Prompt Runway, Veo, and Kling for coherent, controllable video clips.
Video prompting extends image prompting into motion. Tools like Runway, Veo, and Kling turn text into short clips, and the craft is describing not just what the scene shows, but how it moves, moves the camera, and changes over time.
Video prompting extends image prompting into motion: you describe not just the scene but how it moves and how the camera moves.
The foundation is a strong scene description. Everything you learned about subject, lighting, composition, and style applies, because the first frame of a good video is a good image. Describe the scene as completely as you would for a still.
The key addition is motion. Describe what moves and how: "the leaves drift in the wind," "the car accelerates away," "the woman turns and smiles." The model needs to know both what is moving and the quality of the movement.
Camera motion is a second axis of control. Words like "slow dolly-in," "panning left," "aerial shot descending," and "handheld, shaky" tell the generator how the viewer should move through the scene. Separate camera motion from subject motion.
Duration and pacing are limited by the tools - most generate a few seconds per clip. Prompt for a single continuous action that fits the window, not a multi-scene narrative. One action, one camera move, one clear mood.
Continuity is the hard problem. If a character appears in a clip, note the same clothing, lighting, and setting in your prompt so the next clip matches. Keep a fixed description block you reuse across shots for consistency.
Write your video prompt as: "wide shot of a quiet coastal town at sunrise, soft golden light, a cyclist pedaling along the shore road, seagulls overhead, slow dolly-in, cinematic, 4k." Scene, light, action, camera, style.
Write your video prompt as: "wide shot of a quiet coastal town at sunrise, soft golden light, a cyclist pedaling along the shore road, seagulls overhead, slow dolly-in, cinematic, 4k." Scene, light, action, camera, style.
Iterate like image generation: generate a clip, watch what fails, and change one variable at a time. If motion is wrong, reword the movement; if framing is wrong, adjust the camera terms.
Practice by writing a three-shot sequence - establishing shot, action shot, close-up - with a shared description block. Generate each clip and compare how continuity holds across them.
Cramming too much action into a few seconds, ignoring camera motion, and changing details between clips break the result.
Plan a three-shot sequence with a shared description block and compare how continuity holds across the clips.