Sora AI Prompts: Complete Guide to Video Prompt Engineering

Sora struggles with multi-person dialogue scenes (lip-sync, character consistency, complex interaction). Workaround: avoid dialogue entirely or generate visuals + record audio separately. Multi-person scenes work better as silent or B-roll style.

Sora often produces incorrect hands in close-ups (extra fingers, distorted shapes). Workaround: avoid hand close-ups OR use top-down hand shots (more reliable than side angles). For showing detail, choose subjects without hands when possible.

Sora cannot reliably render legible text (signs, screens, books, etc.). Workaround: Use placeholder text in prompts ("phone shows clean home screen interface"). Avoid prompts that depend on specific readable text.

Sora struggles with fast action involving complex subjects (multi-character chase scenes, intricate sports moves). Workaround: slow motion, single subject focus, or freeze-frame moments instead of full action sequences.

Use case: cinematic mood. "A woman in a long cream coat stands at the edge of a foggy lake at dawn. She is not moving. Soft mist rises from the water. Camera slowly pushes forward toward her from behind. Shot on 50mm lens, soft natural light. Style of Andrei Tarkovsky. 12 seconds. Silent."

Use case: character reaction. "A man in his 50s sits alone at a small kitchen table reading a letter. His expression shifts subtly to surprise as he reads. Hold the moment. Camera holds steady at table level. Shot on 85mm lens, soft window light. 8 seconds."

Use case: B-roll. "Top-down shot of hands typing on a wooden desk keyboard. Coffee cup, notebook, plant at edges of frame. Warm desk lamp light from upper right. Camera locked. 4K, shallow depth on hands. 8 seconds."

Use case: product reveal. "A premium wristwatch on pure black background. Single hard light from upper right, deep shadows. Camera slowly orbits 90 degrees. Watch face shows logo clearly throughout rotation. Macro lens, 4K. 8 seconds. Polished commercial style."

Use case: comedy. "A black cat stares intently at a glass of water on a kitchen counter. Camera at cat-eye level, locked. The cat's tail twitches once. The cat extends one paw slowly toward the glass. Cut. 8 seconds. Documentary style. Silent."

Strategy: maintain a personal library of prompts that produced strong results. Tag by use case (cinematic, character, b-roll, etc.). Reuse with variations rather than starting from scratch each time.

When iterating: change ONE variable per regeneration. Camera angle. Lighting. Style reference. Single-variable changes let you isolate what produced what change. Multi-variable changes obscure causation.