Quick answer
Copy the portrait prompt into Gemini or ChatGPT with a photo of you to get the still most people post. Add the smoke line for the version with smoke curling out of the carved eyes. For the clip where your head turns into the pumpkin, paste the video prompt into an image-to-video tool, or skip prompting on Pumpkin Head AI.
Most “pumpkin head AI prompt” searches are after a still image: the cinematic autumn portrait with a carved jack-o’-lantern where the head should be. The prompts below are written for that first, then for the video. None of them is the prompt our template runs, which is tuned to its own model.
The portrait prompt
Use the person in this photo, same outfit and build. Replace their head with a large carved jack-o’-lantern: triangle eyes, a jagged grin, warm candlelight glowing from inside. They stand in a misty pumpkin field at dusk, hands in their coat pockets, facing the camera. Moody cinematic autumn photo, shallow depth of field, cool blue sky against the orange glow. Vertical 4:5.
Upload first, then paste. Keeping “same outfit and build” matters more than anything about the face, because the face is the part that gets covered: the photo should still read as you from the neck down.
The smoke version and why each line is there
Add this sentence to the end of the portrait prompt:
Thin grey smoke drifts out of the carved eyes and mouth and curls upward in the cold air.
- “Replace their head”: without it, many models put a small pumpkin in your hands or on your shoulder.
- “Candlelight glowing from inside”: the glow is what makes it a lantern rather than an orange ball.
- “Hands in their coat pockets, facing the camera”: the stiff, square-on pose is the trend’s look. Action poses lose it.
- “Cool blue sky against the orange glow”: the color contrast that makes these portraits look shot, not drawn.
- “Thin grey smoke”: “thin” matters. Without it the smoke fills the frame and hides the carving.
The video prompt
Vertical 9:16 video, 8 seconds. The person in the photo stands still on a porch at dusk, with autumn leaves and a few lit pumpkins. For the first two seconds they are unchanged. Then only their head slowly morphs into a carved, glowing jack-o’-lantern with triangle eyes and a wide grin, candlelight flickering inside. Their body, clothes and hands stay exactly the same. Warm orange glow, cool blue sky, gentle push-in. No text, no gore.
The two unchanged seconds are the point: they give the viewer a face before the pumpkin arrives. Tools that skip straight to the pumpkin lose the joke. For two people, ask for one head and then the other; for a pet, ask for a small pumpkin and keep its ears.
Scarecrow
Straw at the cuffs and collar, in a cornfield.
wearing a patched flannel shirt with straw poking out of the cuffs, standing in a dry cornfield
Couple
Two pumpkins, sitting side by side on a bench.
the two people sit side by side on a wooden bench, both with carved jack-o’-lantern heads, holding hands
Scowling
A meaner carving on a foggy night.
a jagged, scowling carved face, deep night, fog low on the ground
Gemini, ChatGPT or a video tool
Gemini and ChatGPT make the still. They can also rewrite the video prompt for whichever video tool you use, but the clip itself comes from that tool, and the hard part, a head change that keeps the body still, takes a few tries.
On Reelfie the scene is built in: add one photo (or two, or your pet’s) to Pumpkin Head AI, check the price on the button (80 credits), and press make. No prompt, and a failed run refunds itself.
Common problems
The whole body turns orange
Put “only their head changes” near the start of the prompt, and “body, clothes and hands stay exactly the same” after it.
The pumpkin has no face
Name the carving: “triangle eyes, a jagged grin, light inside”.
The picture looks like a cartoon
Add “photograph, 35mm, natural skin and fabric texture” and remove words like “spooky” or “Halloween art”.
FAQ
What is the prompt for the Pumpkin Head AI trend?
Upload your photo and ask to replace your head with a carved, glowing jack-o’-lantern while keeping your outfit, in a misty pumpkin field at dusk, as a cinematic photo. The full prompt is above.
How do I get the smoke coming out of the pumpkin?
Add one sentence: thin grey smoke drifts out of the carved eyes and mouth and curls upward.
Is this the prompt Reelfie uses?
No. The template’s own prompt is tuned for its model and timing. These are written for Gemini, ChatGPT and general video tools.
Can I make the Pumpkin Head video for free?
Some video tools have free allowances with a watermark. Is the Pumpkin Head trend free? compares the free routes.
Make your first one
Pumpkin Head AI: Your head becomes a glowing jack-o’-lantern.
Try Pumpkin Head AIYour photos are deleted 7 days after upload and never used to train AI.
