cinematic-motion

Cinematic Motion

Pretty stills go fake when motion is generic or invisible. The job is a readable camera + subject change that still feels handheld — not a dense effects essay the model ignores.

Prereqs: approved still from character-pipeline (or an existing plate). Authority rules from video-prompting.

Bakeoff lesson (Flux draft, loft still)

A/B on the same start frame:

Prompt	Result
Long LOW→HIGH→LOW micro-score (grip tilt, 4–5cm drift, settle)	Often looks near-static vs control
Naive “slow cinematic push-in…”	More visible motion; sometimes preferred

Implication: micro-only recipes fail if the model under-delivers them. Always include one obvious, named camera move (push-in, lateral reframe, tilt recover) that a viewer can see in 6s. Texture (handheld / corrections) wraps that move — it does not replace it.

Design principles

1. Lead with visible motion — one clear camera verb in the first lines of the prompt
2. Camera has a body — that move is imperfect (breathing, micro-corrections), not a gimbal slide
3. One signature beat — subject micro-action or a motivated push/tilt peak (1–2s)
4. Density — still open/close briefly, but don’t spend half the clip on LOW settle
5. End near the still — land close to start frame / fidelity image without freezing early

Call pattern

list_models({ type: "video" })
# Iterate: flux-3 draft:true | seedance-2-mini | hailuo-03
# Final: seedance-2 | hailuo-03 | Flux enhanceDraftMediaRef (not upscale_media)

generate_video({
  model: "flux-3",
  draft: true,
  prompt: "<motion-first brief>",
  duration: 6,              // or model-allowed
  aspectRatio: "9:16",
  resolution: "720p",
  startFrameMediaRef: "<scene still>",
  folder: "Character/Takes"
})

Seedance: framesAndReferencesExclusive — prefer startFrameMediaRef alone for plate lock; keep prompt on change.

If using refs (when allowed): @Image1 env/scene · @Image2 sheet · @Image3 fidelity face — declare jobs. Don’t dump long inventories Flux will ignore.