July 30

“The Sea Beast” in Real Life Seedance 2.0 Guide

I CREATED THE ENTIRE VIDEO WITH

SYNTX.AI

Seedance 2.0 Pro is available inside — click the name to get started

Preparing the References

@image1 — Male Character Sheet

Create a multi-angle character sheet for the male character. Example:

Male character sheet

@image2 — Female Character Sheet

Create a multi-angle character sheet for the female character. Example:

Female character sheet

@image3 — Creature

Creature appearance reference

@image4 — Composition Reference for the Advanced Method

You will only need this reference for the separate cinematic wide shot.

Composition reference: character and creature placement, scale, and viewing direction

☁ IMPORTANT After uploading the files, make sure @image1, @image2, and @image3 are linked correctly in the prompt. For the advanced method, also check @image4.

Example of correctly linking references in the prompt

Two Ways to Create the Video

☁ SIMPLE METHOD Two ready-to-use generations. Choose this if you want to recreate the video quickly.

☁ ADVANCED METHOD Adds a separate wide-shot generation for a more cinematic and consistent result.

Option 1. Simple Method

Settings

GENERATION SETTINGS

Model: Seedance 2.0

Mode: Pro

Resolution: 720p

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Duration: 10 seconds

Use these settings for both generations in the simple method

First Generation

Upload:

·      @image1 — male character

·      @image2 — female character

PROMPT

💬 READY TO COPY Copy the entire prompt below, paste it into Seedance, and check the @image tags.

SCENE CONTEXT

Ultra-photorealistic live-action footage captured on an early-2000s handheld camcorder inside a real underwater housing. Authentic underwater optics, subtle sensor noise, suspended particles, natural bubbles and sunlight. No CGI. No animation.

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ACTIVE REFERENCES

@image1 — Male character. Match identity, face, hairstyle, body proportions and clothing exactly.

@image2 — Female character. Match identity, face, hairstyle, body proportions and clothing exactly.

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LOCATION

Deep open ocean.

Natural blue water.

The bright surface remains far above.

The ocean feels enormous.

The characters occupy only a small part of the frame.

Large areas of open water remain visible around them.

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FORMAT

Exactly three shots.

Shot 1 — 0.0–2.2 s

Shot 2 — 2.2–6.2 s

Shot 3 — 6.2–9.5 s

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TIMELINE

SHOT 1

Wide establishing shot.

The sequence begins already underwater.

The male drops backward into the water first.

His back faces downward as he continues sinking.

The female enters a moment later feet first.

She remains higher in the water than the male throughout the shot.

The male remains lower than the female.

The male stays on the right side of the frame.

The female stays on the left side.

Never swap their screen positions.

The female appears briefly disoriented after entering the water.

The male quickly regains orientation and immediately looks toward her with concern.

Large bubbles rise naturally toward the surface.

End state:

The male has stabilized and is preparing to swim toward the female.

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SHOT 2

Wide-medium shot.

The camera drifts naturally.

The action continues seamlessly.

The male urgently swims toward the female.

He performs several strong underwater swimming strokes.

He steadily closes the distance during almost the entire shot.

The female is only beginning to recover her orientation.

She is still drifting naturally.

The male reaches her only near the end of the shot.

The male remains lower than the female.

The male stays on the right side.

The female stays on the left side.

End state:

The male has almost reached the female.

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SHOT 3

Medium shot.

The action continues immediately from Shot 2.

The male finishes swimming the last short distance and arrives beside the female.

The female has now recovered.

She slowly looks downward.

Her eyes gradually widen with surprise.

She slowly raises one arm and points downward outside the frame.

The male first notices her facial expression.

He then follows her gesture.

His expression changes from concern to alarm.

End immediately after he finishes turning his head.

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CAMERA

Natural underwater drift.

No cinematic movement.

Behaves like a diver holding a small consumer camcorder.

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PHYSICS

Realistic underwater inertia.

Natural body rotation.

Natural swimming.

Hair and clothing move naturally.

Bubbles always rise upward.

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LIGHTING

Natural sunlight only.

Brightness decreases with depth.

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STYLE

Authentic live-action.

Looks like genuine underwater camcorder footage.

Maximum photorealism.

No CGI.

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OUTPUT

16:9

Real-time playback.

Ultra-photorealistic.

Second Generation

Upload:

·      @image1 — male character

·      @image2 — female character

·      @image3 — creature

PROMPT

💬 READY TO COPY Copy the entire prompt below, paste it into Seedance, and check the @image tags.

SCENE CONTEXT

Ultra-photorealistic live-action underwater footage captured on an early-2000s consumer camcorder inside a waterproof housing.

No CGI.

No stylization.

No cinematic action.

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ACTIVE REFERENCES

@image1 — Male character.

Match identity, face, body proportions and clothing exactly.

@image2 — Female character.

Match identity, face, body proportions and clothing exactly.

@image3 — Creature appearance inspiration.

Use this reference only as design inspiration.

Preserve the overall anatomy, proportions and recognizable silhouette.

Do not reproduce the exact surface details.

Create a new ultra-photorealistic marine predator with natural biological textures.

It must look like a real deep-sea animal captured by a camera, not like a CGI creature.

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LOCATION

Deep open ocean.

Bright surface far above.

Infinite abyss below.

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GLOBAL RULES

Female always remains left.

Male always remains right.

Their positions never swap.

The humans always remain side by side.

The distance between them never changes.

They always move as a single pair.

The humans continuously make subtle natural swimming movements to maintain neutral buoyancy.

They never appear frozen or motionless.

They do not travel through the water.

The creature always remains far below the humans.

The creature is vastly larger than the humans.

The size relationship never changes.

The creature is always partially hidden by depth haze, suspended particles and underwater light absorption.

Its features are never perfectly sharp.

Large areas of empty open water dominate every shot.

The humans remain the primary subject.

The creature is never presented as a hero shot or portrait.

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CAMERA RULES

The camera remains completely static during every shot.

No camera drift.

No camera repositioning.

No zoom.

No whip pan.

Only natural underwater micro-shake.

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LIGHTING

Natural sunlight only.

Soft volumetric light rays.

Real underwater light absorption.

Visibility naturally decreases with depth.

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STYLE

Documentary realism.

Maximum photorealism.

Looks like genuine underwater footage.

The creature must look biologically believable.

Its skin has natural imperfections, subtle asymmetry and realistic organic textures.

Avoid the appearance of CGI, concept art or digital creature rendering.

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FORMAT

0.0–3.0 s — Shot 1

3.0–6.0 s — Shot 2

6.0–9.5 s — Shot 3

Exactly 3 shots.

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SHOT 1

Extreme long establishing shot.

The camera is extremely far from the humans.

The humans appear as tiny distant silhouettes, barely larger than specks against the bright surface.

They serve only as a scale reference for the creature.

Female left.

Male right.

They remain close together.

The creature is already fully present before the shot begins.

Its enormous head is fully visible in profile.

It occupies the lower-right area of the frame.

The head does not enter the frame.

The head does not move.

The creature silently watches the humans.

Most of the head is visible, but depth haze, suspended particles and underwater light absorption soften its details.

The full head is never perfectly sharp.

The rest of the body disappears into the abyss beyond the frame.

The humans gently maintain position with small corrective swimming movements.

They do not travel forward or backward.

The creature remains perfectly still.

No swimming.

No rotation.

No head movement.

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SHOT 2

Wide shot.

The camera is several meters below the humans looking upward.

Only the two humans are visible.

No creature appears in the frame.

Female left.

Male right.

The camera is completely locked-off.

The framing never changes.

The camera does not drift, pan, tilt, rotate or translate.

The humans remain shoulder-to-shoulder throughout the shot.

The distance between them never changes.

They move together as a single pair.

Their faces are faintly recognizable but still distant.

They continuously make subtle natural swimming movements to maintain neutral buoyancy and hold position.

They do not travel forward or backward.

The humans occupy only a small area near the upper part of the frame.

The remaining frame is empty open ocean.

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SHOT 3

Rear wide shot.

Camera behind the humans.

Female left.

Male right.

The humans occupy the upper-left portion of the frame.

The creature is already present before the shot begins.

The creature faces almost directly toward the camera.

Its gaze reaches both the humans and the viewer.

Its enormous head dominates the entire right side of the frame.

The humans appear smaller than the creature’s mouth.

Large portions of the head extend beyond the frame edges.

The camera cannot capture the entire head.

The creature is more frontal than in Shot 1, but it is still not a portrait.

The creature never changes its orientation.

It never swims.

It never rotates.

It never turns its head.

Its only movement is an almost imperceptible backward translation deeper into the abyss while maintaining exactly the same orientation.

Depth haze gradually obscures the creature.

Very subtle blue bioluminescent speckles are visible across parts of its scales.

The glow is extremely faint.

It never illuminates the surrounding water.

Eventually only a faint silhouette remains before disappearing into darkness.

The humans continue making subtle corrective swimming movements while watching the creature disappear.

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OUTPUT

16:9

Real-time playback.

Option 2. Advanced Method

For anyone who wants a more cinematic and consistent wide shot.

Settings for the Separate Wide Shot

GENERATION SETTINGS

Model: Seedance 2.0

Mode: Pro

Resolution: 720p

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Duration: 4 seconds

Separate Wide-Shot Generation

Upload:

·      @image1 — male character

·      @image2 — female character

·      @image3 — creature

·      @image4 — composition reference

Composition reference for the separate wide shot

PROMPT

💬 READY TO COPY Copy the entire prompt below, paste it into Seedance, and check the @image tags.

ACTIVE REFERENCES

@image1 — Male appearance reference only.

Use only for:

- identity

- hairstyle

- body proportions

- clothing

- silhouette

The male is extremely far from the camera.

Do not preserve facial detail.

His face is naturally unreadable because of the extreme distance.

Do not enlarge him.

@image2 — Female appearance reference only.

Use only for:

- identity

- hairstyle

- body proportions

- clothing

- silhouette

The female is extremely far from the camera.

Do not preserve facial detail.

Her face is naturally unreadable because of the extreme distance.

Do not enlarge her.

@image3 — Creature appearance reference only.

Use only for:

- anatomy

- proportions

- silhouette

- head shape

- skin

- scales

- texture

- eyes

- subtle blue bioluminescence

- half-open mouth

Do not copy background or composition.

@image4 — Scene layout reference only.

Treat @image4 as a blocking diagram.

Use it only for:

- camera position

- framing

- composition

- relative scale

- relative distance

- depth relationship

DO NOT copy:

- background

- lighting

- colors

- textures

- labels

- arrows

- text

- style

The two people must remain exactly as small as shown in the upper-left corner of @image4.

Their combined size must match the size shown in @image4.

Maintaining their size is more important than preserving facial details.

Generate a continuous 4-second ultra-photorealistic live-action underwater shot.

Static locked camera.

The two people are suspended just beneath the ocean surface in the upper-left corner of the frame.

The female remains on the left.

The male remains on the right.

They remain extremely tiny during the entire shot.

Their bodies occupy less than 2% of the entire frame.

Most viewers should not be able to recognize facial features because of the distance.

The two people stay very close together.

They slowly drift with gentle natural underwater movement.

They remain approximately in the same position throughout the shot.

The enormous creature remains deep in the abyss in the lower-right corner.

Its appearance must match @image3.

The creature is almost completely hidden by darkness.

It should feel like part of the abyss itself.

Only its gigantic silhouette is visible.

Only a faint outline of its head can be distinguished.

Only an extremely subtle blue bioluminescent glow is visible.

Almost no sunlight reaches the creature.

Only a few weak scattered rays softly touch tiny parts of its body.

The creature is never fully revealed.

It remains almost perfectly motionless.

Only extremely subtle breathing and tiny natural underwater movement reveal that it is alive.

Generate a completely new underwater environment.

Realistic underwater haze.

Natural suspended particles.

Physically accurate underwater lighting.

The frame consists mostly of empty open water.

The enormous empty space between the two people and the creature emphasizes the immense difference in scale.

Authentic documentary footage.

Early-2000s consumer camcorder inside an underwater housing.

No scuba gear.

No diving masks.

No oxygen tanks.

No fins.

No CGI.

No cinematic camera movement.

No stylization.

Photorealistic.

Editing

Simple Method

1.    Place the first generation on the timeline.

2.    Place the second generation immediately after it.

3.    Trim unwanted endings and any unsuccessful transitions.

Advanced Method

1.    Place the first generation on the timeline.

2.    At the beginning of the second generation, replace its opening wide shot with the separate 4-second Pro generation.

3.    After the wide shot, keep Shots 2 and 3 from the second generation.

4.    Trim unwanted endings and any unsuccessful transitions.

☁ DONE Add the music, cut the video to the beat.