Time and motion

Twenty-one ways to bend time in a shot, and the wording for each one.

Speed is a decision, not a default. Slow the action and detail arrives. Speed it up and the shot turns comic or clinical. Say the speed in the prompt, because a model runs at life speed unless it is told otherwise.

Faster or slower

6

The speed the action runs at, and the blur that comes with it.

Slow Motion: The action runs slower than life and the detail becomes visible.

The action runs slower than life and the detail becomes visible.

Fast Motion: The action runs faster than life without losing its continuity.

The action runs faster than life without losing its continuity.

Speed Ramp: The speed changes inside the shot, from fast to slow or back.

The speed changes inside the shot, from fast to slow or back.

Bullet Time: Time nearly stops while the camera keeps travelling around the subject.

Time nearly stops while the camera keeps travelling around the subject.

Motion Blur: Moving things blur along their path, the way a real shutter renders them.

Moving things blur along their path, the way a real shutter renders them.

Low Shutter: A long exposure smears every moving thing into a trail.

A long exposure smears every moving thing into a trail.

Time stopped, or run backwards

5

The action holds still or reverses. Both read as a deliberate intervention, so both need a reason.

Freeze Frame: The image stops dead on one frame and holds.

The image stops dead on one frame and holds.

Frozen in Motion: Everything in the scene holds still mid-action while one thing continues.

Frozen in Motion

Everything in the scene holds still mid-action while one thing continues.

Reverse Motion: The action runs backward.

The action runs backward.

Moonwalk: The subject moves forward while appearing to travel backward.

The subject moves forward while appearing to travel backward.

Boomerang: A short action plays forward, then backward, and repeats.

A short action plays forward, then backward, and repeats.

Frames that stutter

4

The motion advances in steps instead of flowing. These come from how frames are printed rather than how fast they were shot.

Stutter / Stop-Stutter: Frames repeat, so the motion jerks instead of flowing.

Stutter / Stop-Stutter

Frames repeat, so the motion jerks instead of flowing.

Step Printing: Frames repeat and skip, so the motion stutters and leaves trails.

Frames repeat and skip, so the motion stutters and leaves trails.

Stop Motion: The movement is built one frame at a time, so it advances in small jumps.

The movement is built one frame at a time, so it advances in small jumps.

Infinite Loop: The end of the shot matches the start, so it plays forever.

The end of the shot matches the start, so it plays forever.

Time compressed

4

Hours become seconds. The camera holds and the world runs.

Time-Lapse: Hours compress into seconds, and slow change becomes movement.

Hours compress into seconds, and slow change becomes movement.

Timelapse Landscape: Cloud and light race across terrain that does not move.

Timelapse Landscape

Cloud and light race across terrain that does not move.

Timelapse Human: People compress into streaks and the space stays still.

Timelapse Human

People compress into streaks and the space stays still.

Timelapse Glam: The subject stays sharp and still while the world races behind them.

The subject stays sharp and still while the world races behind them.

One unbroken shot

2

No cut at all. The length is the effect.

Long Take: One shot runs far longer than usual with no cut.

One shot runs far longer than usual with no cut.

Oner: A whole scene plays in a single unbroken shot.

A whole scene plays in a single unbroken shot.

Run one of them

Copy a prompt into a video model and pay for that one run. No subscription.

Open a video model

Other techniques

Shot typesTwenty-five ways to frame a shot, and the wording that gets each one.25 shot types Camera anglesNineteen places to put the camera, and the wording that gets each one.19 camera angles Camera movementEighty-six ways to move the camera, and the wording that gets each one.86 camera moves CompositionThirty-two ways to arrange a frame, and the wording that gets each one.32 composition rules LightingForty-one lighting setups, and the wording that gets each one.41 lighting setups Lenses and opticsSeventeen lenses, and the wording that gets the look of each one.17 lenses Colour and film lookNineteen colour looks, and the wording that gets each one.19 colour looks Cuts and transitionsTwenty-three ways to get from one shot to the next.23 transitions In-camera and optical effectsFifty-seven effects a camera can make on its own, and how to ask.57 effects Atmosphere and weatherThirteen ways to fill the air, and the wording that gets each one.13 atmosphere effects Genre looksTwenty-seven genres, and the wording that gets the look of each one.27 genre looks Viral looksForty-four looks that travel on short-form video, and how to ask.44 viral looks

Say slow motion, then say what should read in it: water, hair, dust, fabric. A model told only slow motion often gives ordinary speed with less movement in it.