Image-to-Video Prompting Guide

Inspiration comes in many forms - the best is a well-worn path of clarity a friend can lend. Here is a bit of clarity, to totally upend your video prompting results

I really liked my friend Rory Flynn’s I2V Prompting Framework (Veo3).

It’s clear, simple and easy to implement.

It just needs YOU to be specific and creative in your descriptive language.

Bring characters to life through guided performance, not static emotion.

Core Prompt Formula:

[Basic scene] + [Physical expression/gesture] + [Emotional subtext]

🎬 Think: “Director coaching an actor,” not just describing a scene.

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Example Breakdown:

1.Surface Prompt:

“Man is sad.”

This is where most people go with their prompting. They want someone who is sad - so they ask for ‘sad’ - but they leave off the nuance of what sad actually looks like. How it is expressed, how it is felt, and clearly experienced on the human level.

Like the old acting coaching might say -

“Don’t tell me you are hungry, show me you are ravenous, experiencing the pangs of hunger, and it has been days since food has touched your lips. Make me feel your desperation and hunger."

Or as I was taught in marketing -

“Don’t sell me the steak… sell me the sizzle.”

2.Directed Prompt:

“Man smoking a cigarette, eyes scan the ground, lips tremble. He tries to speak but just inhales instead. His throat tightens. He’s swallowing emotion.”

✅ Adds: Physical gestures, internal struggle, subtextual emotion.

Let me show you…

Here is a character I created in Midjourney.

This fellow looks like someone who has experienced things. Let’s tell him what we want him to do… how we want him to act to more clearly show our story and make the viewer FEEL his experience.

Kling AI 2.1

Static camera shot of a Man smoking a cigar, eyes scan the ground, lips tremble. He tries to speak but just inhales instead. His throat tightens. He’s swallowing emotion.

Look at the terms used to express physical emotion to convey a feeling.

He is not just sad…

• His eyes scan the ground

• His lips tremble

• He tries to speak but just inhales instead

• His throat tightens

• He’s swallowing emotion

Nice. These are rich and moving. They are more intricate than even a static shot can express. It is like we took the idea of SAD and added bullet points beneath it with all the descriptors that express that word.

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Now, let’s expound upon that just a bit…

Tips for Better I-2-V (Image-to-Video) Prompts: