Most people prompt a video model the way they'd caption a photo: "a dog on a beach, cinematic, 4K." Then they wonder why the result feels like stock footage. Here's the shift that fixes it — stop describing an image, and start calling a shot. Seedance 2.0 was trained on the language of filmmaking, and it will follow direction with unsettling obedience if you give it any.
Open with the camera
The first words of your prompt set the grammar of the whole clip. "Slow dolly-in", "handheld tracking shot", "locked-off wide", "crash zoom" — each one changes the energy before you've even said what's in frame. If you don't choose, the model chooses for you, and it usually chooses polite.
Light it like you mean it
"Golden hour backlight." "Single practical lamp, everything else falls to black." "Neon rim light, wet asphalt." Lighting is the cheapest production value in the world when it's one sentence. It's also the difference between a clip that reads as AI and one that reads as intentional.
Put the words in quotes
Anything inside double quotes becomes spoken dialogue — lips synced, voice matched to the character. One good line does more for a 15-second clip than any visual flourish. Write it the way people actually talk.
Reference, don't describe
If the video needs your face, your product, or your song — attach it. Describing your dog for forty words will never beat one photo tagged [Image1]. Save the words for what references can't carry: motion, mood, and timing.
Score it in the same breath
Audio is generated with the picture, so direct it too: "bass-heavy score kicks in on the cut", "just room tone and rain", "cheesy 90s jingle". Silence is also a choice — say so if you want it.
Slow dolly-in on [Image1] behind the counter of a 24h diner, single practical lamp, steam rising. She slides a coffee across and says "you look like you've seen the render queue." Just room tone, then one piano note on the cut to black.
That's the whole craft: one camera move, one light, one line, one sound. Everything else is taste — and taste, conveniently, is the part you already have.