The Smooth Criminal dance trend, danced by you, from one full-body photo

How to make a Smooth Criminal 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 the first still from a full-body photo

   Use a picture model that takes a reference photo and draw the opening still from one full-body photo: standing still in an empty car park at night, fingertips on the brim of a plain black cap, face in full view. Describe the car park, the lights and the cap in full, and say there are no signs, numbers or logos anywhere.

2. Step 2

   Draw the other four from the first one

   For the arms, the glide, the turn and the freeze, give the picture model your photo and the first still as a second reference, and ask it to keep the clothes, the cap and the car park from that still but draw the pose you describe. Drawn on their own, each still makes up different trousers, shoes and pillars.

3. Step 3

   Animate each still and cut on the bars

   Give each still to an image-to-video model with the move spelt out and the camera fixed. The trend sound runs at about 100 beats a minute: trim the first shot to 3.5 seconds, the arms to 2.4, the glide and the pops to 4.75, the turn and the kick to 2.4 and the freeze to just under 2, lay them end to end at 9:16 with hard cuts, and add the sound from its start on TikTok.

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. 0–3.5sThe brim

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo and a plain black baseball cap worn facing forward, with no logo, print or writing on it, stands in the middle of an empty level of a concrete multi-storey car park late at night: a smooth grey concrete floor marked with faded white lines, rows of square grey concrete pillars, and a low concrete ceiling with rows of long white fluorescent tube lights. Every bay is empty, and nothing anywhere has a sign, number, arrow, logo or writing on it. They stand still, feet together, facing the camera, head level and face in full view under the brim, the fingertips of one hand resting on the front of the brim of the cap, the other arm loose at their side, eyes on the lens with a cool, focused look, mouth closed. A full-body shot from about four metres away, seen head to toe, shoes on the concrete. Nobody else is in the car park.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They hold still for a moment, then flick the brim of the cap sharply with their fingertips and snap their chin up, pop one shoulder, then the other, and drop into a loose ready stance, knees soft, arms down, eyes on the lens. The camera stays fixed in front of them, framing them head to toe. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words. It stays the same car park at night throughout: the fluorescent tubes overhead stay on and the light does not change.

2. 3.5–5.9sThe arms

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo and a plain black baseball cap worn facing forward, with no logo, print or writing on it, dances in an empty level of a concrete multi-storey car park late at night: a smooth grey concrete floor marked with faded white lines, rows of square grey concrete pillars, and a low concrete ceiling with rows of long white fluorescent tube lights. Every bay is empty, and nothing anywhere has a sign, number, arrow, logo or writing on it. They stand facing the camera, feet apart, one arm swung out to the side at shoulder height and the other bent across their chest, hands held loosely, a cool, focused look, mouth closed. A full-body shot from about four metres away, seen head to toe, shoes on the concrete. Nobody else is in the car park.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   On the spot, they swing both arms sharply from side to side across their body in time with the beat, shoulders popping with each swing, their feet planted, head steady and eyes on the lens. The camera stays fixed in front of them, framing them head to toe. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words. It stays the same car park at night throughout: the fluorescent tubes overhead stay on and the light does not change.

3. 5.9–10.7sThe glide and the pops

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo and a plain black baseball cap worn facing forward, with no logo, print or writing on it, dances in an empty level of a concrete multi-storey car park late at night: a smooth grey concrete floor marked with faded white lines, rows of square grey concrete pillars, and a low concrete ceiling with rows of long white fluorescent tube lights. Every bay is empty, and nothing anywhere has a sign, number, arrow, logo or writing on it. They face the camera with their weight on one leg, the other foot slid out to the side along the concrete, knees soft, arms out from their sides, hands held loosely, chin up, a cool, confident look, mouth closed. A full-body shot from low down, about three metres away, their whole figure in frame from the top of the cap to their shoes. Nobody else is in the car park.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They glide smoothly sideways across the concrete on the beat, sliding one foot out and drawing the other in after it, two glides one way and two back, arms swinging loose; then they pop one knee in and out, then the other, their hips snapping from side to side with each pop. The camera stays low and fixed, framing them head to toe. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words. It stays the same car park at night throughout: the fluorescent tubes overhead stay on and the light does not change.

4. 10.7–13.1sThe turn and the kick

   Still prompt

   Copy

   The person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo and a plain black baseball cap worn facing forward, with no logo, print or writing on it, dances in an empty level of a concrete multi-storey car park late at night: a smooth grey concrete floor marked with faded white lines, rows of square grey concrete pillars, and a low concrete ceiling with rows of long white fluorescent tube lights. Every bay is empty, and nothing anywhere has a sign, number, arrow, logo or writing on it. They stand facing the camera with their feet a little apart, arms bent at their sides, hands held loosely, a cool, focused look, mouth closed. A full-body shot from about four metres away, seen head to toe, shoes on the concrete. Nobody else is in the car park.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   At once they snap a sharp quarter turn on the spot to face side-on to the camera and snap straight back to face the lens, never turning their back to it, then kick one foot out low to the side at knee height and snap it back under them, their arms following each move. The camera stays fixed in front of them, framing them head to toe. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words. It stays the same car park at night throughout: the fluorescent tubes overhead stay on and the light does not change.

5. 13.1–15sThe freeze

   Still prompt

   Copy

   A close shot from the chest up: the head and shoulders of the person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo and a plain black baseball cap worn facing forward, with no logo, print or writing on it, fill the frame. They stand still facing the camera, the fingertips of one hand on the brim of the cap, tipping it down a touch, looking straight into the lens with a cool, confident look, mouth closed. Behind them, out of focus, an empty level of a concrete multi-storey car park late at night: a smooth grey concrete floor marked with faded white lines, rows of square grey concrete pillars, and a low concrete ceiling with rows of long white fluorescent tube lights. Every bay is empty, and nothing anywhere has a sign, number, arrow, logo or writing on it. Nobody else is in the car park.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They tip the brim of the cap down a touch with their fingertips, then freeze completely still, holding the look into the lens, as if the video has been paused. The camera stops and holds still. They do not talk, sing or mouth any words. It stays the same car park at night throughout: the fluorescent tubes overhead stay on and the light does not change.

Where it goes wrong

• Use a full-body photo, not a selfie

  The routine is in the legs as much as the arms, and every shot but the last shows you head to toe. From a head-and-shoulders photo the model has to make up your trousers and shoes, and it makes them up differently in every still. One photo with your whole body in it, in good light, keeps the outfit the same throughout.

• Make the spin a quarter turn

  Ask a video model for a full spin and it often gives the dancer an extra arm or leg halfway round, or brings the face back changed. A sharp quarter turn to the side and straight back reads as the turn and keeps you looking like you. Keep the kicks low too, at knee height.

• Show the face before the move

  Draw each still at the moment before the move, with the face in full view under the brim. A still with the brim pulled down over the eyes leaves the video model to invent the face when the chin comes up, and it rarely invents yours.

• Say the light stays the same

  A still lit for night does not keep its clip at night on its own. Say in every motion prompt that it is the same car park at night and that the strip lights stay on, or a clip can drift brighter or change the scene halfway through.

• Only people who said yes

  Use your own photo or one of someone who agreed. Do not use celebrities, the dancers from the trend's posts, 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 is exactly the kind people ask about, and viewers trust a post that says so.