How To Make Emotion-Led AI Music Videos
Disclaimer: This framework is based on my own experience and creative process. See All The Way for Hundredth post. Inspired in part by the ideas of Rick Rubin, principles from “On Writing Well,” and others. Visual development, writing assisted with ChatGPT.
Start with Feeling
The best AI music videos don't come from mastering tools. They come from understanding a song's emotion and letting that feeling guide the technology.
AI tools look scary, the interfaces feel clunky. They’re not really. The tutorials also use big words. This post tries to flip it.
I believe that AI doesn't have to feel technical if you start from emotion. When you begin with the song's feeling, the tools become simple. They translate what you feel. That changes everything.
Feeling First, Not Tech First
Regular video production starts with logistics. Locations, equipment, crew, budget. This workflow flips that. You start with the song's emotion and use AI to turn those feelings into visuals.
The goal isn't perfect realism. It's emotional truth. Does the final video capture what the song makes you feel? That's all that matters.
Four Steps
Step 1: Listen for Emotion
Play the track ten times. Don't think about visuals yet. Just feel.
Ask yourself:
What color is this feeling?
What does it do to your body?
What shape would this emotion take?
What memory does it touch?
If this song were a place, where would you be?
If it were weather, what would the sky look like?
Let the music create a feeling map in your mind. This map guides everything you make.
Step 2: Write Dream Prompts
Turn those feelings into visual words. Write prompts like you're describing a dream.
Good prompts:
"Rain on window at night, warm light inside, sad and close"
"Empty parking lot at dawn, single streetlight, old film look"
"Hands holding photo, golden light, sweet and bitter"
Bad prompts:
"Canon 5D Mark IV, 85mm lens, f/1.4, ISO 400, pro lighting"
Talk to the AI like you're talking to someone who gets mood and feeling.
Use these parts:
Frame: Close-up, wide shot, medium shot
Mood: Time of day, weather, light quality
Emotion: The feeling you want
Look: Film grain, vintage, documentary style
Step 3: Make and Move Visuals
Make stills with Midjourney: Put your feeling prompts into Midjourney. Don't worry about perfect prompt words. The AI responds to natural words. Make several versions and pick the images that capture your song's emotion.
Make them move with Runway Gen-4: Take your stills into Runway's Gen-4 Alpha Turbo. Use simple movement prompts:
"Gentle camera movement, real, documentary style"
"Slow motion, dreamy, small movement"
"Handheld camera, close, natural light"
Other solid image-to-video gen tools include Kling AI, Luma Labs Dream Machine, Higgsfield.
Step 4: Edit to the Music
Put your AI clips into any editing software. The rule is simple: serve the song.
How to Edit:
Cut to the music's beats
Let quiet parts breathe
Speed up or slow down clips to match the song's energy
Layer clips when the song builds
Ask: "Does this still feel like the song?"
Make the visuals and music feel like one thing.
Trust Your Taste
The most important tool isn't technical. It's your taste and feeling. You know what moves you. You know when something feels right or wrong.
AI becomes a partner that responds to your direction. Don’t think prompt engineering, more so learning how to tell a tool your vision clearly. It’s just “speaking gooder,” basically.
Trust yourself:
If something feels wrong, it is
Your first feeling about the song is right
Simple words work better than complex ones
The mistakes often make it feel more real
Work Together
AI is a creative partner, not a threat. Bring the emotion, taste, and vision. AI brings the power to make and change visual ideas fast.
The result isn't soulless machine work if you frame it as a collaboration between your creative choices + the AI tools.
Start Small
Pick one song that moves you, follow the four steps. Make a short video. Even 30s. Just focus on capturing the song's emotional core.
Don't aim for perfect. Aim for the emotion you really feel.
Does your video make you feel something with the music? It doesn’t lose you at any point?
That's success.
Make Feeling Visible
It’s always been about making feelings visible. AI tools help directors realize they don't need to become technical experts.
Your creative instincts, plus these new tools, can make work that's both impressive and real. The tech just serves the feeling.
Start with the music, with what you feel. Let the machines help turn that feeling into something others can see.
