Before cinematographers talk about lighting, lenses, or color — they talk about shots. Shot size is the grammar of cinema. Get it wrong and even a perfect prompt falls flat.

Here are the 5 shot types you need to understand, and exactly how to use them in your AI video prompts.

1. Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)

The character is tiny — or absent entirely. The environment is the subject.

Use it for: Establishing worlds, showing isolation, epic scale, opening sequences.

In prompts: "Extreme wide shot, lone figure dwarfed by brutalist architecture, early morning fog, city grid stretching to the horizon"

AI tools love this. Wide shots give the model room to build environments, which is where current AI video excels.

2. Wide Shot (WS)

The full character is visible with significant environment around them.

Use it for: Action sequences, showing relationship between character and space, physical storytelling.

In prompts: "Wide shot, full body visible, character moving through crowded market, handheld camera, documentary energy"

3. Medium Shot (MS)

Waist up. The workhorse of cinema — used in most dialogue scenes.

Use it for: Conversation, emotional connection, character-driven moments.

In prompts: "Medium shot, waist up, two characters facing each other across a kitchen table, warm practical lighting, shallow depth of field"

4. Close-Up (CU)

Head and shoulders, or a specific body part — hands, eyes, mouth.

Use it for: Emotion, tension, revealing detail, punctuating a moment.

In prompts: "Close-up, eyes only visible above a scarf, pupils dilating in fear, extreme shallow DOF, bokeh background"

5. Extreme Close-Up (ECU)

A single detail fills the entire frame — an eye, a trigger finger, a torn letter.

Use it for: Maximum tension, symbolic emphasis, sensory detail.

In prompts: "Extreme close-up, single tear rolling down weathered cheek, catching neon light, macro lens, film grain"

The Golden Rule

Shot size determines emotional distance. Wide = objective, detached. Close = intimate, intense.

The best scenes move through shot sizes — wide to establish, medium to connect, close to feel. Think of your prompt as a single moment in that journey, and choose the shot size that serves the emotion.

In ShotForge Studio, the Shot Size dropdown gives you all five options — plus specialty shots like bird's eye, Dutch angle, and POV. Combine them with the right lighting and DP reference and you'll have a prompt that any AI tool can turn into something cinematic.

Now go direct your shot.