Runway Video Creation Guide

General Overview

This is a one-size-fits-all guide to help creators prompt effectively using Runway Gen-4. Whether you're generating still images or cinematic video sequences, everything begins with the structure and clarity of your prompts. This email provides both the image prompting and video prompting frameworks. Each section is designed to be copied and pasted directly into ChatGPT to help create any Gen-4 output you want.

How to Use Runway Gen-4 (Start to Finish)

Runway Gen-4 generates videos by first creating a single image frame, then animating it based on your video prompt. This means the process has two distinct parts:

1. Image Generation (First Frame):
   You begin by generating a high-quality still image. This is the first frame of your video, and it defines the subject, composition, style, lighting, and tone.

2. Video Animation (Motion):
   Once the image is ready, you animate it using a motion prompt that tells Runway how the camera, subject, and environment should move.

Recommended Workflow

The most effective setup is to use two separate ChatGPT chats:

• Chat 1: Image Prompting
  Paste in the Image Prompting Guide from this document. Use this chat to craft and refine the perfect first frame prompt.

• Chat 2: Video Prompting
  Paste in the Video Prompting Guide. Use this chat to generate your motion-based prompt once your image is ready.

Once you’ve built both:

• Generate the image in Runway using the prompt from Chat 1

• Upload the image into Runway’s video model

• Paste in the motion prompt from Chat 2 and generate your final video

This workflow gives you full control over both visuals and motion, and ensures the most consistent, cinematic results possible.

Image Prompting

Prompting Basics

Image prompting supports a wide variety of structures, keywords, and styles. You can prompt for:

• Subject

• Scene

• Composition

• Lighting

• Color

• Style

• Focus

• Angle

• Text

• Mood

Detailed prompting gives fine-tuned control, but simple prompts can still yield stunning results.

You don’t need to follow a specific structure, but we recommend full sentences for more control, and appending additional keywords when you want more variation.

Example Prompt Comparison

Simple:
elegant portrait of a woman draped in a flowing sheer tulle veil against a blue background that resembles a sky.

Detailed:
elegant portrait of a woman draped in a sheer tulle veil against a blue background that resembles a sky. Close-up, ethereal warm orange lighting, soft glowing focus. natural face. The orange-toned tulle veil is draped over her head and flows around her face with multiple flowing layers in a weightless, extravagant baroque painting style. The flowing fabric takes up most of the scene, dramatically swirling throughout the environment. Glowing orange lighting creates a dreamy atmosphere. blend of pastel and vibrant color palettes. rich purples and blues, warm pinkish orange skin tone. avant-garde. elegant artistry, elaborate yet minimalist. a chaotic yet elegant scene. dramatic weightless flowing fabric. glowing, gel lighting, ethereal. electric neon peach accents.

Best Practices

Be descriptive, not conversational or command-based.
Runway thrives on visual detail — not dialogue.

❌ can you please generate an image of a giraffe with a short neck?
✅ cinematic photograph of a giraffe with an extremely short neck.

Use positive phrasing.
Don’t describe what shouldn’t be in the image.

❌ a man with no hair
✅ a bald man

Prompt Keywords & Inspiration

These collections include style, lighting, camera effects, and more.
Use them directly or edit to align with your vision.

Aesthetic Styles

Art Styles

Composition Styles

Camera & Film Styles

General Styles

Subject Poses

Text Styles

Texture Styles

What This Unlocks

This image prompting framework gives you control over:

• Aesthetic tone (cinematic, dreamy, horror, glitch)

• Lighting, texture, and focus

• Composition and camera effects

• Stylization in illustration, painting, or pixel forms

It allows full creative control of Runway Gen-4’s image model for any purpose — thumbnails, concept art, product mockups, or cinematic storytelling.

Video Prompting

Prompting Basics

Gen-4 Video prompting thrives on simplicity and clarity. Start with a basic motion-focused sentence and build gradually.

Your prompt should guide the motion in the scene. Begin with the essential motion, then refine using:

• Subject motion

• Camera motion

• Scene motion

• Style descriptors

Add one new element at a time to better understand what improves or changes your result.

Best Practices

✅ Use positive phrasing
✅ Be simple, clear, and visual
✅ Focus on motion — not what the subject looks like
✅ Use descriptive sentences, not commands

❌ Avoid negatives ("no hair", "no clothes", etc.)
❌ Avoid conversational phrasing

Prompt Structure

Subject Motion

Describe what the character or object does.
Use neutral, flexible phrasing:

• “The subject turns slowly.”

• “The subject walks forward.”

• “She raises her hand.”

For multiple characters, use:

• Positioning: “The subject on the left walks. The one on the right stays still.”

• Simple roles: “The woman waves. The man turns.”

Scene Motion

Describe how the environment reacts or behaves.

Two styles:

Insinuated motion:
“The subject runs across the dusty desert.” (Implies dust moves)

Described motion:
“The subject runs. Dust trails behind them.” (Explicitly directs scene movement)

Use direct motion descriptions when you need emphasis. Repeat if necessary for consistency.

Camera Motion

Describe how the camera moves:

Examples:

• “The camera slowly zooms out.”

• “The camera pans across the field.”

• “A handheld camera follows the subject.”

• “The camera orbits around the subject.”

• “The camera drifts through the hallway.”

You can mix motion types:

• “The subject walks forward. The camera follows behind.”

• “The camera glides past the subject as they sit still.”

Use film terms like:
handheld, tracking, locked, dolly, pan, tilt, orbit, pullback, push-in

Style Descriptors

These help define the motion feel or aesthetic:

Examples:

• “cinematic animation”

• “smooth stop-motion”

• “fast chaotic movement”

• “slow dreamlike motion”

• “live-action look”

You can place these at the end or blend into the main sentence.

Prompt Examples

• “The subject walks forward. The camera follows behind. Dust trails behind their feet. Cinematic motion.”

• “The camera drifts slowly around the subject as wind moves through the grass. Soft animated style.”

• “The subject stands still. The camera zooms out rapidly. The environment stays frozen. Smooth animation.”

• “The subject runs up the staircase. The camera follows them from a low angle. Energetic and cinematic.”

What to Do Next

Now that you’ve copied the full image and video prompt structure, you can use it directly in any ChatGPT conversation.

Just paste the relevant section into your image or video chat, then ask for a specific output:

• For images: “Can you create a cinematic image using this structure of a samurai walking through neon-lit Tokyo at night?”

• For video: “Using this structure, generate a smooth animated video of a person walking through a dreamlike forest with fog.”

Use the templates as a base, then adjust subject, motion, and style as needed to match your creative goals. You now have full control over how to direct Runway Gen-4 to generate exactly what you want.