Prompts / Google Flow

The Heron Queen

A young queen in a heron-feather cloak stands on a marsh walkway at misty dawn, raises one arm, and hundreds of herons burst from the reeds, painterly animated style.

A Google Flow prompt, shown with the unedited 10-second clip it made (16:9).

The prompt

Painterly 2D-3D hybrid animation like a prestige animated series: hand-painted brush textures, mature realistic proportions, muted shadows with warm highlights, soft volumetric haze, cinematic lighting and camera. 0-3 s: dawn mist over a vast reed marsh; a young queen in a cloak of grey heron feathers stands on a wooden walkway, silver dots painted on her cheekbones. 3-7 s: she slowly raises one arm. 7-10 s: hundreds of herons burst up out of the reeds around her and circle overhead as her cloak lifts in the wind. Slow push-in, then wide crane. Sound: reeds rustling, a rush of wingbeats, a single rising horn. Full-frame 16:9 with no letterbox bars. No subtitles, no on-screen text, no watermark, no logos. 16:9, 10 seconds.

What each part of the prompt does

Look

The prompt names the painting style first, then lets the marsh inherit it. "soft volumetric haze" fits dawn mist over reeds, and "mature realistic proportions" asks for a grown face, so the silver dots on her cheekbones sit on a real-looking queen rather than a cartoon.

Timed beats

This prompt keeps the middle beat very small: she slowly raises one arm, nothing else. That pause sits between a still opening on the walkway and the big release, when the herons burst up and her cloak lifts. A single gesture makes the cause of the flight easy to read.

Camera

"Slow push-in, then wide crane." The push-in moves toward the queen during the still opening and the raised arm. The wide crane rises with the herons, so the circling birds can fill the sky above her.

Sound

"Sound: reeds rustling, a rush of wingbeats, a single rising horn." Rustling fits the quiet marsh. The wingbeats belong to the burst in beat three. The horn is single and rising, so it can climb with the crane move.

Rules

"No subtitles, no on-screen text, no watermark, no logos" keeps the frame free of added text and marks. "Full-frame 16:9 with no letterbox bars" asks for edge-to-edge picture. The final line fixes 16:9 and 10 seconds.

Second by second

1. 0–3 s: dawn mist over a vast reed marsh; a young queen in a cloak of grey heron feathers stands on a wooden walkway, silver dots painted on her cheekbones.
2. 3–7 s: she slowly raises one arm.
3. 7–10 s: hundreds of herons burst up out of the reeds around her and circle overhead as her cloak lifts in the wind.

Make it yours

• Cranes, not herons: Replace "a cloak of grey heron feathers" with "a cloak of white crane feathers" and "hundreds of herons" with "hundreds of cranes" so the birds match the cloak.
• Flooded sunset marsh: Change "dawn mist over a vast reed marsh" to "sunset light over a vast flooded reed marsh" for warmer colour and reflections on the water.
• Vertical for Reels: Change both 16:9 mentions to 9:16. Keep "Slow push-in", but replace "then wide crane" with "then a crane straight up", so the herons circle in the top of the tall frame above her.

Where this prompt is from

All the Google Flow film prompts are free on AI Video With Code.

More prompts

• The White Stag: Birch forest in autumn, a lantern, a stag
• The Ferryman: Foggy river at night, lantern, long pole
• Glass Tide: Salt flat at dawn, a lone monk, slow push-in
• The Kite Maker: Rice terraces, a paper kite, golden hour

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