How to Write AI Video Prompts That Actually Work
MyDreamVid · 2026-09-12
The difference between a generic AI clip and one that looks intentional is almost never the model — it's the prompt. Video prompts reward a different skill than image prompts: you are describing change over time, not a frozen scene. Here is the formula that works, with examples you can adapt.
The five-part formula
Build the prompt in this order — subject, action, camera, light, style:
A paper boat drifts down a rain-filled gutter (subject), spinning slowly as the current pulls it toward a storm drain (action), low tracking shot at water level (camera), grey afternoon light with neon reflections (light), cinematic, shallow depth of field (style).
You don't need every part every time, but the order matters: models weight the beginning of the prompt most heavily, so lead with what the video is about, not with style words.
Describe motion, not a painting
The most common beginner mistake is writing an image prompt — all nouns and adjectives, no verbs. A video model needs to know what happens:
- Weak: "a beautiful ancient forest, mystical fog, epic"
- Strong: "fog rolls between ancient trees as the camera glides forward at walking pace; a deer lifts its head and turns toward the lens"
One clear action per clip beats five vague ones. If your idea needs several actions, that's several shots — the film workspace exists exactly for this.
Camera language the models understand
Plain film vocabulary works: slow push-in, tracking shot, handheld, drone shot pulling up and away, static locked-off frame, whip pan, close-up, wide establishing shot. Pick one camera move per clip. Contradictory instructions ("static shot, camera orbits the subject") produce mush.
Dialogue and sound live in the prompt too
Put spoken words in quotes and they are spoken aloud, with intonation you can direct in the surrounding prose — "she whispers, 'we're too late.'" Ambience follows the scene automatically. The details, including the tested trick for making animals talk without growing human lips, are in the audio guide.
Iterating without burning credits
Every generation shows its exact credit price before you start, and failed generations are refunded — so the cost of iterating is the cost of drafts. The cheap loop: draft at 480p or 720p on Seedance 2.0 Mini, change one thing per retry so you learn what each word does, then regenerate the winning prompt on 2.5 for the final look. A 5-second 720p Mini draft is about 54 credits — roughly $0.54 (pricing).
If the prompt is declined
Content review covers the same categories for every model, but Seedance 2.5 reads prompts more strictly than the 2.0 family — a prompt declined on 2.5 sometimes passes on 2.0, and rewording the flagged idea in plainer language usually resolves it. Prompts naming real people are declined by design.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a video prompt be?
Two to four sentences is the sweet spot. Long enough to cover subject, action, camera and light — short enough that no instruction contradicts another. Past ~100 words, extra detail mostly gets ignored.
Why do I get a different video from the same prompt?
Generation is intentionally non-deterministic — the same prompt produces a family of interpretations. Treat it as free variety: generate two or three takes of an important shot and keep the best.
Do negative prompts work?
Phrase what you want, not what you fear: "empty street" works better than "no people". If something unwanted keeps appearing, describe the frame more completely so there is no gap for it to fill.
Does prompt language matter?
English prompts are the most reliably interpreted, but the models understand major languages well. Quoted dialogue is spoken in the language you write it in.