If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million. With Veo 3.1 — Google's state-of-the-art video generation model — you can now direct AI-generated video with professional-grade creative controls, multiple aspect ratios, and rich synchronized audio.

This guide is a framework for directing Veo 3.1, which marks a shift from simple generation to true creative control. Whether you're making product demos, short films, or social media content, these techniques will help you get dramatically better results on HeyMarmot.

What You'll Learn

Learn Veo 3.1's full range of capabilities
Implement a formula to direct scenes with consistent characters and styles
Direct video and sound using professional cinematic techniques
Execute complex ideas by combining Veo with Nano Banana in advanced workflows

Veo 3.1 Model Capabilities

Before diving into prompting techniques, let's understand what Veo 3.1 can do.

Core Generation Features

Feature	Details
Resolution	720p or 1080p
Aspect Ratio	16:9 or 9:16
Clip Length	4, 6, or 8 seconds
Audio	Rich synchronized sound, dialogue, and SFX
Scene Comprehension	Deep understanding of narrative structure and cinematic styles

Advanced Creative Controls

Image-to-Video: Animate a source image with strong prompt adherence and enhanced audio-visual quality
Ingredients to Video: Provide reference images of a scene, character, object, or style to maintain a consistent aesthetic across multiple shots — now with audio generation
First and Last Frame: Generate natural video transitions between a start image and end image, complete with audio
Add/Remove Object: Introduce new objects or remove existing ones while preserving the scene's original composition
Digital Watermarking: All generated videos are marked with SynthID

A Formula for Effective Prompts

A structured prompt yields consistent, high-quality results. Use this five-part formula:

[Cinematography] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style & Ambiance]

Element	Purpose	Examples
Cinematography	Camera work and shot composition	"Medium shot," "Crane shot," "Dolly in"
Subject	Main character or focal point	"A tired corporate worker," "A young explorer"
Action	What the subject is doing	"Rubbing his temples," "Pushing aside a vine"
Context	Environment and background	"In a cluttered office late at night"
Style & Ambiance	Aesthetic, mood, and lighting	"Retro aesthetic, slightly grainy, warm tones"

Example prompt:

Medium shot, a tired corporate worker, rubbing his temples in exhaustion, in front of a bulky 1980s computer in a cluttered office late at night. The scene is lit by the harsh fluorescent overhead lights and the green glow of the monochrome monitor. Retro aesthetic, shot as if on 1980s color film, slightly grainy.

Essential Prompting Techniques

The Language of Cinematography

The Cinematography element is your most powerful tool for conveying tone and emotion.

Camera movement vocabulary:

Dolly shot — Camera moves toward or away from the subject on a track
Tracking shot — Camera follows the subject horizontally
Crane shot — Camera rises or descends vertically, often revealing scale
Aerial view — High overhead perspective
Slow pan — Gradual horizontal camera rotation
POV shot — First-person perspective from a character's eyes

Example — Crane shot:

Crane shot starting low on a lone hiker and ascending high above, revealing they are standing on the edge of a colossal, mist-filled canyon at sunrise, epic fantasy style, awe-inspiring, soft morning light.

Composition keywords: Wide shot, Close-up, Extreme close-up, Low angle, Two-shot

Lens & focus keywords: Shallow depth of field, Wide-angle lens, Soft focus, Macro lens, Deep focus

Example — Shallow depth of field:

Close-up with very shallow depth of field, a young woman's face, looking out a bus window at the passing city lights with her reflection faintly visible on the glass, inside a bus at night during a rainstorm, melancholic mood with cool blue tones, moody, cinematic.

Directing the Soundstage

Veo 3.1 can generate a complete soundtrack from your text instructions. Use these three techniques:

Dialogue — Use quotation marks for specific speech:

A woman says, "We have to leave now."

Sound effects (SFX) — Describe sounds with clarity:

SFX: thunder cracks in the distance

Ambient noise — Define the background soundscape:

Ambient noise: the quiet hum of a starship bridge

Combining all three in a single prompt gives Veo the information it needs to create a fully realized audio-visual scene.

Mastering Negative Prompts

To refine your output, describe what you wish to exclude — but do it positively. Instead of saying "no buildings," describe "a desolate landscape with no buildings or roads." Frame exclusions as part of your scene description for better results.

Prompt Enhancement with Gemini

If you're struggling to add enough detail, use Gemini (or any text AI) to analyze and enrich a simple prompt with more descriptive and cinematic language before feeding it to Veo.

Advanced Creative Workflows

While a single detailed prompt is powerful, multi-step workflows offer unparalleled control. Here's how to combine Veo 3.1 with Nano Banana for complex creative visions.

Workflow 1: Dynamic Transitions with "First and Last Frame"

Create controlled camera movements or transformations between two distinct points of view.

Step 1 — Create the starting frame using Nano Banana:

Medium shot of a female pop star singing passionately into a vintage microphone. She is on a dark stage, lit by a single, dramatic spotlight from the front. She has her eyes closed, capturing an emotional moment. Photorealistic, cinematic.

Step 2 — Create the ending frame with a different angle:

POV shot from behind the singer on stage, looking out at a large, cheering crowd. The stage lights are bright, creating lens flare. You can see the back of the singer's head and shoulders in the foreground. The audience is a sea of lights and silhouettes. Energetic atmosphere.

Step 3 — Animate with Veo using the First and Last Frame feature:

The camera performs a smooth 180-degree arc shot, starting with the front-facing view of the singer and circling around her to seamlessly end on the POV shot from behind her on stage. The singer sings "when you look me in the eyes, I can see a million stars."

Workflow 2: Dialogue Scenes with "Ingredients to Video"

Build multi-shot scenes with consistent characters engaged in conversation.

Step 1 — Generate your "ingredients": Create reference images using Nano Banana for your characters and settings.

Step 2 — Compose each shot using the Ingredients to Video feature with relevant reference images:

Shot 1:

Using the provided images for the detective, the woman, and the office setting, create a medium shot of the detective behind his desk. He looks up at the woman and says in a weary voice, "Of all the offices in this town, you had to walk into mine."

Shot 2:

Using the provided images for the detective, the woman, and the office setting, create a shot focusing on the woman. A slight, mysterious smile plays on her lips as she replies, "You were highly recommended."

Workflow 3: Timestamp Prompting

Direct a complete multi-shot sequence with precise cinematic pacing — all within a single generation. Assign actions to timed segments for efficient scene creation with visual consistency.