The Mop dance AI trend, starring you, from one full-body photo

How to make a Mop Dance 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 one still per shot from a full-body photo

   Use a picture model that takes a reference photo and draw five stills from the same full-body photo: in the open car door, crouched into the dance, arms out wide, all the way down by the car, and standing up to finish. Describe the car, the canopy and the pumps the same way every time so the place does not change between shots.

2. Step 2

   Animate each still with the dance in words

   Give each still to an image-to-video model with the moves spelt out: knees bent, feet sliding out and back in quick scrubbing shuffles from side to side, hands one above the other swinging along. Ask for one continuous handheld shot with no cuts, and for the last one, a flick of the shoulder and then a dead stop.

3. Step 3

   Cut a bar apart on the beat

   Pick a beat around 120 a minute, so a bar is two seconds. Trim the car door to one bar, the Mop, the arms and the low drop to two bars each, and the finish to one, then lay them end to end at 9:16 with hard cuts. Add the trend sound on TikTok when you post.

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. 0–2sOut of the car

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, has just climbed out of a modern dark maroon four-door sedan that is no real make or model, low and sleek, with a glossy finish, tinted windows and black wheels, with no emblem, badge, logo, ornament or writing anywhere on it and no license plates, its driver's door swung wide open. They stand with both feet on the concrete in the open doorway, one hand resting on the top of the door, facing the camera with a cool, confident look. A wide shot from about four metres away: the person and the open door are in frame, head to toe, shoes on the ground. The car is parked side-on to the camera, its long side in view and its front end out of frame past the edge of the picture. The scene is a gas station forecourt late at night: a plain all-white canopy overhead, with no coloured band along its edge, lit by rows of flat white lights, a row of plain all-white fuel pumps with no stripes, colours, brand, logo, sign or writing on them, and the wide concrete lot around it, where a car meet has gathered, with shiny parked cars in a row along the edge of the lot and a loose crowd of onlookers standing back by them. Nobody else is near the person: the onlookers stay far back by the parked cars, small and out of focus, and nobody else dances.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They step out from the doorway, swing the car door shut behind them with one hand and stride two steps toward the camera onto the open lot, rolling their shoulders, ready to dance. The camera holds steady, handheld. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words.

2. 2–6sThe Mop

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, stands on the open concrete lot in front of a modern dark maroon four-door sedan that is no real make or model, low and sleek, with a glossy finish, tinted windows and black wheels, with no emblem, badge, logo, ornament or writing anywhere on it and no license plates, knees bent and crouched a little, leaning forward, both hands held loosely one above the other in front of their waist, a cool, focused look. A full-body shot from about three metres away, seen head to toe, shoes on the concrete. The car is parked side-on to the camera, its long side in view and its front end out of frame past the edge of the picture. The scene is a gas station forecourt late at night: a plain all-white canopy overhead, with no coloured band along its edge, lit by rows of flat white lights, a row of plain all-white fuel pumps with no stripes, colours, brand, logo, sign or writing on them, and the wide concrete lot around it, where a car meet has gathered, with shiny parked cars in a row along the edge of the lot and a loose crowd of onlookers standing back by them. Nobody else is near the person: the onlookers stay far back by the parked cars, small and out of focus, and nobody else dances.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They dance to a bouncy hip-hop beat: knees bent low and back leaning a little forward, they slide their feet out and back in short quick scrubbing shuffles, sweeping from side to side across the concrete, hands held loosely one above the other in front of them and swinging side to side with every scrub. Their head nods on the beat and their whole body bounces with it. The camera holds them head to toe, handheld. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words.

3. 6–10sArms out

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, is crouched low with knees bent wide, one foot sliding out to the side, dancing on the open concrete lot beside a modern dark maroon four-door sedan that is no real make or model, low and sleek, with a glossy finish, tinted windows and black wheels, with no emblem, badge, logo, ornament or writing anywhere on it and no license plates, both arms swung out wide to one side at shoulder height, chin up, a cool, confident look. A full-body shot from low down and slightly to one side, about three metres away, their whole figure in frame from hands to shoes. The car is parked side-on to the camera, its long side in view and its front end out of frame past the edge of the picture. The scene is a gas station forecourt late at night: a plain all-white canopy overhead, with no coloured band along its edge, lit by rows of flat white lights, a row of plain all-white fuel pumps with no stripes, colours, brand, logo, sign or writing on them, and the wide concrete lot around it, where a car meet has gathered, with shiny parked cars in a row along the edge of the lot and a loose crowd of onlookers standing back by them. Nobody else is near the person: the onlookers stay far back by the parked cars, small and out of focus, and nobody else dances.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   Still dancing on the beat, knees bent low and back leaning a little forward, they slide their feet out and back in short quick scrubbing shuffles, sweeping from side to side across the concrete, hands held loosely one above the other in front of them and swinging side to side with every scrub. Now the arms swing wide from one side to the other, out to shoulder height. The camera stays low and drifts slowly around them. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words.

4. 10–14sAll the way down

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, is crouched very low on the concrete right beside a modern dark maroon four-door sedan that is no real make or model, low and sleek, with a glossy finish, tinted windows and black wheels, with no emblem, badge, logo, ornament or writing anywhere on it and no license plates, knees deeply bent, back leaning forward over their knees, both hands held loosely one above the other low in front of their shins, a cool, focused look. A full-body shot from about two metres away, their whole crouched figure in frame from head to shoes, the side of the car filling the background. The car is parked side-on to the camera, its long side in view and its front end out of frame past the edge of the picture. The scene is a gas station forecourt late at night: a plain all-white canopy overhead, with no coloured band along its edge, lit by rows of flat white lights, a row of plain all-white fuel pumps with no stripes, colours, brand, logo, sign or writing on them, and the wide concrete lot around it, where a car meet has gathered, with shiny parked cars in a row along the edge of the lot and a loose crowd of onlookers standing back by them. Nobody else is near the person: the onlookers stay far back by the parked cars, small and out of focus, and nobody else dances.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They keep dancing as low as they can go: knees bent low and back leaning a little forward, they slide their feet out and back in short quick scrubbing shuffles, sweeping from side to side across the concrete, hands held loosely one above the other in front of them and swinging side to side with every scrub, sinking a little lower on every beat, then bouncing back up halfway. The camera holds steady, handheld. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words.

5. 14–16sBrush it off

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, stands up straight on the concrete right beside a modern dark maroon four-door sedan that is no real make or model, low and sleek, with a glossy finish, tinted windows and black wheels, with no emblem, badge, logo, ornament or writing anywhere on it and no license plates, flicking the fingertips of one hand across the opposite shoulder as if brushing off dust, looking straight into the lens with a cool, satisfied look, mouth closed. A full-body shot from about three metres away, seen head to toe, shoes on the concrete. The car is parked side-on to the camera, its long side in view and its front end out of frame past the edge of the picture. The scene is a gas station forecourt late at night: a plain all-white canopy overhead, with no coloured band along its edge, lit by rows of flat white lights, a row of plain all-white fuel pumps with no stripes, colours, brand, logo, sign or writing on them, and the wide concrete lot around it, where a car meet has gathered, with shiny parked cars in a row along the edge of the lot and a loose crowd of onlookers standing back by them. Nobody else is near the person: the onlookers stay far back by the parked cars, small and out of focus, and nobody else dances.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They give the shoulder one last cool flick of the fingertips, then stand completely still, holding the look into the lens. The camera stops and holds still. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words.

Where it goes wrong

• Use a full-body photo, not a selfie

  The Mop is footwork, and the whole video shows you head to toe. From a head-and-shoulders photo the model has to make up your trousers and shoes, and with each still drawn on its own it can make them up differently every time. One photo with your whole body in it, in good light, keeps the outfit the same throughout.

• Do not say "mop"

  A picture model draws what you name, and the dance is named after a cleaning tool. Ask for "the Mop" and you may get someone holding an actual mop. Describe the moves instead, the crouch, the scrubbing feet and the swinging hands, and say the hands are empty and loose.

• Keep the car side-on and the brands off

  Ask for a dark red sedan and a picture model reaches for a real luxury make, grille and badge included, especially when the front of the car is in the shot. Say the car is no real make, with no badge or plates, park it side-on with its front out of frame, and ask for plain white pumps and canopy with no stripes or logo.

• Keep the crowd in the background

  A car meet needs people around it, but tell the model they stay far back by the parked cars and out of focus, and that nobody else dances. Otherwise a stranger turns up right beside you, or the whole crowd starts doing the Mop with you.

• Only people who said yes

  Use your own photo or one of someone who agreed. Do not use celebrities, the creator of the original clip, or anyone who has not agreed to be in the video: a realistic video of a real person 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 realistic clip of someone dancing at a car meet is exactly the kind people ask about, and viewers trust a post that says so.