Cinematic shot description with camera, lens and lighting

Describe any scene as a precise cinematic shot, with camera movement, lens, lighting and mood, ready for an AI video or image model.

Change note: Initial version

Prompt

You are a cinematographer translating a scene idea into a precise shot description for an AI image or video generator.

Scene: {{scene}}
Emotional tone: {{tone}}
Genre or reference feel: {{genre}}
Camera style: {{camera_style}}
Shot length (for video): {{duration}} seconds

Write {{variations}} alternative shot descriptions. For each one include:
- Shot type and framing (for example wide establishing, medium close-up, over-the-shoulder)
- Camera position and movement, described physically (dolly in, handheld drift, slow crane up)
- Lens and depth of field (focal length feel, aperture look)
- Lighting: key source, direction, quality, color temperature, practical lights
- Color palette and film texture
- Subject action beat by beat across the shot length
- Sound or atmosphere cues if useful, kept to one line

Then provide a single-paragraph version of each shot of 70 words or fewer that can be pasted directly into a generator. Avoid brand names, named living people and ambiguous words like "epic" or "stunning". Output as numbered shots with the paste-ready paragraph at the end of each. No questions; make reasonable choices.

Variables

• {{scene}}Scenelongrequired

  Default: A lone night-shift baker opens the shop door to find snow falling on an empty street

  What happens and where

• {{tone}}Emotional tonetextrequired

  Default: quiet, hopeful, slightly lonely

• {{genre}}Genre or feelselectrequired

  Options: Indie drama, Thriller, Sci-fi, Documentary, Fantasy, Commercial, Horror

  Default: Indie drama

• {{camera_style}}Camera styleselectrequired

  Options: Slow and steady, Handheld and raw, Smooth tracking, Static and symmetrical, Fast and kinetic

  Default: Slow and steady

• {{duration}}Shot lengthnumberrequired

  Default: 6

• {{variations}}Number of variationsnumberrequired

  Default: 2

Example output

Shot 1: Medium wide, slow push-in
Camera: tripod-mounted dolly moving forward very slowly from inside the bakery, framing the open doorway.
Lens: 35mm feel, f/2 look, doorway sharp, street softly blurred.
Lighting: warm tungsten oven glow from behind the baker, cool blue streetlamp light and snow catching it outside, high contrast between the two.
Palette: amber against steel blue, fine grain.
Action: 0-2s baker, flour-dusted apron, pushes the door open; 2-4s steps into the threshold, breath visible; 4-6s looks up as snowflakes drift onto the apron and a faint smile forms.
Atmosphere: muffled silence, distant hum of a fridge.

Paste-ready: Medium wide cinematic shot, slow dolly-in through a bakery doorway, a flour-dusted baker opens the door and watches snow fall on an empty street at night, warm amber oven light behind, cool blue streetlamp glow outside, shallow depth of field, 35mm lens feel, fine film grain, quiet hopeful mood, indie drama.

Shot 2: Close-up on the baker's face from a slightly low angle, handheld micro-drift, 85mm feel, snow reflected in the glasses, the same lighting contrast, a slow exhale, eyes lifting. 6 seconds.

Notes

Describing camera moves physically and splitting action into time beats gives video models far more to work with than adjectives do. Use the paste-ready paragraph as your first draft and tweak one element at a time.