Lighting and composition determine whether a clip feels professional or flat. You do not need long prompts to improve visuals. You need a few reliable lighting and framing cues that the model can repeat consistently.
This guide covers lighting basics, composition patterns, and prompt examples you can reuse for ads, social, and cinematic shots.
Lighting Basics
- Soft light: smooth gradients, fewer harsh shadows. Use for beauty, product, and lifestyle clips.
- Hard light: crisp shadows and contrast. Use for dramatic scenes or high-contrast ads.
- Key light: the main light source. Example: "soft studio key light."
- Rim light: separates the subject from the background. Example: "subtle rim light."
- Fill light: reduces shadow intensity. Example: "gentle fill light."
Composition Patterns
- Rule of thirds: places the subject off-center for a cinematic feel.
- Centered framing: best for short-form and ads where clarity wins.
- Leading lines: uses architecture or roads to guide the eye.
- Depth cues: foreground, subject, and background layers create scale.
- Shallow depth of field: isolates the subject and reduces background noise.
Prompt Examples by Scenario
A premium product on a clean surface, soft studio key light, subtle rim light, centered framing, shallow depth of field, stable motion.A travel landscape at sunrise, golden hour lighting, wide shot with leading lines, slow pan, cinematic color.A portrait in window light, gentle fill, close-up framing, soft shadows, natural skin texture.Food close-up with warm highlights, shallow depth of field, centered framing, slow push-in, stable edges.Fixing Flat or Noisy Visuals
- Add a clear key light and one secondary light cue.
- Use "shallow depth of field" to simplify backgrounds.
- Choose centered framing for small-screen clarity.
- Reduce motion strength if textures start to melt.
Related Resources
- Camera movements: camera movements
- Style consistency: style consistency
- Text-to-video: text-to-video