Shot types

The ways to frame a shot, and the wording that gets each one.

A shot type is how much of the subject the frame holds. Name it in the prompt and the model frames it. Leave it out and the model picks, and it picks a medium shot almost every time.

The shot sizes

10

How much of the subject the frame holds, widest first. This is the ladder every shot list is written on.

Extreme Long Shot: The subject is a speck and the landscape runs the frame.

Extreme Long ShotELS

The subject is a speck and the landscape runs the frame.

Long Shot: The full figure reads, and the setting reads around it.

The full figure reads, and the setting reads around it.

Wide Shot: The frame takes in the space around the subject.

The frame takes in the space around the subject.

Full Body: The whole body sits in frame, head to feet, with room around it.

The whole body sits in frame, head to feet, with room around it.

Cowboy Shot: The frame cuts at mid-thigh, so a holster or the hands stay in view.

The frame cuts at mid-thigh, so a holster or the hands stay in view.

Medium Shot: The frame runs from the waist up.

The frame runs from the waist up.

Medium Close-Up: The frame runs from the chest to the top of the head.

Medium Close-UpMCU

The frame runs from the chest to the top of the head.

Close-Up: The head and a little shoulder fill the frame.

The head and a little shoulder fill the frame.

Choker Shot: The frame cuts above the eyebrows and below the chin, tighter than a close-up.

The frame cuts above the eyebrows and below the chin, tighter than a close-up.

Extreme Close-Up: A single feature fills the frame.

Extreme Close-UpECU

A single feature fills the frame.

Who is in the frame

7

The same scene, cut a different way. These say how many people the frame holds and whose side the camera is on.

Establishing Shot: A wide frame that says where the scene happens before anyone speaks.

Establishing Shot

A wide frame that says where the scene happens before anyone speaks.

Master Shot: One wide frame covers the entire scene from start to finish.

One wide frame covers the entire scene from start to finish.

Single: One person alone in the frame with nobody else in shot.

One person alone in the frame with nobody else in shot.

Over-the-Shoulder Coverage: The camera looks past one person's shoulder at another.

Over-the-Shoulder CoverageOTS

The camera looks past one person's shoulder at another.

Two-Shot: Two people share one frame, and the gap between them is the content.

Two people share one frame, and the gap between them is the content.

Three-Shot: Three people share the frame and the arrangement carries the relationship.

Three people share the frame and the arrangement carries the relationship.

Group Shot: Four or more people share the frame as one unit.

Four or more people share the frame as one unit.

Shots that cut away

5

Short frames that carry a beat the wide shot cannot. Each one is a separate run, then a cut.

Insert Shot: A detail shot dropped in to hand the audience one piece of information.

A detail shot dropped in to hand the audience one piece of information.

Cut-ins: A tight shot of a detail that belongs to the action you just saw.

A tight shot of a detail that belongs to the action you just saw.

Cutaway: A shot of something outside the main action, used to break away from it.

A shot of something outside the main action, used to break away from it.

Reaction Shot: A face responding to something that happened off screen.

A face responding to something that happened off screen.

Gesture: The frame follows a hand or a body movement rather than a face.

The frame follows a hand or a body movement rather than a face.

Shots named after the job

3

Three framings named for what they are for rather than for how tight they are.

Interview: A seated subject speaks slightly off the lens to an unseen questioner.

A seated subject speaks slightly off the lens to an unseen questioner.

Product: An object is framed and lit to be looked at on its own.

An object is framed and lit to be looked at on its own.

Video Portraits: A held portrait frame where the subject barely moves and looks at the lens.

Video Portraits

A held portrait frame where the subject barely moves and looks at the lens.

Run one of them

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Other techniques

Camera anglesWhere to put the camera, and the wording that gets each angle.19 camera angles Camera movementThe ways to move the camera, and the wording that gets each one.86 camera moves CompositionThe ways to arrange a frame, and the wording that gets each one.32 composition rules LightingThe lighting setups, and the wording that gets each one.41 lighting setups Lenses and opticsThe lenses, and the wording that gets the look of each one.17 lenses Aperture and f-stopsThe f-stops, and what each one does to the background.7 apertures Format and bodyThe formats and cameras, and the wording that gets each one.13 formats and cameras Colour and film lookThe colour looks, and the wording that gets each one.19 colour looks Time and motionThe ways to bend time in a shot, and the wording for each one.21 time effects Cuts and transitionsThe ways to get from one shot to the next.23 transitions In-camera and optical effectsThe effects a camera can make on its own, and how to ask for them.57 effects Atmosphere and weatherThe ways to fill the air, and the wording that gets each one.13 atmosphere effects Genre looksThe genres, and the wording that gets the look of each one.27 genre looks Viral looksThe looks that travel on short-form video, and how to ask for them.44 viral looks

Print stylesMaking a poster rather than a shot? The same reference, for ink on paper.

Ten sizes carry most of the work: extreme long shot, long shot, wide shot, full body, cowboy shot, medium shot, medium close-up, close-up, choker and extreme close-up. Everything else on this page names who is in the frame or what the shot is for.