I make short product ads with AI video generators for small clients. The single biggest quality jump didn't come from a better model. It came from writing prompts like a shot list instead of a mood board.
Here's the 7-slot formula I fill in, in order, for every shot:
[Subject + product detail] + [one action] + [one camera move] + [lens & light] + [location] + [realism & style] + [duration]
Keep the product's fixed information identical across shots. Change only the action and framing.
The seven slots, bad vs good
| Slot | Bad | Good |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Subject + detail | a nice serum |
a 30 ml clear glass serum bottle with an ivory dropper cap and a silver collar |
| 2. One action | a hand opens the bottle and applies serum |
one clear serum droplet slides down the bottle |
| 3. One camera move | zoom in, orbit, then pull back |
slow dolly-in |
| 4. Lens & light | beautiful lighting |
50mm lens, soft top light |
| 5. Location | somewhere elegant |
on a matte beige pedestal in a pale beige studio |
| 6. Realism & style | an amazing luxury vibe |
photorealistic product commercial, realistic glass reflections |
| 7. Duration | long enough |
5 seconds (and set it in the tool too) |
Why "one" matters: asking for pick up, open, apply in one clip is where hands melt and bottles change shape. Split it into shots and you also know exactly which shot to regenerate.
Three things to keep OUT of the prompt
- Copy, prices, logos. Models misspell and distort letters. Leave empty space in the frame and add exact text in editing.
- Two actions in one shot. Every "and then" is a new shot.
- Adjectives like amazing / stunning. They don't describe anything visible. Replace them with what the camera would see: "glowing rim", "matte pedestal".
Consistency across shots
Copy-paste the product sentence and the lens/light/location sentence into every shot. Swapping soft top light for cinematic lighting in shot 3 gives you a different-looking ad, even if the words feel similar.
If you start from an existing product photo (image-to-video), don't re-describe the product at all. The photo already holds product, light and set. Describe only the motion:
The camera slowly moves closer. The bottle remains still.
Re-describing the product invites the model to reinterpret it.
A full 15-second example (3 shots)
Hook, 4s:
A 30 ml clear glass serum bottle with an ivory dropper cap and a silver collar.
One clear serum droplet slides down the front of the bottle. Locked-off camera,
tight close-up, 50mm lens, soft top light. On a matte beige pedestal in a pale
beige studio. Photorealistic product commercial, realistic glass reflections. 4 seconds.
Hero, 5s:
(same product sentence) The bottle slowly rotates by 15 degrees. Locked-off camera,
centered medium close-up, 50mm lens, soft top light. (same location + style) 5 seconds.
CTA background, 6s:
(same product sentence) The bottle stands still. Slow dolly-in, wide shot with empty
space on the upper third for text. (same lens, light, location, style) 6 seconds.
The CTA shot deliberately leaves empty space; the button text goes on in the editor.
This is one chapter of a 43-page guide I wrote from real client work: the 5-beat structure of a 15-second ad, a brief questionnaire you can send as-is, storyboard templates, six industry examples, a credit-saving production order, platform specs and how to price the job. If it's useful: 15-Second AI Product Ads: A Practical Guide ($9).
Drafted with help from AI tools; the workflow and examples come from my own projects.
Top comments (0)