Every framing visualized, copy-paste ready
See exactly where each shot size cuts the frame, from a figure lost in the landscape to a pair of eyes filling the screen, then copy the prompt that produces that framing in Veo, Sora, Runway, Kling, or any image model.
Framing is the first word of film language: the same moment plays as geography in a wide shot, as conversation in a medium, and as confession in a close-up. Every card below frames the same subject at one size of the classic scale, so the differences are visible instead of described.
The framing demos are rendered in your browser. Copying a prompt sends nothing to any server.
The subject is a small element in a vast environment; the location is the real subject of the frame.
When to use: Openings, establishing geography, isolation, and scale - the world before the person.
extreme wide shot, the subject tiny in a vast landscape
A traveler crosses a salt flat at dawn, extreme wide shot, the subject tiny in a vast landscape, pastel sky.
The full subject is visible with generous room around them; body and environment share the frame.
When to use: Establishing a character in a place, blocking-heavy scenes, physical comedy.
wide shot showing the full subject and their surroundings
A mechanic stands in a cluttered garage doorway, wide shot showing the full subject and their surroundings.
The frame cuts just above the head and just below the feet: the body fills the height of the frame.
When to use: Costumes, posture, and movement - showing exactly how a character carries themselves.
full shot framing the subject from head to toe
A dancer in rehearsal clothes holds a final pose, full shot framing the subject from head to toe, studio light.
The frame cuts at mid-thigh - historically to keep a gunslinger's holster visible.
When to use: Confrontations and swagger; a power framing that keeps hands and hips in play.
cowboy shot framing the subject from mid-thigh up
A sheriff squares up in the saloon doorway, cowboy shot framing the subject from mid-thigh up, backlit dust.
The frame cuts at the waist: close enough for expression, wide enough for gesture.
When to use: The workhorse of dialogue - conversations, interviews, most scene coverage.
medium shot framing the subject from the waist up
A journalist leans into the interview question, medium shot framing the subject from the waist up, office bokeh.
The frame cuts at the chest: the face leads, but shoulders keep body language alive.
When to use: Emotional dialogue beats, reactions that still need a hint of posture.
medium close-up framing the subject from the chest up
A witness hesitates before answering, medium close-up framing the subject from the chest up, courtroom light.
The face fills the frame, cut around the shoulders; every micro-expression reads.
When to use: Key emotional moments, decisions, the audience inside a character's head.
close-up on the subject's face
Tears she refuses to release, close-up on the subject's face, candlelight flickering.
A fragment of the face - usually the eyes - fills the entire frame.
When to use: Maximum intensity: realization, terror, obsession, the western standoff stare.
extreme close-up on the subject's eyes
The moment the plan clicks into place, extreme close-up on the subject's eyes, reflected neon.
A tight detail of an object or action - hands, a letter, a key turning - not a face.
When to use: Story-critical props, cutaways that carry plot information, tactile texture.
insert shot, extreme close-up detail of the object
A brass key slides into an old lock, insert shot, extreme close-up detail of the object, shallow focus.
Find the framing that matches how much context your moment needs, copy its prompt fragment, and lead your AI prompt with it, before subject and action, because models weight early tokens more heavily. Each fragment uses the standard industry term plus a plain-language anchor ('framing the subject from the waist up'), which keeps models honest even when they interpret the bare term loosely. The example on each card shows the fragment in a complete prompt.
The framing scale is the oldest shared vocabulary in filmmaking: extreme wide, wide, full, cowboy, medium, medium close-up, close-up, extreme close-up, and the insert for objects. Every crew in the world storyboards, shot-lists, and directs with these terms, which is exactly why AI models trained on described footage respond to them.
The practical difference between adjacent sizes is what stays in play. A medium shot keeps gesture; a medium close-up trades gesture for expression; a close-up trades posture for micro-expression. Prompting one size up or down from what the moment needs is why AI dialogue shots so often feel too distant or too intense.
Sequences read as professional when sizes alternate with intent: establish wide, play the scene in mediums, land the turn in a close-up, cut away to an insert when a prop carries the plot. Generating AI shots with that discipline produces clips that cut together like real coverage instead of a reel of disconnected images.
It visualizes the complete framing scale, extreme wide to extreme close-up plus the insert shot, on the same subject, each with the copy-paste prompt fragment for AI video and image generation.
For this workflow, the central problem is clear: shot sizes are learned from written definitions, so creators prompt 'medium shot' expecting a close-up and storyboard frames that do not match what the terms mean on set. Left unresolved, this creates downstream friction and slower decisions. The practical target is you see exactly where every framing cuts the body, and copy the prompt phrasing that produces that exact framing in AI models.
Limitation to keep in mind: Framings are conventions, not laws: a 'medium shot' cut point varies slightly between productions, and AI models interpret the terms with the same small variance.
Advanced workflow: Directors plan coverage by alternating sizes deliberately: wide to establish, medium for dialogue, close-up for the turn. Prompting AI shots with the same discipline produces sequences that cut together like real coverage.
Treat this tool output as a decision support layer, not a replacement for authorship. Great scripts are remembered for specific choices, emotional precision, and clarity of dramatic movement. Tools help by removing noise so your energy can go where it matters: character, conflict, escalation, and payoff. If you review outcomes after each pass and keep an explicit log of accepted changes, your workflow becomes faster and more predictable from draft to draft. That consistency is exactly what professional collaborators value: fewer surprises, clearer rationale, and a script that evolves with intent.
The classic scale runs extreme wide shot, wide shot, full shot, cowboy (medium wide), medium shot, medium close-up, close-up, and extreme close-up, plus the insert shot for object details. Each one is visualized on this page with its AI prompt.
A medium shot cuts at the waist and keeps gesture and body language in frame; a close-up fills the frame with the face and cuts around the shoulders. Between them sits the medium close-up, cut at the chest.
A framing that cuts at mid-thigh, named for westerns that needed the gun holster visible. It reads as a power framing: taller than a medium shot, with hands and hips still in play.
Yes, all major models (Veo, Sora, Runway, Kling, Seedance) understand standard framing vocabulary. Lead the prompt with the size term for the most reliable results, since models weight early words more heavily.
A tight detail shot of an object or action rather than a face: a key turning, a letter, hands on a keyboard. Inserts carry plot information and give the edit room to breathe.
Ask how much context the moment needs. Environment and geography want wides, dialogue wants mediums, emotion wants close-ups, and story-critical objects want inserts. Sequences work best when sizes alternate deliberately, like real coverage.
Extreme wide, wide, full, cowboy (medium wide), medium, medium close-up, close-up, and extreme close-up, plus the insert shot for object details. All nine are visualized above on the same subject.
A medium shot cuts at the waist and keeps hands and gesture in frame. A medium close-up cuts at the chest: the face leads, with just enough shoulder to keep body language alive.
Yes. Veo, Sora, Runway, Kling, and Seedance all respond to standard framing vocabulary. Lead the prompt with the size term and include the plain-language anchor, as the copy-paste fragments here do.
Confrontation and swagger. Cut at mid-thigh, it keeps hands and hips in play while standing taller than a medium shot, which is why westerns invented it and thrillers kept it.
Match the framing to how much context the moment needs: geography wants wides, dialogue wants mediums, emotion wants close-ups, and plot-critical objects want inserts. Then alternate sizes across the sequence the way real coverage does.
ScreenWeaver links your script to storyboards and shot lists where every panel knows its shot size, so framing decisions become a plan your whole production can read. Free to start.
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