How to Make the Christmas Tree Trance AI Video From One Pet Photo

The Christmas Tree Trance trend copies "trancing", the slow-motion walk bull terriers do under hanging leaves, which goes viral every December under Christmas trees (one @quarter_k TikTok has about 1.4 million plays, and a @coachgemmacarol one about 1.8 million). Here is how to make your own version with your dog or cat: the one-click way, and the do-it-yourself way with the exact prompt we use.

The photo this video was made from — **Christmas Tree Trance** — your pet creeps under the Christmas tree in slow motion, as if in a trance.

What you need

One clear, well-lit photo of one pet, whole body visible, no people in the picture.
A few minutes while the video renders.
TikTok, Instagram Reels or CapCut, to add the trending sound.

The one-click way (free)

Open the Dog Trancing Christmas Tree AI template.
Upload your pet photo and press Make my free video. No sign-up, no prompt to write.
Watch your 5-second preview a few minutes later. Unlock the download for $2.99, or make 10-second 720p HD videos from $4.99.

Make my Christmas Tree Trance video

The do-it-yourself way

You need a video model that takes a photo and a reference video together. We use Seedance 2.0. The photo decides who is in the video; the reference video only decides how it moves.

Cut a 5 to 10 second clip from the original viral video. This is the motion reference. Make it vertical (9:16) and not too small: around 640 × 640 pixels in total or more, or the model rejects it.
Give the model your pet photo as Image 1 and the clip as Video 1.
Paste the prompt below and ask for a 10-second vertical video.

The main character is the pet from Image 1. Video 1 is ONLY a motion reference; the black and white bull terrier in Video 1 must not appear.
10-second vertical video, static phone camera at floor level in a living room with a tall real Christmas tree on a wooden floor; the pet is already under the lowest branches from the very first frame, its full body in frame. Keep the pet's species, breed, face, eye color, fur color and markings exactly as in Image 1. Copy the motion from Video 1 beat by beat: the pet "trances" under the Christmas tree, walking in extreme slow motion with its head held low and its eyes half closed, letting the hanging pine needles brush slowly along its back, placing one paw at a time as it creeps along the tree from one side to the other. Only the pet moves slowly; the camera does not move. Exactly one animal, and it is the pet from Image 1. No people, no human hands, no text, no captions, no logo, no watermark.

Two lines do most of the work. The first says Video 1 is only a motion reference, so the animal from the original does not end up in your video. The last keeps it to one animal, with no people, text or watermark.

Cost tip: with Seedance the reference clip is billed too, at your output resolution. Shrinking it saves nothing; cutting it shorter does.

Tips from making our Christmas Tree Trance example

Pick a reference with one dog, no captions and no screenshots on screen. Many trancing videos have big text overlays, and the model copies them.
Say "extreme slow motion" and "the camera does not move" in the prompt. Without it the pet walks at normal speed and the trance look is gone.
Trancing is a bull terrier thing, but any dog works; a photo where the whole body is visible helps the model get the legs right.

Add the sound

Our videos come without audio. Before you post, add Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, the sound on the @quarter_k post from the TikTok or Instagram sound library. The in-app sound is easier than editing music in, and the app takes care of the music license.