The "then I walk in" meme, with you walking in

How to make a Then I Walk In 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 doorway shot first

   Use a picture model that takes a reference photo, and start with the doorway: you seen head to toe, lit from the room rather than as a dark shape against the hallway, because this still settles your clothes, shoes and all, for the whole video. Describe the party, the room and the open white doors the same way in every prompt.

2. Step 2

   Draw the other three after it

   For the other three, send your photo and the doorway still together, saying to keep the clothes, the room and its light from the doorway still but to draw the framing written for this shot. A picture model tends to draw someone walking head to toe whatever framing you ask for, but asking for a closer one still brings you nearer, shot by shot; it keeps a real close-up for the stare, when you stand still.

3. Step 3

   Animate in slow motion, then cut

   Give each still to an image-to-video model with the movement spelt out: the step through the doorway, the walk with the camera tracking back, the slight head tilt, the narrowed eyes and the raised eyebrow. Trim the clips to about 3.5, 4.5, 4 and 4 seconds, lay them end to end at 9:16 with hard cuts, then add the words and a sound.

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 doors

   Still prompt

   Copy

   Seen from inside a crowded evening party, looking straight across the room at a pair of tall white double doors at the far end of the room, standing wide open onto a brightly lit hallway. In the open doorway, in the middle of the frame about five metres from the camera, the person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, stands alone, seen head to toe, facing straight into the room and the camera, lit warmly from the room in front of them, arms relaxed at their sides, with a cool, unbothered, completely serious look. Guests stand on both sides of a clear path down the middle of the room toward the camera; the nearest ones, side-on, are turning their heads toward the doorway. Nobody else is in the doorway, and nobody is looking at the camera. The party fills a big, warmly lit living room with string lights along the ceiling, candles and a dark wooden floor, and the guests in smart casual clothes hold plain glasses, with no bottles, cans, logos, print or writing anywhere in the picture.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   In slow motion, they step through the doorway into the room and walk straight toward the camera with slow, sure strides, arms relaxed. On both sides the guests stop talking and turn to stare at them. They do not smile. The camera holds still, then drifts slowly back. It stays the same evening party throughout: the warm light, the string lights and the candles stay lit and do not change.

2. 3.5–8sThe walk

   Still prompt

   Copy

   A three-quarter shot: from the thighs up, the person in the reference photo, in their own clothes from the photo, fills the whole height of the frame, their head near the top edge and the bottom edge cutting across their thighs, the camera only about two metres in front of them. They walk straight toward the camera down a clear path through the crowd at the same crowded evening party, face in full view, mid-stride, arms relaxed at their sides, eyes on the lens, with a cool, unbothered, completely serious look. Behind them is a pair of tall white double doors at the far end of the room, standing wide open onto a brightly lit hallway; on both sides, guests have stopped mid-conversation and turned to stare at them. The party fills a big, warmly lit living room with string lights along the ceiling, candles and a dark wooden floor, and the guests in smart casual clothes hold plain glasses, with no bottles, cans, logos, print or writing anywhere in the picture.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   In slow motion, they keep walking straight toward the camera with slow, sure, confident strides, eyes locked on the lens, while the camera tracks smoothly backward in front of them. On both sides the guests stand frozen, heads turning to follow them; one slowly lowers their glass. They do not smile. It stays the same evening party throughout: the warm light, the string lights and the candles stay lit and do not change.

3. 8–12sCloser

   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, fill the frame, the top of their head near the top edge, their eyes about a third of the way down the picture and their chest at the bottom edge, caught mid-step as they walk toward the camera, chin slightly lowered, eyes fixed dead on the lens, with a cool, unbothered, completely serious look. Behind them, far out of focus, are the warm string lights and the guests of the party, all turned toward them. The party fills a big, warmly lit living room with string lights along the ceiling, candles and a dark wooden floor, and the guests in smart casual clothes hold plain glasses, with no bottles, cans, logos, print or writing anywhere in the picture.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   In slow motion, they keep walking toward the camera, which tracks backward in front of them at the same pace, so they stay the same size in the frame while the blurred party slides past behind them. Their eyes stay locked on the lens the whole time; they never look down or away. They do not smile. It stays the same evening party throughout: the warm light, the string lights and the candles stay lit and do not change.

4. 12–16sThe stare

   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, fill the frame as they stand still right in front of the camera, the top of their head near the top edge, their eyes about a third of the way down the picture and their chest at the bottom edge, chin level, looking dead straight into the lens with a cool, unbothered, completely serious look. Behind them, far out of focus, are the warm string lights and the guests of the party. The party fills a big, warmly lit living room with string lights along the ceiling, candles and a dark wooden floor, and the guests in smart casual clothes hold plain glasses, with no bottles, cans, logos, print or writing anywhere in the picture.

   Motion prompt

   Copy

   They stand still and hold the stare, their eyes locked on the lens the whole time; they never look down or away. Slowly they tilt their head a little to one side, narrow their eyes slightly and raise one eyebrow, then hold that look without blinking. They do not smile. The camera holds still. It stays the same evening party throughout: the warm light, the string lights and the candles stay lit and do not change.

Where it goes wrong

• Keep it straight-faced

  Left to itself, a video model has the person grin at the camera as they walk in, which kills the joke. Say in every shot that they do not smile, and give the face something else to do: the chin down, the slow head tilt, one eyebrow going up.

• Light the doorway

  A figure in a bright doorway is easily drawn as a silhouette, with no face to recognise and no clothes for the later shots to follow. Say the person is lit warmly from the room in front of them, and keep the bright light out in the hallway behind.

• Leave the labels off the drinks

  Party drinks come back as branded bottles and cans if you let them. Ask for plain glasses, and say there are no bottles, cans, logos, print or writing anywhere in the picture: someone else's trademark has no place in your video.

• Only people who said yes

  Use your own photo or one of someone who agreed. Do not use celebrities, 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. The meme is about walking in yourself, not about anyone else.

• Label it as AI-generated

  Switch on TikTok's AI-generated content label before you post. A realistic clip of you making an entrance at a party is exactly the kind people ask about, and viewers trust a post that says so.