Hip Level

The camera drops to waist height, which puts the hands, the belt and whatever is carried at the front of the frame. A person seen from here reads as somebody you are looking up at slightly.

It is also a child's height, or a dog's, or the height of somebody sitting on the floor. The angle carries that reading whether or not a character is standing at it.

The lens sits around waist height on a standing adult, roughly three feet, and tilts up a little to keep the head in frame.

What the height buys is the middle of the body. Hands resting at the waist, a holster, a bag, a badge: all of it sits near the centre of the frame instead of at the bottom edge.

The background changes with the height. Looking slightly up puts ceiling, sky or the top of a wall behind the subject, which is what stops the shot reading as eye level with a crop.

Use it for anyone wearing or carrying something at waist height, for a child's point of view, and for a walk where the legs matter.

Leave it for dialogue where the face carries the scene. At this height you are looking up a torso and the eyes are the smallest thing in frame.

A cowboy shot is a framing size, cutting the picture at mid thigh. Hip level is a camera height. You can shoot a cowboy shot from eye level, and you can shoot a close-up from hip level.

The confusion comes from westerns using both at once. Say which you mean: name the crop for the size, and name the camera height for the angle.

Models read hip level as low angle and drop the camera to the floor. Say the camera is at waist height with a slight upward look, and give the number if the shot depends on it.

The other failure is a frame with nothing at waist height to justify it. Name what sits there, such as hands, a belt or a bag.