Like any skill, prompting is something that you need to practice. Prompts will too often read like simple object descriptions, rather than epic movie scenes. Let's level-up your prompting to sound like a seasoned filmmaker.
Marey's Five-Step Prompting Formula
Start writing prompts with these five principles in mind...
Choose your camera movement or angle: Use camera motions like plunge, dive, tumble, or aerial sweep. Use angles such as high angle, overhead shot, or low angle.
Winning camera phrases:"Dynamic first-person view camera dives..."
"Dramatic aerial view capturing..."
"Camera rotates and tumbles through..."
Find a scale metaphor: Compare your subjects to real-world reference points like monoliths, mountains, canyons, or buildings.
Effective scale amplifiers:"...the size of buildings..."
"...stretching hundreds of feet high..."
"...towering high above like mountains..."
Add geological language: Describe everything as if it's a living landscape or has organic movement. Try using words like undulating, surging, formations, or landscapes.
Grand, natural comparisons:Ceramic bowls become "canyon cliffs"
Waves become "liquid mountains"
A pour of milk becomes "an undulating river flowing from the bottle"
Structure your layers: Use a three-tiered structure that separates background, middle ground, and foreground.
Creative, cinematic compositions:Background: Distant environmental elements
Middle ground: The main action and focal elements
Foreground: Motion blur or atmospheric elements separating the camera from its subjects
Specify technical details at the end: Finish your vision with concrete camera, motion, and lighting details.
Precise technical elements:"...shot on 35mm with motion blur..."
"...motion blur adds kinetic energy..."
"Brilliant overhead lighting penetrates..."
"Close up shot..."
For example, here's a weak prompt:
"A person swimming in the ocean with big waves."
And here it is after applying the principles above:
"A dynamic first-person view camera plunges through an oceanic maelstrom at high velocity, where massive waves the size of skyscrapers organically surge and crash through time and space. The camera tumbles through the three-dimensional water environment in twisting, turning FPV motion that mimics being caught inside a massive liquid mountain, with crystalline water details caught in motion blur. Shot on 35mm motion blur."
Prompting templates
The principles above can be adapted across all variety of shots. Just remember the formula: [Camera Movement] + [Scale/Perspective] + [Core Visual] + [Environmental Details] + [Lighting/Technical Specs].
Epic Food Scene:
"A dynamic first-person camera plunges through a [FOOD ITEM] landscape at high velocity, where massive [FOOD ELEMENTS] the size of [LARGE OBJECTS] organically surge through [LIQUID/ENVIRONMENT] that flows like geological formations..."
Natural Disaster:
"A dramatic aerial view captures [LOCATION] in the throes of [CATASTROPHIC EVENT], where [TERRAIN] appears to ripple and undulate like liquid waves, creating towering crests that rise [HEIGHT] before crashing down..."
Abstract/Microscopic:
"A dynamic camera dives through [ENVIRONMENT] at the scale of [TINY REFERENCE], where [ELEMENTS] stretch impossibly into formations while [MEDIUM] creates explosive [EFFECTS] that cascade..."