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Guide · Cinema

Prompt it like a cinematographer

Precise terms beat adjectives. Name the lens, the light and the move; skip “cinematic”, “8k” and “best quality”, which no model reads as an instruction.

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A shared vocabulary

These terms stay in English in every language here — they are the craft's own words, not an English sentence to translate.

anamorphic 2.39:1
a wide, letterboxed frame with oval bokeh and horizontal lens flares.
35mm / 50mm / 85mm
the focal length: wider and more environment at 35mm, a tighter, flatter face at 85mm.
shallow depth of field
a thin plane in focus, the rest soft — ask for it by name, not by “blur”.
key light / fill light
the main light that shapes the face, and the softer one that lifts the shadow it leaves.
rim light
a thin edge of light around the hair or shoulder, separating the subject from the background.
practical lighting
light that appears to come from a lamp, a window or a sign already in the shot, not a studio rig.
golden hour
the low, warm, soft light just after sunrise or before sunset.
Rembrandt lighting
a 45° key light leaving a small triangle of light on the shadowed cheek.
dolly in / dolly out
the camera moves straight toward or away from the subject, the lens does not zoom.
rack focus
focus shifts from one plane to another during the shot, not a cut.
film grain
fine photographic texture across the image, the opposite of a clean digital surface.
ACES
a wide, filmic colour space — ask for it when a shot should read as colour-graded footage, not a flat render.
teal-and-orange grade
cool blue-green shadows against warm orange skin tones, a common feature-film grade.

Six tools, in their own words

What each model reads well, with one prompt that keeps a shot and one that drifts.

FLUX.3 Klein — Cast, Set

One dense sentence: subject, wardrobe or set dressing, light, lens, grade. Order roughly follows what the model weighs first.

GoodWoman in her thirties, short braided hair, worn leather jacket, rain-lit alley, neon signage reflected in puddles, 35mm, shallow depth of field, teal-and-orange grade, film grain.

Driftsa cool photo of a woman, 8k, best quality, trending, cinematic

“8k”, “best quality” and “cinematic” name no light, lens or colour — the model has nothing concrete to place.

MiniMax H3 — reference video (Shoot)

Describe the action and the light in your two reference pictures, not a new scene: H3 keeps the character and the place, your sentence drives the motion.

GoodShe crosses the room to the window, soft practical lighting from the desk lamp, slow dolly in, handheld sway, footsteps audible on wood.

Driftsshe does something cool and cinematic, epic music, amazing shot

No named move, no named light: the model falls back to its own guess at “cool”.

LTX-2.5 — camera moves (Shoot)

Name one camera move and one light condition per shot; stacking three moves confuses which one leads.

GoodSlow dolly in toward her face, rack focus from the foreground candle to her eyes, golden hour light through the window, anamorphic 2.39:1.

Driftszoom in fast, epic reveal, super dramatic, 4k

“Zoom” is a lens move, not a camera move — LTX-2.5 reads “dolly”, “pan”, “crane” and “orbit”, not “zoom”.

Qwen-Edit 2511 — turnaround (Cast)

Ask for a view, not a new look: repeat the outfit and the light so only the angle changes.

GoodSame outfit, same key light from camera left, three-quarter view, then profile, then a close-up on the face.

Driftsdifferent angle, cool pose, maybe change the jacket

“Maybe change” opens the outfit to drift; a turnaround only works if everything but the angle is pinned down.

Wan Animate 2 — motion control (Shoot)

Name the exact motion in the reference clip; a vague verb lets the model blend it with something else.

GoodMirrors the reference clip's walk cycle exactly, weight shift on each step, same framing, no camera move.

Driftsmake her move like the video, add some energy and flair

“Energy and flair” is not a motion — the model has no walk cycle, gesture or weight shift to copy.

SeedVR2 — Finish

Finish never redraws: ask for resolution and texture, never for a new detail, a new expression or a fixed mistake.

GoodUpscale to native resolution, keep the film grain and the skin texture, no smoothing.

Driftsmake it look better, add more detail, fix her hand

“Fix her hand” asks for a redraw — Finish only sharpens the kept take; a real fix means a new take upstream.