency and precise motion control. (Akool)
Prompting Seedance 2.0 for audio-synced video
Seedance 2.0 benefits from thinking beyond text alone. AKOOL's current video-generation interface lists Seedance 2.0, while its model coverage emphasizes multimodal use of text, image, video, and audio references.
When music or voice establishes timing, write the prompt around the beat structure.
Example:
Create a fast 12-second streetwear video synchronized to the uploaded beat.
0–3s: model stands still beneath a subway light; slow push-in.
3–6s: on the first heavy beat, cut to a low-angle walking shot.
6–9s: rapid side-tracking shot as the model turns toward camera.
9–12s: close-up of the jacket logo, ending exactly on the final beat.
Keep the same model, black jacket, silver accessories, underground-station setting, and green fluorescent lighting.
Use the uploaded audio as the timing reference. Cuts and major body movements should align with the strongest beats.
For Seedance, references can carry information that would otherwise make the text prompt unnecessarily long. Let the image establish appearance, the video establish motion, and the audio establish rhythm; use text to explain how those elements should interact.
Common Prompt Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Mistake 1: Writing an image prompt instead of a video prompt.
“A luxury watch on marble, cinematic lighting” describes appearance but not time.
Fix:
Macro close-up of a luxury watch on dark marble. The second hand moves smoothly while the camera performs a slow 20-degree orbit. A narrow light sweeps across the polished bezel, revealing reflections gradually.
Mistake 2: Asking for too much in one shot.
If the subject runs, jumps, changes clothes, enters a car, drives away, and reaches another city in eight seconds, the model must compress too many state changes.
Fix: split the concept into multiple shots or use a multi-shot-capable model.
Mistake 3: Using vague camera language.
Instead of:
Cool cinematic movement.
Write:
Medium shot. Slow handheld push-in while the subject remains centered; slight natural operator movement, no orbit and no zoom.
Mistake 4: Contradicting yourself.
“Static locked camera” and “dynamic sweeping camera movement” should not appear in the same instruction unless they describe different shots.
Mistake 5: Re-describing an uploaded image instead of describing motion.
For image-to-video, let the image establish what already exists.
Better:
The subject slowly turns toward the window and smiles. Curtains move gently in the breeze. The camera pulls back by one meter while preserving the original lighting, wardrobe, facial identity, and room design.
10 Ready-to-Use Prompt Templates
1. Product Ad — Premium Hero Shot
A [PRODUCT] sits on [SURFACE]. [PRODUCT ACTION]. Macro close-up transitioning into a slow three-quarter orbit. [LIGHTING] creates controlled reflections across the product. Premium commercial style, [COLOR PALETTE], realistic materials. Audio: [SFX], subtle [MUSIC STYLE].
2. Product Ad — Lifestyle Demonstration
A [TARGET USER] uses [PRODUCT] in [ENVIRONMENT]. The user [PRIMARY ACTION], clearly demonstrating [BENEFIT]. Medium tracking shot followed by a close-up of the product in use. Natural [TIME OF DAY] lighting, authentic lifestyle-ad look. Audio: environmental ambience plus subtle upbeat music.
3. Product Ad — Three-Shot Social Commercial
Create a 12-second, three-shot ad for [PRODUCT].
Shot 1: [HOOK].
Shot 2: [PRODUCT BENEFIT IN ACTION].
Shot 3: [HERO SHOT / CTA VISUAL].
Keep the same product design, colors, environment, and lighting across all shots. Fast but clean transitions. Audio: [MUSIC] with synchronized product SFX.
4. Explainer — Visual Concept
Show [CONCEPT] visually using [SUBJECT/OBJECT]. Begin with [INITIAL STATE], then demonstrate [CHANGE], ending with [RESULT]. Clean medium-wide framing with a slow push-in. Minimal modern visual style, neutral background, clear object separation. Audio: calm narration space with light ambient sound.
5. Explainer — Presenter Scene
A [PRESENTER DESCRIPTION] stands in [SETTING] and explains [TOPIC]. Medium shot, eye-level camera, very slow push-in. The presenter gestures naturally while saying: "[SHORT DIALOGUE]." Professional soft lighting, clean background, restrained brand colors. Audio: clear speech with subtle room tone.
6. Social Clip — Fast Hook
Vertical 9:16 social video. Open immediately on [UNEXPECTED ACTION / VISUAL HOOK]. Handheld close-up, fast push-in during the first second, then stabilize into a medium shot as [SUBJECT ACTION]. High-energy contemporary style. Audio: sharp opening SFX followed by [MUSIC TYPE].
7. Social Clip — Transformation
Begin with [BEFORE STATE]. The subject performs [TRIGGER ACTION]. During the movement, transform the scene into [AFTER STATE] while preserving the subject's identity and position. Camera performs a smooth half-orbit through the transition. Audio: rising transition sound ending on a strong beat.
8. Cinematic Short — Dialogue Beat
Night interior. [CHARACTER A] sits opposite [CHARACTER B] in [LOCATION]. Start with a quiet two-shot, then slowly push toward Character A as they say: "[LINE]." Character B reacts without speaking. Low-key motivated lighting, practical lamps, shallow depth of field. Audio: restrained room ambience and natural dialogue.
9. Cinematic Short — Action Shot
[CHARACTER] runs through [ENVIRONMENT] while [THREAT/EVENT] unfolds behind them. Low-angle tracking camera keeps pace beside the character before swinging behind for the final movement. Realistic weight, momentum, debris, and contact physics. Dramatic directional lighting. Audio: footsteps, breathing, environmental impacts, no music.
10. Cinematic Short — Atmospheric Establishing Shot
Wide establishing shot of [LOCATION] at [TIME/WEATHER]. [SMALL ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS] create subtle movement throughout the frame. The camera performs a slow crane forward and downward, revealing [STORY DETAIL]. [FILM STYLE], [COLOR PALETTE], realistic volumetric atmosphere. Audio: layered environmental ambience with distant [SPECIFIC SOUND].
These templates are starting structures, not magic formulas. Replace brackets with concrete information, remove sections you do not need, and test one variable at a time.
