Main rules
- One movement per shot. Split several movements into separate shots.
- Speed: slow, smooth, fast. By default, slow is better.
- Movement at the start of the prompt: «Slow push in on a cup of coffee...».
- For faces and products use less movement: static camera or slow push in.
Basic movements
| Term | In plain words | What it does | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| static camera | fixed camera | the camera does not move | animating photos, dialogue, speech |
| push in | move in | the camera approaches | emphasis on the hero or the product |
| pull back | move out | the camera moves away | reveal the setting, ending |
| dolly in, dolly out | move in, out on a dolly | the same, smoother | cinematic scenes |
| zoom in, zoom out | zoom | magnification with the lens | quick emphasis, documentary style |
| pan left, pan right | pan | the camera turns left, right | show a landscape, a room |
| tilt up, tilt down | tilt | the camera turns up, down | show the height of a building, the hero’s height |
| truck left, truck right | sideways move | the camera travels sideways | pass along a shop window, a table |
| pedestal up, down | rise, lower | the camera moves vertically | open a view from above |
Following the hero
| Term | In plain words | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| tracking shot | tracking | the camera follows the hero |
| follow shot from behind | from behind | the camera walks behind |
| leading shot | in front of the hero | the camera moves backwards in front of the hero |
| side tracking | from the side | the camera travels parallel to the hero |
| orbit | orbit | the camera circles around the subject |
| slow orbit 30 degrees | 30-degree orbit | a small orbit, safe for products |
| arc shot | arc | an orbit along an arc |
Big movements
| Term | In plain words | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| crane up | crane up | the camera rises and reveals the view |
| crane down | crane down | the camera descends to the hero |
| aerial shot | aerial | a drone view |
| drone flyover | drone pass | the camera flies over the area |
| FPV drone | FPV drone | a fast dynamic flight through space |
| bird’s eye view | top view | the camera directly above the scene |
Movement style
| Term | In plain words | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| handheld | hand-held | liveliness, documentary feel, UGC |
| shaky camera | shaking camera | anxiety, action |
| steadicam | steadicam | smooth movement behind the hero |
| smooth gimbal movement | smooth, as on a stabiliser | an even pass through space |
| whip pan | sharp pan | a quick change of scene |
| slow motion | slow motion | impact, emotion |
| time-lapse | time-lapse | sped-up time: clouds, city |
| one continuous take | one continuous shot | a scene without editing cuts |
Angles
| Term | In plain words |
|---|---|
| low angle | from below looking up |
| high angle | from above looking down |
| eye level | at eye level |
| dutch angle | tilted horizon |
| over the shoulder | from behind the shoulder |
| POV | first-person view |
| close-up | close shot |
| wide shot | wide view |
Ready phrases
Product:
Slow push in on the perfume bottle, soft studio light, the bottle stays unchanged.
Landscape:
Slow drone flyover above a misty pine forest at sunrise.
Hero in motion:
Tracking shot from behind at shoulder height: a man in a yellow raincoat runs up wet stairs at night.
Reveal the setting:
Pull back from a close-up of a coffee cup to a wide shot of a cozy café.
Animating a photo:
Static camera. The woman slowly turns her head and smiles.
No cuts:
One continuous take with smooth gimbal movement through the apartment from the front door to the balcony.
Which models understand what
Veo 3.1, Kling v3 and Seedance understand all the terms above. Long continuous passes (one continuous take) work best in Seedance 2.5 with its 30 seconds per generation. Kling holds camera movement around people best.
Ready prompts for the models: Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1, Seedance 2.0. A vocabulary of shots, light and styles: prompts without English.
In short
The camera movement is set by a term at the start of the prompt: push in, pull back, pan, tilt, orbit, tracking shot, crane, handheld. One movement per shot, slow by default. For faces and products use a static camera or a slow push in, for landscapes a drone flyover, for a hero in motion a tracking shot.
