Camera prompts for AI video: a cheat sheet
Most AI video prompts describe what's in the frame and forget who is holding the camera. Yet the camera is what separates “AI clip” from “shot”. Here is the vocabulary that models respond to, with ready-to-paste templates.
Why camera words beat adjectives
Video models have seen millions of hours of film, and film has a grammar. “Slow push-in on her face” maps onto thousands of examples; “cinematic, dramatic, masterpiece” maps onto nothing in particular. Use the film term and you borrow the whole convention: framing, speed, where the eye goes.
The cheat sheet
| Say | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| static wide shot | locked-off camera, full scene | establishing a place, groups |
| slow push-in | camera creeps toward the subject | emotion, reveals, endings |
| pull-back / dolly out | camera retreats, reveals context | punchlines, scale |
| pan left / right | camera turns on its axis | following a walk, landscapes |
| tracking / follow shot | camera moves with the subject | walks, chases, runways |
| handheld | slight shake, documentary feel | tension, UGC-style ads |
| low angle | camera below eye line, subject looks bigger | power, heroes |
| high angle / top-down | camera above the subject | vulnerability, tables, food |
| half orbit | camera arcs around the subject | products, character reveals |
Templates
- [Subject] [action], [camera move], [light]. — “She reads the letter at the window, slow push-in, soft morning light.”
- [Camera move] across [place], [time / weather]. — “Slow pan across the harbour at dusk, light rain.”
- Handheld follow behind [subject] as [action]. — “Handheld follow behind him as he pushes through the crowd.”
Motion intensity
In Actoria the Motion selector (low / medium / high) controls how much the scene moves overall; the camera move comes from the prompt. Low motion plus a slow push-in gives you the quiet, expensive-looking shot. High motion plus handheld gives you chaos — great for one beat, tiring for five.
Mistakes that break shots
- Two camera moves in one scene (“pan then push-in”) — pick one, extend the scene for the second
- Camera moves that fight the action (subject walks left, camera pans right)
- Full 360° orbits around a face — profiles are where identity slips; half-orbits are safer
- Forgetting the first frame: the move starts from your composed still, so compose for the move — leave room to push into
For the full director's workflow — light, palette, continuity across cuts — see AI cinematic video; for stitching scenes into a film, the scene-by-scene guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do models understand lens terms like 35mm or anamorphic?
Partially — they bias the look, but camera-movement terms are far more reliable than lens terms.
Can I control speed?
Use words — slow, gentle, rapid — and lower the Motion setting for calmer shots.
What about vertical video?
Same vocabulary; pick the 9:16 format when creating the project and compose the still for it.