Camera moves for AI video
How to use this hub
Searching for camera moves, dolly, pan, whip pan, or orbit prompts for AI video? Pick one move per beat, paste into text to video or image to video, and keep subject action simple. Interactive diagrams: Prompt Guide. Models: /models.
Pan (left / right)
What it does: Camera rotates on a fixed spot; the frame slides sideways. Horizon stays level.
When to use: Follow a gaze, reveal what enters frame, redirect attention inside one space.
Copyable prompt phrase
camera slowly pans right to reveal what enters frame, horizon stays level, no zoom, one move only
Tilt (up / down)
What it does: Lens tips up or down; reveals height, sky, ground, or a detail.
When to use: Power / architecture (tilt up); find a product or settle a beat (tilt down).
Copyable prompt phrase
camera slowly tilts up from her chest to her face then the skyline above, she stays centered, motivated by her gaze, one move only
Dolly / tracking
What it does: Camera physically travels with or past the subject (track left/right, dolly in/out).
When to use: Walk-and-talk, keep a walker moving without cutting, intimacy (dolly in), reveal scale (dolly out).
Copyable prompt phrase
camera tracks left beside her as she walks, keep her torso framed medium and centered, horizon level, one move only
Push-in / pull-out
What it does: Optical or framing push/pull — subject fills or leaves frame without a hard cut.
When to use: Rising tension on a face; release into geography.
Copyable prompt phrase
camera slowly pushes in toward her eyes, she stays centered in frame, soft breathing only, hold the final close frame clean — one move only
Whip pan
What it does: Fast blur pan between two clear end-frames.
When to use: Energy cut without an edit — use sparingly.
Copyable prompt phrase
fast whip pan left with motion blur between two clear sharp end-frames, start sharp and land sharp, use once only
Orbit / arc
What it does: Camera circles the subject; the world slides, the subject stays centered.
When to use: Spectacle, product hero, bullet-time energy.
Copyable prompt phrase
camera slowly arcs around her, she stays centered and mostly still while the background slides past, one move only
Crane / boom
What it does: Camera rises or descends for height and scale.
When to use: Open on a world, exit a scene with lift, hero moment.
Copyable prompt phrase
camera slowly rises from eye-level up to a high wide shot, she shrinks slightly in frame as more of the location appears, one move only
Handheld
What it does: Slight organic sway — phone / documentary energy (not shake-cam).
When to use: UGC, selfie, walk-and-talk authenticity.
Copyable prompt phrase
slight handheld camera sway at eye level, soft natural phone-selfie energy — not shake-cam, keep her face readable
Static locked-off
What it does: Tripod-still; nothing moves except the subject.
When to use: Land a payoff, read a label, freeze emotion clean.
Copyable prompt phrase
camera locked still on a fixed tripod frame, only her soft breathing moves, hold the final frame clean
Rack focus
What it does: Focus shifts from near to far (or reverse); frame stays put.
When to use: Redirect attention without moving camera — dialogue, product vs face.
Honest for AI video: models may approximate focus pulls unevenly. Prefer locking the frame and describing a clear near→far attention shift; verify on your chosen Lucy model.
Copyable prompt phrase
focus pulls from the product in the foreground to her eyes, camera frame stays locked still, one focus pull only
Next steps
- Video styles — UGC, cinematic, product demo
- Storyboard to video / Start a storyboard
- Filmmaking study hubs
More study hubs
FAQ
- What camera moves work in AI video prompts?
- Plain language works best: name one move per beat (slow push-in, track left, handheld sway, static lock-off). Stacking many moves in one short clip usually muddies the result.
- Are these prompts Midjourney prompts?
- No. These are Lucy / Seedance-ready video motion phrases — concrete frame motion plus subject action — not Midjourney still-image style stacks. Prefer Popular Lucy models for stills (GPT Image) then animate.
- Does rack focus work on AI video models?
- Sometimes approximately. Models may soften or ignore a true focus pull. Prefer a locked frame and a clear near-to-far attention shift, then verify on your chosen Lucy model.
- Where are the animated mini-loop diagrams?
- Interactive camera chooser mini-loops live in the Prompt Guide on the home page (#prompt-guide). This hub is the SEO front door with copyable phrases and study cross-links.