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The Master Guide / 07 Video with Seedance · Writing the prompt

The prompt grammar

One prompt per generation, as labelled blocks in a fixed order. Leave out any block the shot doesn't call for.

One prompt per generation, as labelled blocks in a fixed order. Leave out any block the shot doesn't call for.

Block order

The blocks run in this order [proven for the order]:

#

Block

Holds

1

SCENE CONTEXT

The action, the place, the time, and each person's position.

2

ACTIVE REFERENCES

A role line per reference, with each character's anchor line.

3

LOCATION MAP

Layers with distances in metres, counts, sides as the camera sees them, the camera's side of the line, the light's source, movement paths, the live environment.

4

FIRST FRAME AND BLOCKING

Each person's place in the opening frame, already in motion: facing, gaze, what each hand holds; an EYELINE line per character whose eyes read.

5

FORMAT MODE

One continuous shot or a multi-shot form; real time or slow motion.

6

OPTICS

Size and diagonal field of view per shot; no drift mid-shot.

7

CAMERA

Camera motion only (see Camera and lens → The camera dose).

8

ACTION / TIMELINE

Subject motion only, in timed windows.

9

PERFORMANCE

The acting task per character, listeners included (see Performance → Acting as a task).

10

PHYSICS

Cause and effect, weight, counts, the settle, the cadence.

11

TEXTURE

2–4 materials with wear [proven]; the client's product always pristine (decided); off-centre framing (see Making it feel real → Skin, make-up and wear with a history).

12

LIGHTING

One setup in Kelvin, with the exposure priority (see Light and look → One motivated, named source).

13–14

COLOR GRADE (the platform's spelling), WARDROBE

Only when they matter.

15

AUDIO

The in-shot sound.

16

STYLE

The film's look line, word for word: the film's look as visible results, written once for the whole film (see Light and look → The look line).

17

OUTPUT SETTINGS

Only what the settings can't hold. Never "8K".

18

POSITIVE LOCKS

Counts, the only readable text, continuity across cuts, where cuts fall, the few grouped exclusions, a failure sentence; in multi-shot clips, a KEEP CONSISTENT list of 8–14 rules.

Camera comes before light and look, and camera and subject motion are written apart [official guidance]. With a start or end frame, a FRAMES line follows ACTIVE REFERENCES. CONTINUITY (extensions) and VOICE AND TIMING (audio-referenced shots) appear only in their templates.

Directions relative to the camera. Option: use it when you write any direction in LOCATION MAP [single strong source]. Give every direction as the camera sees it ("frame-left", "behind her, away from the lens"), not as compass points.

The arrow chain. Option: use it when the place has depth from back to front [single strong source]. Write the geography as a chain: "the dunes → the camel pen → the tent → the cook".

Writing rules

  • English, present tense, short sentences; at most three sentences per timeline beat.

  • As short as it can be while fully specifying the shot [official guidance]. Long appearance text fights the references.

  • Length [best available, not yet validated]: about 2,800–5,200 characters for 5–12 s; about 6,000–10,000 for a multi-shot clip of 15 s or more with dialogue or many beats. Don't under-write long clips.

  • Sealed [official guidance]: no titles, scene numbers or "as above". The model remembers nothing.

  • Write the wanted state [proven]: "an anxious look", not "not calm". Negatives only scope a reference or lock a count, kept short and grouped at the end.

  • Only quoted words are spoken [proven]: any prompt with silent direction says so.

  • Write what the camera can see [best available, not yet validated; written for Seedance 2.0]: "an awkward interview" becomes "she answers before he finishes; his pen stays capped".

  • No real people's names; no camera, lens, film-stock or director names.

  • Keep each prompt in your take log, so a retry patches only the failed block. Keep a list there too of words the model misreads, each with the replacement that worked.

As @curious_media_2026, maker of The Elevator, put it: "Writing 'not scary' tends to summon scary."

Sources

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