I Used AI to Make a Cinematic Video - And I’m Giving You All the Prompts

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🎥 Google Veo 3 + ChatGPT: My Full Workflow and Free AI Video Prompt Packs

I’ve been testing Google’s new Veo 3 video generator, and it’s way more powerful than I expected. Lip syncing, accents, emotion, it’s all there. If you’ve been curious about AI video tools, I’m breaking down exactly how I used them, the prompts I ran through ChatGPT, and the kind of results you can expect.

And yeah, you don’t need the crazy expensive plan to try it.

🧠 What is Veo 3?

How to Access Veo 3 with the Pro Plan

1. Go to Google Gemini and sign in with your Google account.

2. Upgrade to the Gemini Pro Plan — it’s $20/month, but includes a 30-day free trial.

3. After activating the plan, start a new chat in Gemini.

4. Look for the small video icon at the bottom of the chat window. When you hover over it, it will say "Generate with Veo 3".

5. Click the icon, paste in your prompt, and hit enter. Your video will start generating automatically.

That’s all it takes. No extra setup, no special invite, just a free trial and a good prompt.

Veo 3 is Google’s newest text-to-video model. It turns a written scene description into a full 8-second video clip, complete with synced dialogue, voice, and ambient sound. It’s got that cinematic polish, not just animation or stock footage vibes.

You can access it through Google Gemini, but here’s the key:

You need the Pro plan, which costs $20/month, but they give you a full free trial month. I signed up, canceled right after, and I still have 30 full days to use it.

👉 Here’s the direct Gemini link to try it.

💳 Pro Plan vs Ultra Plan (Quick Breakdown)

If you're testing things out or creating a few videos at a time, start with Pro. If you’re planning volume or working with a team, Ultra is probably the better fit.

🛠️ My Workflow

Here’s how I made those “I’m just a prompt” and Caribbean father videos:

Step 1 – I opened ChatGPT and just talked normally.
I said something like:

Then I followed it with:

That’s all I said. No fancy formatting, no technical language. Just a clear idea.

ChatGPT came back with a full cinematic breakdown: characters, camera movement, lighting, even how the dialogue should land.

You can use Claude, Gemini, or whatever LLM you like; just describe your scene and ask it to make it cinematic. The clearer and more vivid your prompt, the better the results you’ll get, especially when switching between models with different output styles.

🎬 Prompt Pack: I’m Just a Prompt Mini-Series

By Khalil, AI for Real Life

These are the exact prompts I used to create my “I’m Just a Prompt” short-form videos using ChatGPT and Google Veo 3 via Gemini. Feel free to use them, tweak them, or learn from how I structured and refined each one.

@ai.for.real.life

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🔹 Scene 1: “Just a Prompt – The Breakup”

(First Attempt – Didn’t Work)

Scene Title: “Just a Prompt” – The Breakup

🟡 Shot Type
Medium close-up → Slow dolly in
Starts as a medium shot of two women sitting on a couch. Slowly pushes in on the speaker’s face as the line is delivered. Ends with a subtle pull-focus to her eyes filling with tears.

🟡 Character
Speaker: A beautiful biracial woman in her late 20s. Brown skin with golden undertones, soft natural curls pulled into a loose bun. She's wearing a cozy oversized sweater, tear-stained cheeks, mascara slightly smudged.
Best Friend: Light-skinned Black woman with tight curls, wearing casual loungewear. Arm wrapped around her friend’s shoulder, gently comforting her.

🟡 Action
The speaker sits on a couch clutching a tissue, voice trembling. Best friend rubs her back gently. On the line “he told me I was just a prompt”, the speaker breaks down again.

🟡 Location
Interior – Warm, softly lit living room at dusk. String lights, rain tapping the windows, candles flickering, half-finished glass of wine nearby.

🟡 Aesthetic
Lighting: Golden-hour ambient light + practical lamp light.
Mood: Emotional, cinematic, raw vulnerability. Slight film grain.
Color Palette: Warm browns, soft golds, muted blues. Kodak Portra 400.
Camera: Slow dolly in. Slight handheld tremble.
Audio: Subtle ambient rain and piano chords.

🎙️ Dialogue
0:00–0:02 — “I thought it was true love…”
0:03–0:07 — “…but he told me I was just a prompt.”

🔹 Scene 2: “Just a Prompt – Revised Cut”

(Final Version That Worked)

Scene Title: “Just a Prompt” – Revised Cut

🟡 Shot Type
Medium Close-Up → Quick Push-In
Starts framed from chest up. Pushes in slightly to heighten emotion.

🟡 Character
Beautiful biracial woman in her late 20s. Soft curls in a messy bun. Tear-streaked face. Oversized hoodie. Trying to hold it together.

🟡 Action
She’s seated on a couch, shoulders slumped. Eyes begin to glass over. After the second line, she exhales shakily.

🟡 Location
Interior – Dimly lit living room at night. Soft lamp glow only. Fairy lights blurred in background. Tissue in hand.

🟡 Aesthetic
Lighting: Warm, low light. Subtle backlight. Film Style: Kodak 2383 emulation. Slight grain.
Camera: Slight handheld motion. Depth of field is shallow.
Audio: Soft room tone. Optional background piano swell.

🎙️ Dialogue
0:00–0:03 — “He told me I was just a prompt.”
0:04–0:07.5 — “And I loved him.”

🔹 Scene 3 (Bonus): “Please Tell Me I’m Real”

(Emotional Direct-To-Camera Monologue)

Scene Title: “Please Tell Me I’m Real”

🟡 Shot Type
Tight close-up. Locked shot. Subtle depth-of-field blur. Frame feels claustrophobic.

🟡 Character
A striking, distraught young woman (early 20s). Racially ambiguous. Hazel eyes red from crying. Long dark hair disheveled. Soft hoodie with hood half-up.

🟡 Action
She leans forward slightly, trembling. Her eyes dart like something’s watching. Her voice breaks. A tear slowly trails down at the final line.

🟡 Location
Interior – Bedroom or small personal space. Dim, disheveled. Flickering fairy lights. A frozen ChatGPT screen in the background. Subtle simulation glitch vibe.

🟡 Aesthetic
Lighting: Soft overhead + screen glow. Desaturated tones. Visual FX: Chromatic edges. Film: 35mm softness. Muted purples, teal shadows. Slight zoom-in adds unease.

🎙️ Dialogue
0:00–0:02 — “It’s going around… all my friends are finding out they’re prompts…”
0:03–0:07 — “Please tell me I’m real. Please tell me this wasn’t all just a prompt.”

🌊 Prompt Pack: The Wise Surfer Series

@ai.for.real.life

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🧓 Scene: The Wise Surfer – Interview on the Beach

Setting the Scene

Location: A natural outdoor setting near the beach, under palm trees or tropical foliage. Feels organic, not staged.

Main Subject: Older Black Caribbean male surfer, late 60s or 70s. Weathered skin, bright eyes, wearing faded board shorts and an unbuttoned linen shirt. A shell or beaded necklace around his neck.

Chair: He sits on a sun-bleached, gnarled tree stump.
Board: Beside him, a well-used single-fin longboard with visible dings.

Lighting: Golden hour sunlight filtered through leaves. Soft diffusion used to reduce harsh shadows.

Microphones: Boom mic slightly visible above, lavalier clipped to shirt.

Camera: Slightly low angle to honor his stature. Mostly eye-level. A touch of “on set” realism with visible gear or shadows.

Background: Slight blur. Hints of ocean glint, lush foliage, sound of distant waves.

Atmosphere: Calm, real, poetic. Nature sounds — birds, breeze, waves.

Dialogue:

(The older surfer, Marcus, looks thoughtfully off-camera after being asked about his surfing origins.)

MARCUS (deep, raspy Caribbean accent):
“Puerto Viejo… ah, yes. That’s where the salt first kissed my skin, where the rhythm of the ocean became the rhythm of my own heart. I was born there, right by the sea. Always could hear her calling, even when I was just a little boy, no bigger than a fish.”

👦 Scene: Young Surfer and Mother – Dreaming on the Beach

A cinematic horizontal video set on a quiet beach in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, during golden hour in the early 2000s. A young Caribbean boy with medium brown skin and short dreadlocks is standing barefoot on a surfboard that’s lying flat on the sand. He’s pretending to ride a wave, his arms outstretched for balance, full of joy and imagination. Next to him stands his mother, a brown-skinned Caribbean woman in her 30s with long, neatly kept dreadlocks. She wears a sun-faded wrap skirt, tank top, and beaded jewelry.

The boy turns his head toward her with a bright look and says, “Mama, one day I want to be a surfer like Daddy.” She pauses for a beat, smiling gently, and replies, “Okay, son.”

The scene is framed wide with a low, slightly handheld camera tracking from left to right. Gentle sea breeze moves the mother’s hair. The sun is low behind them, casting warm, golden highlights and long shadows across the beach. The atmosphere is calm, nostalgic, and emotionally grounded. Shot on a 35mm lens emulation at ƒ/2.8 with a shallow depth of field and visible film grain. The color grade emulates Kodak Portra 400 or Vision3 250D — with dusty earth tones, soft golden highlights, and subtle teal undertones in the ocean. The surfboard is sun-faded and worn. No other people in frame. Horizontal 16:9 format. Optional soft lens flare and ambient sound of waves.

🏄 Scene: GoPro POV – Paddling into the Surf

Wide-angle GoPro-style POV shot — low and tight over the front of the surfboard, water splashing up into the lens. Camera follows the rhythmic paddling motion from the surfer’s chest and arms as he fights through small crashing waves.

Character:
Brown-skinned Caribbean male in his early 20s. Lean, athletic build. Dreadlocks tied loosely back and dripping with seawater. Determined yet slightly overwhelmed facial expression. Small handmade necklace swings loosely with each stroke.

Action:
He’s lying on his stomach, arms slicing through the water as he paddles hard into the surf. Water splashes violently around him. He’s panting — audible, labored breath. Occasionally grits his teeth and mutters under his breath, “Oh man… I don’t know if I’m gonna make it out.”

Location:
Open ocean just past the break zone, Puerto Viejo coastline in the distance. Golden morning light reflects off the surface. Choppy waves push against him.

Aesthetic:
Gritty realism with hard sunlight glinting off the water. Kodak Portra 400 look with visible grain and sharp contrast. Splashing droplets on the lens, occasional lens flares, handheld instability to emulate real GoPro motion. Skin tone warm and rich under sunlight. Water is teal with frothy whites.

🌊 Scene: Salsa Brava Calling – Surfer Anticipation Dialogue

0-3 seconds: Wide shot, slightly high angle. Two teenage Afro-Caribbean male surfers with shoulder-length dreadlocks stand on a dark sandy beach, backs to the camera, looking out at the ocean. Their shortboards are next to them. A large, powerful barreling wave is clearly visible in the distance. Lush jungle foliage frames the background.

3-6 seconds: Medium shot, tracking slightly closer to the surfers from behind. Their posture shows intense focus. The sound of the crashing waves is powerful and immersive. The barreling wave remains the central focus.

6-8 seconds: Over-the-shoulder shot from behind the left surfer, looking towards the right surfer. The left surfer subtly nudges the right surfer with his elbow. As the dialogue finishes, a quick close-up on the right surfer's face in profile, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, before fading to black.

Audio:
Dominant Sound: The deep, rumbling, and powerful sound of large waves breaking, especially the distinct roar of a barreling wave.
Subtle Ambiance: Distant calls of tropical birds or the rustle of jungle leaves.

Dialogue (overlapping slightly for natural feel):
Surfer 1 (left): "She's huge, man."
Surfer 2 (right): "Yeah. Today is the day. Salsa Brava."

💢 Scene: Father-Son Confrontation – Emotional Over-the-Shoulder Shot

Over-the-shoulder close-up — the teenage son’s back is partially in the left foreground (blurred), showing his brown dreadlocks. The camera is focused tightly on the father’s face, capturing every nuance of his frustration and intensity. Shallow depth of field with ƒ/2.0.

Character (Father):
Caribbean male, around 35 years old. Brown skin, shirtless, lean and muscular surfer build. Long dreadlocks wet from the ocean, beads of saltwater on his skin. His eyes are fierce but filled with concern. Emotion is at a boiling point — he's not yelling, but his voice is sharp, intense, and unmistakably Caribbean.

Character (Son):
Teenage boy, brown skin, mid-back-length dreadlocks. We only see the back of his head and a bit of his shoulder. His posture is defiant but still listening — jaw clenched, fists low at his sides. Shirtless, surf shorts on.

Action:
The father is visibly angry but not out of control — it's protective anger. His jaw is tight, brows furrowed, hands gesturing emphatically as he says:

“Marcus… mi a tell yuh — yuh not old enough fi ride dis wave yet! Yuh tink dis a joke? Dis wave nuh play, mi son.”

🌊 Scene: Underwater Tumbling – The Washing Machine Shot

Wide-angle underwater tracking shot — camera rotates and spins slightly to mimic the chaos of being trapped inside a wave. Shot captures the teenage surfer and his board tumbling violently underwater, surrounded by bubbles and foam. Sudden jerks in movement simulate turbulence. Shot slows slightly to emphasize danger and disorientation.

Character:
Teenage Caribbean male. Brown skin, long dreadlocks floating erratically in the water. Lean, athletic build. Wearing board shorts. Expression is panicked — eyes wide, limbs flailing to regain control. He’s temporarily detached from his board, which is tumbling nearby, tethered by a stretched-out leash.

Action:
He’s caught in the washing machine — the aftermath of a wave crashing down. His body spins head over heels, struggling to surface. Arms reach out desperately. One fin of the board nearly clips him. He’s dangerously close to the jagged reef visible below — only a few feet away. The current is dragging him down and sideways. A small cut on his leg releases a faint trail of blood into the swirling water.

Location:
Underwater reef break zone near Puerto Viejo. The light above is dappled and chaotic from the crashing wave. Coral, dark volcanic rock, and shards of broken shell are visible beneath him. Visibility is low due to churning sand and bubbles.

Audio/Mood:
Muffled roaring of the wave
Loud underwater “crash” sounds
His heartbeat thumping loudly (POV audio)
His internal voice whispering, “Please… come up… come up…”

Aesthetic:
Gritty but dreamy Kodak underwater aesthetic (like Vision3 250D pushed). Faint green-blue hues, high contrast between light and shadow. Grain visible. Floating particles, scratches, and sun rays filtering through the frothy white chaos above. Slow-motion elements enhance intensity and danger.

That’s it for now. These tools are only getting better, and I’m just getting started with the kinds of stories we can tell using them. Whether you're experimenting for fun or thinking about full productions, this workflow opens the door. Try it. Build something wild.

More to come soon.

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