The Core Skill Behind Better AI Video Prompts

Prompting is not just about writing longer instructions. The real skill is learning how to express your intentions clearly. In video, that means borrowing the vocabulary of filmmakers, editors, cinematographers, and colorists. You do not need to master every technical term, but knowing a few words for shots, pacing, camera movement, composition, color, transitions, and B-roll can make you a much better prompter. This guide is here to help you learn that vocabulary and use it directly inside Tellers.

Cinematic Vocabulary

“Cinematic” is one of the most common words people use in prompts, but it is also one of the least precise. It can mean many different things: dramatic lighting, shallow depth of field, slow camera movement, wide framing, emotional pacing, film-like colors, or a more deliberate shot structure.

Instead of only saying “make it cinematic”, try adding concrete details.

Useful terms:

• Shallow depth of field: the subject is sharp while the background is blurred
• Wide shot: shows the subject inside a larger environment
• Close-up: focuses tightly on a face, object, or detail
• Dramatic lighting: strong contrast between light and shadow
• Natural light: lighting that feels realistic, soft, or documentary-like
• Slow pacing: fewer cuts, more time to feel the moment

Example prompt:

Make this intro feel more cinematic: use a wide establishing shot, slow pacing, warm natural light, and a shallow depth of field on the main subject.

Video Editing Terms

Editing vocabulary helps you describe what should happen on the timeline. This is especially useful when working with an AI video editing agent, because the agent can cut, move, trim, extend, reorder, or restructure clips.

Useful terms:

• Cut: a direct change from one shot to another
• Trim: shorten the beginning or end of a clip
• Pacing: the rhythm and speed of the edit
• Sequence: a group of shots that form a small scene or idea
• Timeline: the full edited structure of the video
• Rough cut: a first version of the edit, focused on structure rather than polish
• Fine cut: a more refined version with timing, transitions, audio, and details improved

Example prompt:

Create a rough cut from this footage. Keep the pacing fast, remove dead moments, and build a clear sequence around the strongest reactions.

Camera Movements and Positions

Camera vocabulary helps you describe how the viewer should experience the scene. Even when working with existing footage, these terms are useful for selecting shots, generating B-roll, or asking the agent to find specific visual moments.

Useful terms:

• Push-in: the camera moves closer to the subject
• Pull-out: the camera moves away from the subject
• Pan: the camera rotates horizontally
• Tilt: the camera rotates vertically
• Tracking shot: the camera follows a subject in motion
• Static shot: the camera does not move
• Handheld: slight natural movement, often used for documentary or realism
• Low angle: the camera looks up at the subject
• High angle: the camera looks down at the subject
• Eye-level shot: the camera is positioned at the subject’s eye level

Example prompt:

Generate B-roll of a founder walking through a busy workspace, filmed as a handheld tracking shot at eye level.

Composition Rules

Composition is about how elements are arranged inside the frame. These terms help you describe what should be visually important, where the subject should appear, and how the image should feel.

Useful terms:

• Rule of thirds: placing the subject off-center along imaginary thirds of the frame
• Centered composition: placing the subject in the middle of the frame
• Leading lines: lines in the image that guide the viewer’s eye
• Negative space: empty space around the subject
• Symmetry: balanced framing on both sides of the image
• Foreground: elements closer to the camera
• Background: elements behind the subject

Example prompt:

Use a clean centered composition with negative space around the product, so the shot feels minimal and premium.

Color Grading Terms

Color grading vocabulary helps you describe the mood of the video. Small changes in color can make a video feel warmer, colder, more premium, more documentary-like, or more dramatic.

Useful terms:

• Warm: more orange, yellow, or golden tones
• Cool: more blue or green tones
• High contrast: stronger difference between light and dark areas
• Low contrast: softer, flatter image
• Desaturated: less intense colors
• Vibrant: stronger, more colorful image
• Film look: softer contrast, natural highlights, and colors that feel closer to cinema
• Natural grade: realistic colors without a heavily stylized look

Example prompt:

Apply a natural warm grade with soft contrast. Keep the skin tones realistic and avoid making the colors too saturated.

Transitions

Transitions describe how one shot moves into the next. Most of the time, simple cuts are enough. But when used intentionally, transitions can help show time passing, connect two ideas, or create a smoother visual flow.

Useful terms:

• Hard cut: an instant cut from one shot to another
• Fade in: the image gradually appears from black
• Fade out: the image gradually disappears to black
• Cross dissolve: one shot gradually blends into the next
• Whip pan transition: a fast motion blur connects two shots
• Jump cut: a cut that skips forward in time within the same scene

Example prompt:

Use hard cuts for most of the edit, but add a soft cross dissolve when transitioning from the interview to the product demo.

Match Cuts

A match cut connects two shots by matching something between them. It can be a similar shape, movement, color, composition, or idea. Match cuts are useful because they make an edit feel intentional rather than random.

Common types:

• Shape match: two shots share a similar visual shape
• Motion match: movement continues from one shot into the next
• Color match: two shots are connected by a similar dominant color
• Conceptual match: two different images are linked by meaning

Example prompt:

Create a match cut from the spinning wheel of the bike to a circular product detail in the next shot.

A-roll and B-roll

A-roll and B-roll are essential video editing terms.

A-roll is the main content: the interview, narration, dialogue, or primary footage carrying the story.

B-roll is supporting footage used to illustrate, enrich, or cover the main content. It can show places, objects, actions, details, reactions, screenshots, product shots, archive footage, or stock footage.

In Tellers, this matters because the agent can automatically find or generate relevant B-roll to illustrate a script, audio recording, article, or voiceover.

Useful terms:

• A-roll: the main spoken or narrative footage
• B-roll: supporting visuals
• Cutaway: a brief shot inserted to show a detail or reaction
• Establishing shot: a wide shot that introduces the location or context
• Insert shot: a close shot of an important object or detail

Example prompt:

Keep the founder interview as A-roll, then add B-roll of the product interface, customer reactions, and office details to illustrate each key point.

Putting It All Together

The best prompts combine intention with vocabulary. You can still describe the feeling you want, but then anchor it with concrete filmmaking terms.

Instead of:

Make this video more professional.

Try:

Make this video feel more professional. Create a tight rough cut, remove pauses, use fast pacing, add clean B-roll over the explanations, apply a natural warm color grade, and use simple hard cuts instead of flashy transitions.

Instead of:

Make a cool startup video.

Try:

Create a 30-second startup launch video with energetic pacing, founder A-roll, product B-roll, quick cutaways, a warm modern color grade, and a strong opening shot that establishes the problem in the first three seconds.

FAQ

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You do not need to know every filmmaking term to use Tellers well. But every new word gives you more control. The better you can express your intention, the better the agent can plan, edit, generate, and refine your video. Open Tellers and try rewriting one vague prompt using three terms from this guide.