When you want to put the audience in the middle of the battlefield instead of at headquarters, so they feel the cramped trench and the constant threat in their bodies. Use it for historical reenactments, docudramas, and war game trailers.
The trench scene in Paths of Glory is a tracking shot that follows a walking character, so the audience feels like a soldier trapped in the same narrow, dangerous trench.
To recreate it: Have the camera back away in front of the character and follow, and don't mix in other movements.
Paths of Glory shows the ornate headquarters wide and frames the trench much narrower, contrasting two worlds inside the same war by the size of the frame.
To recreate it: Tell it to block both sides of the frame with walls, like 'earth walls filling both sides of the frame'.
The long trench walls and the boards on the floor converge on the vanishing point, creating the cramped feeling that there is only one way forward.
To recreate it: Draw the trench so it stretches deep into the center of the frame in the start frame.
Dunkirk was the first feature film shot with a handheld IMAX camera, and on the ships they followed the advice that this method works best.
To recreate it: AI exaggerates shake and melts the picture, so use only 'handheld, slight shake' and avoid wording for heavy shaking.
Dunkirk was written from the script stage so it could use a Shepard tone, which sounds like it keeps rising, and the director's pocket watch was recorded and mixed into the music. The bomb sounds were made to rise in pitch as they get closer.
To recreate it: Don't cut the riser at every shot. Lay it continuously across the whole scene.
Dunkirk crosscuts three viewpoints, land (1 week), sea (1 day), and air (1 hour), to layer on time pressure.
To recreate it: In a short video, just alternate two lines: 'soldiers in the trench' and 'the approaching threat'.
Dunkirk was shot on IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film, about 75% of it in IMAX, using natural light. Thousands of extras and cardboard soldier cutouts cut down on CG.
To recreate it: In the prompt, swap these for descriptions like 'large-format film, natural overcast light'.
Cinematic multi-shot sequence, 15 seconds total. Shot 1 (4s): the camera tracks backward ahead of a young soldier in a muddy greatcoat and steel helmet walking down a narrow trench, earth walls filling both sides. Shot 2 (3s): static extreme wide shot of cratered no man's land and barbed wire under a gray sky. Shot 3 (3s): handheld medium close-up as a nearby blast showers him with dirt and he flinches. Shot 4 (2s): static ground-level shot of boots splashing across wooden trench duckboards. Shot 5 (3s): slow push-in on his face as he waits on a ladder for the whistle. Consistent soldier, uniform and mud, overcast natural light, desaturated large-format film grain.
For a war film to immerse the audience, it has to put the camera in the soldier's place. In Paths of Glory, the camera moves at the same speed as the soldiers in the battle scene, and the luxurious headquarters is shot wide while the trench is shot far narrower, setting the two worlds against each other. Dunkirk cut back on dialogue and built tension with images and music. It lays down the sound of the director's pocket watch and a Shepard tone, and it was the first feature film shot with a handheld IMAX camera.
A young infantry soldier in a muddy greatcoat and steel helmet walks down a narrow First World War trench, sandbags and wet earth walls filling both sides of the frame. The camera tracks backward ahead of him, overcast natural light, desaturated, coarse film grain.
Extreme wide shot of a cratered no man's land under a low gray sky, tangled barbed wire and shattered tree stumps, distant smoke columns rising on the horizon. Static camera, flat overcast light, large-format film look, muted earth tones.
Medium close-up of the same young soldier crouching against the trench wall as a nearby blast showers him with dirt; he flinches and grips his rifle tighter. Handheld camera with slight shake, overcast natural light, desaturated colors, gritty grain.
Ground-level shot from the wooden duckboards of a trench floor as muddy boots splash past toward the camera, rainwater dripping from the trench edge above. Static camera, dim natural light, desaturated colors, gritty film grain.
Low-angle shot of the young soldier standing on a wooden ladder against the trench wall, staring up at the gray sky, breathing hard before the whistle. Slow push-in toward his face, overcast natural light, muted earth tones, large-format grain.
Crosscut between shots of walking through the trench and wide shots of no man's land, and lay a ticking sound and an unbroken riser underneath. After an explosion shot, burst the sound out loud, then briefly muffle it down so only the ambience remains, and cut the ladder shot just before the whistle blows.
Narrow, long spaces like a trench make AI bend or break the walls, so lock the trench layout as the start frame and ask for just one move, a tracking shot pulling backward. When explosions and flying dirt overlap, faces tend to smear, so keep those shots under 3 seconds and don't include injuries or blood. Lock the helmet, coat, and how muddy they are on the character sheet, so the uniforms don't change from shot to shot.
Wikipedia — Paths of Glory · Wikipedia — Dunkirk (2017 film)