AI Dunk: take over a pro basketball game and dunk it, starring you

How to make a Dunk video yourself

You do not need this page to make one. This is how the video is put together, with the prompts for every shot, so you can build it with any picture model and image-to-video model you like.

1. Step 1

   Draw the run up the floor from a full-body photo

   Use a picture model that takes a reference photo and draw the opening still head to toe from the side of the court: you mid-stride along the sideline, dribbling, face three-quarters to the camera. Ask for exactly the clothes and shoes in the photo, and describe the arena in full, with plain court lines and nothing written anywhere.

2. Step 2

   Draw the drive, the dunk and the roar from the first one

   For the other three, give the picture model your photo and the opening still as a second reference, and ask it to keep the clothes and the arena from that still but draw the framing you describe: head to toe from in front at waist height, head to toe from low under the basket with the rim at the top, then close from the chest up.

3. Step 3

   Animate, trim and cut

   Give each still to an image-to-video model and spell out the move, starting the dunk and the roar with "Immediately". Trim the shots to 4.5, 5, 3 and 3.5 seconds, lay them end to end at 9:16 with hard cuts, and add the song on TikTok so the hook lands on the take-off at 9.5 seconds.

The shots, second by second

The prompts, shot by shot

Each shot is made in two steps. Give its still prompt to a picture model with your photo as the reference, then give the picture it draws to an image-to-video model with the motion prompt. Add these endings to every prompt: they set the look and keep the faces the same from shot to shot.

1. 0–4.5sUp the floor

   Still prompt

   Copy

   A full-body shot from the side of the court: the person in the reference photo, wearing exactly the everyday clothes and shoes they wear in the photo, every layer of them from the collar down to the shoes, not a basketball kit, is seen head to toe and fills most of the height of the frame, shoes on the wooden floor. They run along the sideline of a packed indoor professional basketball arena during a night game: a polished light wooden court, and behind it the courtside front row and steep tiers of seats full of fans right up to the top of the picture, in plain clothes with nothing on the chest. The court lines are plain and the centre circle is bare wood. No advertising boards, screens, scoreboards, flags or banners are in the picture, and nothing has a crest, badge, logo, word, number or letter on it. They are mid-stride, dribbling a plain orange basketball with black seams and nothing printed on it beside their hip with one hand, body turned three-quarters toward the camera, face in full view, with a fierce, focused look, mouth closed. Two tall players in plain white sleeveless shirts with nothing on them stand far behind them on the court, out of focus.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They run hard along the sideline, dribbling the ball fast off the floor beside them with one hand on every stride, their body and face turned toward the camera the whole time, never turning their back to it, with a fierce, focused look, mouth closed. They do not smile. The camera tracks sideways alongside them on a long lens at their speed, level with them, keeping them head to toe in the middle of the frame with the packed seats behind them filling the background; it never turns to look down the court. Their mouth stays closed. Behind them there is nothing but fans in their seats: no boards, screens or banners, nothing painted on the court, and nothing anywhere, the ball included, has any writing or logo on it. The fans behind them jump to their feet, cheering and waving their arms. It stays the same night game under the same bright arena light throughout: the light does not change.

2. 4.5–9.5sThe drive

   Still prompt

   Copy

   A full-body shot from in front of them, the camera at the height of their waist: the person in the reference photo, wearing exactly the clothes and shoes they wear in the photo and in the other frame, every layer of them, is seen head to toe and fills the height of the frame. They drive toward the camera in a low crouch across the same packed arena as in the other frame, the fans filling the seats behind to the top of the picture. No advertising boards, screens, scoreboards, flags or banners are in the picture, and nothing has a crest, badge, logo, word, number or letter on it. They dribble the same plain orange ball, nothing printed on it, low beside their knee with one hand, the other arm out for balance, face in full view, with a fierce, focused look, mouth closed. A referee in a plain grey short-sleeved shirt with nothing on it runs a few steps behind them, out of focus.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They drive hard toward the camera, low and fast, bouncing the ball low beside their knee on every stride, past the referee, who runs after them, still dribbling low at the end. The camera backs away ahead of them on a long lens at the height of their waist, level the whole time, never tilting up, keeping them head to toe with the packed seats behind them filling the background. Their mouth stays closed. Behind them there is nothing but fans in their seats: no boards, screens or banners, nothing painted on the court, and nothing anywhere, the ball included, has any writing or logo on it. The fans behind them jump to their feet, cheering and waving their arms. It stays the same night game under the same bright arena light throughout: the light does not change.

3. 9.5–12.5sThe dunk

   Still prompt

   Copy

   A full-body shot from low down on the court, looking up at them under the basket: the person in the reference photo, wearing exactly the clothes and shoes they wear in the photo and in the other frame, every layer of them, is seen head to toe, and the rim and the bottom of the backboard are above them at the top of the picture: a plain clear glass backboard, a plain orange rim and a white net. They stand planted under the basket on bent knees, about to spring, holding the ball up high above their head in one hand, face in full view, with a fierce, focused look, mouth closed. Behind them is the same packed arena as in the other frame, the fans filling the seats behind to the top of the picture. No advertising boards, screens, scoreboards, flags or banners are in the picture, and nothing has a crest, badge, logo, word, number or letter on it.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   Immediately they spring straight up off both feet, rise to the rim and slam the ball down through the hoop with one hand, hang on the rim for a moment, then drop back down and land on both feet. The net whips. The camera tilts up with them on a long lens. Their mouth stays closed. The fans behind them jump to their feet, cheering and waving their arms. It stays the same night game under the same bright arena light throughout: the light does not change.

4. 12.5–16sThe roar

   Still prompt

   Copy

   A close shot from the chest up: the head and shoulders of the person in the reference photo, wearing exactly the clothes they wear in the photo and in the other frame, every layer of them down to the collar, fill the frame. They stand on the court just in front of the courtside seats, the fans right behind them on their feet, cheering, in the same packed arena as in the other frame, the fans filling the seats behind to the top of the picture. No advertising boards, screens, scoreboards, flags or banners are in the picture, and nothing has a crest, badge, logo, word, number or letter on it. Chest out and both arms tensed down at their sides, they face the camera, face in full view, mouth wide open in a huge triumphant roar, eyes wide.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   Immediately they roar at the crowd with their mouth wide open, chest out, both arms tensed at their sides and shaking, leaning in toward the lens, still roaring at the end. The fans behind them jump to their feet, cheering and waving their arms. The camera shakes a little, close in front of them. It stays the same night game under the same bright arena light throughout: the light does not change.

Where it goes wrong

• Stop the still before the jump

  Draw someone in mid-air at the rim and a picture model gets the arms, the hands and the ball wrong, and the clip starts mid-flight. Draw them planted under the basket on bent knees with the ball held up, and start the motion with "Immediately they spring straight up", so the dunk happens inside the three seconds you keep.

• Ask only for the clothes in the photo

  We also told our model what to wear where a photo shows no legs, and one of our test stills swapped a man's chinos and leather shoes for jeans and trainers, though his photo showed them. Ask for exactly the clothes and shoes in the photo, from the collar down to the shoes, and start from a full-body photo.

• Keep the league out of the arena

  Say "pro basketball arena" and a picture model paints a crest in the centre circle, names and numbers on the shirts, a logo on the backboard and lettered boards round the court. Say the lines are plain, the centre circle bare and every shirt plain, and rule out boards, screens and scoreboards. Say it again in the motion: in our first sample the stills were clean, but as the camera moved the clips added a lettered board behind the seats and writing on the ball.

• Keep the mouth shut until the roar

  The song goes over the video, so a player whose mouth moves during the run looks like they are miming the words. Say "mouth closed" in every still and motion before the landing, and open it only for the roar at the end.

• Only people who said yes

  Use your own photo or one of someone who agreed. Do not use celebrities, pro players, the man from the original clip, or anyone who has not agreed to be in the video: a realistic video of a real person in a game they never played, made without their consent, can hurt them, and platforms take it down.

• Label it as AI-generated

  Switch on TikTok's AI-generated content label before you post. A clip that looks like live sports coverage is exactly the kind people take at face value, and viewers trust a post that says it is AI.