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To keep two characters looking at each other in AI video, establish their positions in a wide shot. Keep the camera on the same side of the line between them for both close-ups, and give each character an opposite screen direction. Then watch the cut without dialogue. If you cannot tell who is looking at whom, the scene needs a visual fix before you tune the voices.
Draw the line before you generate
Imagine Mara and Leo at a café table. In the wide shot, Mara sits on screen left and Leo on screen right. Draw an imaginary line between them and put the camera on the aisle side. Both closer views stay on that side. When you cut from Mara to Leo, she should look toward frame right and he should look toward frame left. These directions are from the viewer’s perspective. The actors’ own left and right are a separate reference and can cause confusion in a prompt.
Write a three-shot plan
Start with a two-shot from the aisle. A white cup near the middle of the table helps the viewer read the space. Then ask for Mara’s medium close-up with wording such as “camera on the aisle side, Mara looks slightly off camera toward frame right, at Leo.” For the reverse, try “same aisle side, Leo looks slightly off camera toward frame left, at Mara.” Give the gaze a target and keep both cameras near the characters’ eye height for this seated example. If your tool accepts image references, use the approved wide shot as a layout reference where appropriate. Check the generated framing even when you supply that reference.
Check the edit with the sound off
Put the wide shot and both close-ups on a timeline and play them at normal speed. Freeze the last useful frame before each cut and the first useful frame after it. Check gaze direction and height. If both people look toward the same screen edge, the cut may read as two people looking at something offscreen. If Leo looks down at the cup when the story says he’s meeting Mara’s eyes, the timing of the glance matters even when his screen direction is correct. Keep deliberate looks at the cup if the edit makes that target clear.