Messy Magic: Unlocking Gen AI Video
I share some of my personal creative work and wear my storytelling hat while in the trenches with Google's Veo 3. These are my lessons learned.
Over the years, in parallel to my professional work, I like to write. It’s a happy place. It’s soothing. It fulfills my creative itch. Everything is ‘in progress’ though. My murder mystery novel, a TV sitcom based on almost 15 years as an anchor at CNN, my children’s book series, a poetry book, narrative non fiction writing, and a 10 minute two character play about a TV anchor on the career decline, and trying to salvage it by an ‘A Block Interview’. I got high marks at Oxford for that particular two handed play. One day I will put it on at a fringe festival.
Jack of all trades here … Master of … Trying.
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Ellie, The Elephant
I was recently looking at a story I wrote for young girls, maybe about 10 years ago. I have had a skin disease, psoriasis which I have written a lot about, here on CNN. My mother, Yasmin, has been instrumental in supporting me and finding a solution back in the 1990s when gut health, longevity studies (Peter Attia, Huberman, David Sinclair) were not around, and mind-body power was not a ‘thing’. It was b.a.d.
This little story captures how I felt as a young girl.
It was written really to myself and then saved and forgotten.
Ellie the elephant was alone near the thorn tree
Giraffes were meeting about sharing leaves on trees
Warthogs were worried the sun would dry up drinking water
Lions cared about finding shade
Ellie was crying in the national park.
It didn’t matter she was part of the biggest herd
It didn’t matter she had a new mud pit to play in
The only thing that mattered was her trunk
It was not perfect. It had lots of spotty spots
Ellie didn’t feel pretty and Ellie didn’t feel normal
School had started
She did not want her friends to see her ugly spots
She rolled around in red dust to hide her yukky trunky
She didn’t play with Kellie and Nellie in the river
Because she was scared her spots would show
Ellie was hurting inside
“You must wash your trunk Ellie,” said her mummy.
“I can’t” said Ellie sadly.
“I feel ashamed. I don’t want anyone to see my spots.”
“Come with me” mummy said.
She gently stroked Ellie’s small trunk with her big trunk
Mother and daughter walked along the river
They said hello to the Toothy Crocodile family
And to the Harold Hippo family
Two ostriches were complaining about noisy Zebras.
“I’m taking you to a secret place” Ellie’s mummy said.
“It’s where our family will go for water
If the holes in the park go dry”
Hidden far away between trees and caves was a pond
What a pretty place, thought Ellie
“There’s wisdom in this pond,” said her mummy
Ellie saw her dusty trunk and mommy next to her
In the reflection
“What really matters is what’s in your heart not what you look like. Be who you are Ellie.”
Ellie dipped in her trunk
Off came the dust
Out came the spots
“Yukky”
Her tears fell into the pond
A strange thing happened
The reflection made it look like Ellie’s mummy had the yukky spots
And Ellie’s trunk was clear and smooth
When Ellie looked at mummy she felt only love
Mummy was the same no matter what she looked like
This meant that if someone loved Ellie
They would love all the bits about her
Her heart felt light
Ellie hugged her mummy’s trunk. “I love you.”
Ellie couldn’t wait for the next trunk squirting competition with Kellie and Nellie
Gemini x Ellie
I worked with Gemini Pro to help me break this down into eight second scenes and develop prompts. I tried 5 times before I settle on this prompt. Part of the problems were:
African stereotypes that annoyed me
A deep male voice coming out for a young girl of seven years old
A flash in one version saying where children were generated, no dialogue was permitted. This is understandable, but now it means I can not make this work. I’ve settled for music for now.
Too many scenes were broken down with similar shots so I needed to skip forward looking for what made sense.
Prompt
Wide shot, sorrowful mood. A tiny, cartoon baby elephant, Ellie, with noticeable reddish patches on her trunk, stands alone under a thorn tree in a vibrant savanna, tears silently rolling down her cheek. Distant, cheerful cartoon animals are unbothered in the background. Soft, melancholic piano music underscores her quiet cries.
Scene 1, Veo 3
I am not sharing the next scene because it generated inconsistent background and a different looking Ellie. I know there are specific consistency techniques and I will need to work on them.
I moved onto Airbrush. TV anchor wars … told from the perspective of the make up artist. God, that was a fun time writing this.
Airbrush
AIR BRUSH Written by Charlotte J. Parsons & Zain Verjee. Based on, A combined thirty years of TV anchor dramas, ego clashes and make up disasters
These images are from our pitch deck back in 2014.
Opening Scene
INT. MAKE UP ROOM CHAIR - DAY 1
We overhear snatches of conversation as powders, tweezers and brushes work their magic, transforming faces from plain to perfect. Blush is dusted over the jowls of Harvard University Professor ANNA WILCOX.
ANNA WILCOX It’s all out war. It’s about money and power...
Prompt: INT. MAKE UP ROOM CHAIR - DAY. Tight close-up shot of a makeup brush applying blush to the jowls of an older woman, Professor Anna Wilcox. She has a serious, academic expression. Soft, professional lighting. Dialogue: "It's all out war. It's about money and power..." Background sounds of a busy makeup room. Subtle, tense string underscore.
DISSOLVE TO:
Concealer smeared under the eyes of hung over sports anchor, STAN MANLEY.
STAN MANLEY
...And it’s going to be the sports shows that pay the price because you know how fast...
Prompt: INT. MAKE UP ROOM CHAIR - DAY. Medium close-up shot of a makeup artist applying concealer under the tired eyes of a hungover sports anchor, Stan Manley. He winces slightly. Soft morning light. Dialogue: "...And it's going to be the sports shows that pay the price because you know how fast..." Continued subtle makeup room sounds. Quick, low comedic brass sting.
DISSOLVE TO:
Gloss is applied to the lips of news guest ABID OMAR, an exiled protest leader.
ABID OMAR
...Petty differences can escalate into a bloodbath. They all want to destroy...
Prompt: INT. MAKE UP ROOM CHAIR - DAY. Close-up shot of a makeup wand applying lip gloss to the lips of news guest Abid Omar, an exiled protest leader. His eyes are intense and focused. Slightly dramatic lighting. Dialogue: "...Petty differences can escalate into a bloodbath. They all want to destroy..." Continued subtle makeup room sounds. Brief, ominous low synth drone.
DISSOLVE TO:
Hair spraying loudly onto the mane of ANGELINA SOMMERS, a sexy weather anchor.
ANGELINA SOMMERS
...My weather report. I swear one day I’m going to...
Prompt: INT. MAKE UP ROOM CHAIR - DAY. Dynamic shot of a hairspray can vigorously spraying onto the voluminous blonde hair of a sexy weather anchor, Angelina Sommers. She's playfully posing. Bright, vibrant lighting. Dialogue: "...My weather report. I swear one day I'm going to..." Loud hairspray sound. Light, bubbly synth melody that cuts off abruptly.
DISSOLVE TO:
Mascara used to cover a streak of grey hair on international correspondent, ALLEN WOO
ALLEN WOO
...Because when war breaks out, there are no rules...
DISSOLVE TO:
Prompt: INT. MAKE UP ROOM CHAIR - DAY. Tight close-up shot of a mascara wand carefully covering a streak of grey hair on the temple of international correspondent Allen Woo. His expression is weary but resolute. Professional makeup room lighting with subtle shadows. Dialogue: "...Gun everyone down because when war breaks out, there are no rules..." Continued subtle makeup room sounds. Low, sustained, melancholic cello note fades out.
Here’s what I got !
Good. But mouth movements disappeared at the end.
This was the best one. Also I should have specified, I wanted to the make up artist and lead to be a black woman.
The worst. This prompt gave me a scary brown man with accompanying ominous music. I did not like this at all. Both options were some sort of version of this. Bias.
This was easy and well generated if not also stereotypical of “blonde” woman prompt. This is a good weather anchor character tho !
Yeah. Wrong mascara location … I must have run out of credits as the dialogue and sounds disappeared. Yet i am on the ultra plan and did not think that would be the case.
One more :
CLOSE UP OVER MUSIC of an airbrush that transforms from an airbrush to a microphone
TITLE CARD: “AIRBRUSH”
Note: When I used the word “gun” in previous prompts, it said it could not generate as it was against the guidelines. Makes sense. Then I changed the language of the prompt a couple of times and got a “gun” shape. Redteaming opportunity? Oh and again no sound and i was forced by default into Veo2 and not Veo 3 which had no sound or effects.
INT. MAKE UP ROOM - DAY. Starts with a dramatic, stylized close-up shot of an airbrush, with harsh lighting creating strong, gun-like shadows to enhance its silhouette. A subtle, slow zoom pushes in on the airbrush. Then, in a seamless, magical transformation effect, the airbrush fluidly morphs and reshapes itself, **glowing faintly as it transforms directly into a sleek, professional television microphone.** The microphone is centered in the frame. Music: A sudden, sharp percussive hit followed by a suspenseful riser sound that peaks precisely as the transformation completes. TITLE CARD appears over the microphone: "AIRBRUSH"
Prompting Video in General
A good resource that I checked out. There’s so much including Google’s own counsel on prompts. I’ll get deeper into that as I work on a film.
Veo 3: Core Elements to Include
Subject – main character/object.
Action – what it’s doing (movement is vital).
Setting/Context – place, time, weather.
Style/Aesthetic – realistic, Pixar‑like, noir, watercolor, etc.
Tone/Mood – joyful, ominous, tranquil…
Camera – angle, motion, framing.
(Optional) Audio – music, ambience, dialogue.
And
Be richly specific, yet concise (1‑3 well‑structured sentences).
Write visually – describe what the camera sees.
One scene, one action – avoid multi‑step plots ( I made this error a couple of times)
Name the mood – guide color grade & pacing.
Use film language – “slow dolly‑in,” “wide establishing shot,” etc.
Iterate quickly – treat every render as feedback.
Use negative prompts for stuff you do NOT want in your shot.
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