Write video prompts

Write video prompts in six parts (start state, one action, end state, camera, pace, sound), then time the beats of a longer clip or cut it into shots.

  • Lesson 5 of 11
  • Checked Nov 11, 2026

About this lesson

The film animates one first frame, a girl and her chameleon in a sunny kitchen, with Seedance 2.5. It writes the prompt in six parts, then turns it into a 15-second shot with four timed beats, then into three shots with cuts, and ends with the prompts that go wrong. The models and settings in this lesson are as of November 2026.

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  • Let the first frame carry the look, and spend the video prompt on what changes during the shot.
  • Write the shot in six parts: start state, one action, end state, camera, pace and sound.
  • For a longer clip, give each beat its time, or write each shot on its own line and start the next one with Cut to.
Step by step with an agent, through the Scenario MCP (6 steps)Hide the steps
  1. Connect the Scenario MCP

    Connect your agent and sign in once at mcp.scenario.com. Then tell it which Scenario team and project to use, so every file lands there.

  2. Give the agent the first frame

    The approved image of the girl and her chameleon in the sunny kitchen. Upload it with upload_asset or give its asset ID.

  3. Brief the agent: one shot

    Prompt
    Animate the first frame with Seedance 2.5 (model_bytedance-seedance-2-5): the image as its first-frame image, no reference images, duration 8, aspect ratio following the frame, audio on, MP4, and its draft mode on for a 480p preview (read model_schema_get for the parameter names). Quote the cost with a dry run first and wait for my go.
    
    Prompt, word for word:
    The girl with the long white bubble braid stands still beside the kitchen table, looking at her green chameleon on the edge of the fruit bowl. She steps up to the table, picks up the lemon with both hands and holds it out to the chameleon, which slowly turns its head and both eyes toward the lemon. She ends standing at the table, holding the lemon up in front of the chameleon, smiling. Medium-long shot at table height, slow push-in toward the girl and the chameleon. Gentle, real-time pace. Sound: soft kitchen room tone, birds outside the window, light footsteps on the tiles. No music, no dialogue.
  4. Brief the agent: timed beats

    Prompt
    Same first frame and settings, duration 15, the end of the last beat. Keep the prompt's line breaks. Quote it first and wait for my go.
    
    Prompt, word for word:
    One continuous shot, no cuts. The girl with the long white bubble braid stands beside the kitchen table, looking at her green chameleon on the edge of the fruit bowl.
    [0-4s] She steps up to the table, picks up the lemon with both hands and holds it out to the chameleon.
    [4-8s] The chameleon shoots out its long sticky tongue, grabs a green grape from the bowl and pulls it into its mouth. She laughs, surprised.
    [8-12s] She sets the lemon down right next to the chameleon. The chameleon's skin slowly changes color from green to the same bright lemon yellow, starting at its head.
    [12-15s] She leans in with her chin on her hands, smiling at the yellow chameleon, and it blinks at her.
    Camera: medium-long shot at table height. The camera slowly arcs to the right around the table and moves a little closer during the whole shot, ending on a medium shot of the girl and the chameleon.
    Pace: gentle, real-time.
    Sound: soft kitchen room tone, birds outside the window, a tiny wet snap when the tongue catches the grape.
  5. Brief the agent: three shots with cuts

    The article shows only the opening of this prompt, so the agent completes it from the outline, in the same pattern.

    Prompt
    Same first frame and settings, duration 12. Start the prompt with these lines, word for word, then finish shot 2 (the green chameleon turns from green to lemon yellow, 4 to 8 s) and add shot 3 on its own line, starting "Cut to shot 3 [8-12s]:", a close-up with a slow push-in on her smile. Show me the full prompt, quote it and wait for my go.
    
    Three shots with hard cuts. The same girl, the same chameleon, the same kitchen and the same sunlight in every shot.
    Shot 1 [0-4s]: medium-long shot at table height, static camera. The girl with the long white bubble braid stands beside the table, then steps up and picks up the lemon from the fruit bowl.
    Cut to shot 2 [4-8s]: extreme close-up of the green chameleon on the edge
  6. Check, finalize and file

    Accept when the clip starts on the first frame, every action happens once and in order, it ends on the end state, the camera makes the one move asked for, and the girl, chameleon and kitchen stay the same across cuts. Reject a repeated or new action, a clip that ends mid-action, a skipped beat, a different camera move, or a cut that brings in a new character or room.

    Prompt
    Wait for each job with jobs_wait and show me the drafts. Check each against the prompt beat by beat and tell me what fails; fix the prompt or the duration and quote a new draft for only those. Finalize the approved drafts in 1080p with Seedance 2.5 Draft Complete (find its model id with models_list), quoting first. Then create a collection with the first frame and the takes, and report the models, the settings and every asset ID.
Step by step in the web app (5 steps)Hide the steps
  1. Start from the first frame

    Create › Videos › Seedance 2.5, with the approved image in First Frame. The frame carries the girl, the chameleon, the kitchen and the light, so the prompt describes only what changes.

  2. Write the shot in six parts

    In order: start state, one main action, end state, camera (shot size and one exact move), pace and sound.

    Prompt
    The girl with the long white bubble braid stands still beside the kitchen table, looking at her green chameleon on the edge of the fruit bowl. She steps up to the table, picks up the lemon with both hands and holds it out to the chameleon, which slowly turns its head and both eyes toward the lemon. She ends standing at the table, holding the lemon up in front of the chameleon, smiling. Medium-long shot at table height, slow push-in toward the girl and the chameleon. Gentle, real-time pace. Sound: soft kitchen room tone, birds outside the window, light footsteps on the tiles. No music, no dialogue.
  3. Set the duration and generate

    Settings: Duration 8s, Resolution 480p, Aspect Ratio Auto, Generate Audio on, Output Format MP4, Draft on. Check the price on Generate and click it; Finalize in 1080p opens Seedance 2.5 Draft Complete with the draft loaded.

  4. Time the beats of a longer shot

    One opening line, then one action per beat on its own line with its time in brackets, one camera move for the whole shot, pace and sound. Duration 15s, the end of the last beat. The film shows the prompt as far as its sound line.

    Prompt
    One continuous shot, no cuts. The girl with the long white bubble braid stands beside the kitchen table, looking at her green chameleon on the edge of the fruit bowl.
    [0-4s] She steps up to the table, picks up the lemon with both hands and holds it out to the chameleon.
    [4-8s] The chameleon shoots out its long sticky tongue, grabs a green grape from the bowl and pulls it into its mouth. She laughs, surprised.
    [8-12s] She sets the lemon down right next to the chameleon. The chameleon's skin slowly changes color from green to the same bright lemon yellow, starting at its head.
    [12-15s] She leans in with her chin on her hands, smiling at the yellow chameleon, and it blinks at her.
    Camera: medium-long shot at table height. The camera slowly arcs to the right around the table and moves a little closer during the whole shot, ending on a medium shot of the girl and the chameleon.
    Pace: gentle, real-time.
    Sound: soft kitchen room tone, birds outside the window, a tiny wet snap when the tongue catches the grape.
  5. Ask for cuts

    Say what stays the same in every shot, then one line per shot with its time, framing and camera, each new one starting "Cut to"; Duration 12s, the end of the last shot. The film shows only the opening below; shot 3, a close-up with a slow push-in on her smile (8 to 12 s), follows the same pattern.

    Prompt
    Three shots with hard cuts. The same girl, the same chameleon, the same kitchen and the same sunlight in every shot.
    Shot 1 [0-4s]: medium-long shot at table height, static camera. The girl with the long white bubble braid stands beside the table, then steps up and picks up the lemon from the fruit bowl.
    Cut to shot 2 [4-8s]: extreme close-up of the green chameleon on the edge
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