Full BodyWS

The whole body is in frame with a margin, so every part of a performance that lives below the neck stays visible. Posture, gait, what the hands are doing, the shape of a costume.

It is the standard for clothing, dance and character introductions for the same reason. The subject is the figure, and the figure is complete.

Head to feet with a clear gap at the top and the bottom of frame. The margin is the point, because a full body shot with the shoes sitting on the frame line reads as a mistake.

Fred Astaire is the usual reference for why. Dance is shot at this size, uncut where possible, because a body cropped at the ankle stops being a body in motion.

Use it to introduce a character, to show an outfit, and for anything choreographed. It also works as the widest useful shot in a small room, where a true wide has nothing to show.

Do not use it for dialogue. At this distance the face is small and the scene feels held at arm's length.

Long shot and full body describe nearly the same crop. The difference is emphasis. Long shot implies the setting is part of the point, and full body implies the person is.

A cowboy shot cuts at mid-thigh, so the feet are gone. If you can see the shoes, it is not a cowboy shot.

The dance numbers in Singin' in the Rain (1952) hold the full figure and move the camera with it rather than cutting in. The convention comes from Astaire, who insisted his body stay whole in the frame.

Feet clipped at the bottom edge is the common failure, and it happens on most models unless you ask for the margin. Say room above the head and below the feet.

The other one is a subject floating in grey. A full body shot needs a floor. Name the surface they are standing on.