Shot Sizes for AI Filmmaking

Shot Sizes for AI Filmmaking

Choose the Right Shot Size for Your Next AI Video Project 🎥🤖

Whether you're planning your next AI-generated short film or crafting a cinematic sequence in CapCut or LumaFusion, knowing your shot sizes can elevate the storytelling. Each frame tells a story—not just with what’s in it, but how much of it we see.

Here’s a quick guide to 10 essential shot sizes, from sweeping landscapes to intense close-ups:

🏜️ 1. Establishing Shot

Purpose: Set the scene
Use this wide view to introduce the location and mood. Think: opening a sci-fi desert outpost at sunset.

🌍 2. Extreme Wide Shot

Purpose: Isolation or epic scale
Perfect for conveying loneliness or vastness. Your subject is tiny—swallowed by their environment.

🚶♂️ 3. Wide Shot

Purpose: Full-body in context
Shows character movement and their surroundings. Great for action intros or dynamic movement.

🧍 4. Full Shot

Purpose: Show body language and costume
The whole figure fills the frame—ideal when gestures or outfits matter.

🦵 5. Medium Wide Shot

Purpose: Dialogue-friendly
Framed from the knees up, it’s a staple for fast-paced conversation or walk-and-talk scenes.

🤠 6. Cowboy Shot

Purpose: Stylish and classic
Framed mid-thigh up—named for its use in westerns to show holsters. Adds attitude!

🤷 7. Medium Shot

Purpose: The YouTube go-to
Waist-up framing is versatile for vlogging, interviews, and clean dialogue delivery.

💬 8. Medium Close-Up

Purpose: Capture clean emotion
Chest-up framing gives you intimacy without getting too close.

😮 9. Close-Up

Purpose: Impactful emotion
Perfect for revealing a character’s inner world. Use when the performance is key.

👁️ 10. Extreme Close-Up

Purpose: Dramatic detail
Eyes. Hands. Sweat. This is your punch-in moment for ultimate tension or emotional gravity.


Pro Tip: When building your AI storyboard or animatic, start wide to establish, then gradually move in to connect emotionally. Varying your shot sizes creates rhythm, tension, and energy.



 

Back to blog

Leave a comment