Example scene
Late at night, Lin Xia stands under an umbrella outside the store, looking across the street. One 8-second shot that needs rain, wet reflections and warm/cool contrast.
Steps
Generate a dry keyframe first and confirm the character, umbrella and street are stable.
Add wet ground and static reflections to the keyframe so the rainy night already works as a still.
Describe light sources as steady: warm yellow from the store, cool blue streetlights in the distance; no flashing neon or lightning.
Add only one layer of rain in the video prompt: medium, falling straight down, with minimal character movement.
Run a low-resolution test, check second by second for flicker, then decide whether to add splashes.
Fix mild flicker with a deflicker filter in the edit, and lay rain sound under the whole shot.
Prompts
First frame
City street late at night. [Paste fixed character description] stands under a clear umbrella outside a convenience store; steady warm yellow light spills from the glass door behind her; the soaked road reflects distant cool blue streetlights. Medium shot, eye-level, desaturated, warm/cool contrast, vertical 9:16. No passers-by, no cars, no readable text.
Video
Medium rain falls straight down, drops hitting the umbrella and the pavement. She stands still holding the umbrella and only lifts her eyes slightly toward the far side of the street. Locked-off camera. Keep light levels steady; keep her appearance, the umbrella shape, the store door and the street layout unchanged; no new people or cars.
Negative
flicker, pulsing brightness, lightning, flashing neon, crawling textures, extra people, passing cars
✕ Failed take
The prompt said “storm, lightning, flashing neon, orbiting camera”: brightness jumps every second, the sign text turns to gibberish, a stranger with an umbrella appears at second 5, and the face warps with the light.
✓ Passing take
Rain is the only large moving element, light is steady and the character is clear. Pass criteria: no brightness jumps over 8 seconds; reflections stay in place; the face matches the first frame; it works both muted and with rain sound.
Before/after clips are in production. Follow the steps and prompts to reproduce the result.
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