Camera language: shot types, movement, and format
A working film-school vocabulary for HappyHorse-1.0 — shot sizes, camera movements, lens language, and how to choose aspect ratios per platform.
Updated 2026-07-17
HappyHorse-1.0 was trained on footage described the way filmmakers describe footage. So the fastest way to lift your results from "AI clip" to "shot" is to use the real vocabulary — the same fifteen or so terms a director calls across a set. This lesson is that vocabulary, organized for prompting.
Shot size (how close are we?)
- Wide shot / establishing shot — geography first, subject second. Use to open a sequence.
- Full shot — the whole body; best for action and dance.
- Medium shot — waist up; the conversational default.
- Close-up — the face; where lip-sync scenes (Lesson 5) live.
- Extreme close-up — an eye, a ring, a droplet. High drama, short duration.
One size per clip. "Wide shot that becomes a close-up" is legal — but say it as a camera move: "slow push-in from wide to close-up."
Camera movement (does the frame move?)
| Term | What it does | Feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Static shot | No movement | Composed, observational |
| Slow push-in | Dolly toward subject | Rising tension, focus |
| Pull-back | Dolly away | Reveal, release, loneliness |
| Tracking shot | Follows a moving subject | Energy, momentum |
| Orbit / arc shot | Circles the subject | Showcase, awe (great for products) |
| Crane up / down | Vertical sweep | Scale, grandeur, endings |
| Handheld | Unstabilized | Documentary, urgency, realism |
| Aerial / drone shot | High and moving | Scope, geography |
Two rules. One movement per clip — 3 to 15 seconds fits exactly one camera idea; "orbit then crane up" produces mush. Match movement to emotion — push-in for intimacy, pull-back for context, static when the subject's own motion is the show.
Lens and depth language
You're not choosing glass, but the model knows what glass does:
- "Shallow depth of field" — subject sharp, background melted; the instant "cinematic" switch.
- "Deep focus" — everything sharp; documentary and landscape energy.
- "35mm film look" — grain, halation, organic color; pairs well with handheld.
- "Anamorphic widescreen" — oval bokeh, horizontal flares; the blockbuster look.
- "Macro lens" — for the extreme close-ups above.
Aspect ratio is a distribution decision
HappyHorse renders natively in five ratios — pick by where the clip will live, and say it in the prompt as well as the settings (the wording nudges composition):
| Ratio | Platform | Prompt tag |
|---|---|---|
| 16:9 | YouTube, web heroes, TV | "widescreen cinematic" |
| 9:16 | TikTok, Reels, Shorts | "vertical short-form video" |
| 1:1 | Feed posts, product tiles | "square format" |
| 4:3 | Retro / editorial | "classic 4:3" |
| 3:4 | Pinterest, portrait feeds | "portrait format" |
Composing for 9:16 changes more than the crop: subjects sit lower, faces bigger, motion more vertical. If you need both a widescreen and a vertical cut, generate both natively rather than cropping one from the other — the model recomposes the shot properly for each.
Putting it together: a three-shot sequence
A coffee brand spot, one product, three generations:
- Establish: "Aerial drone shot descending toward a mountain-side coffee farm at sunrise, mist in the valleys, warm golden light, cinematic photorealism, serene — widescreen"
- Feature: "Orbit shot around a matte-black coffee bag on a wooden table, beans scattered, shallow depth of field, soft window light, premium and calm"
- Human close: "Close-up of hands cradling a steaming mug, slow push-in, morning light through linen curtains, quiet contentment, soft acoustic underscore"
Same lighting family, one camera idea per shot, escalating intimacy: wide → product → human. Cut together, it reads as directed — because structurally, it was.
Next lesson leaves the director's chair for the terminal: calling HappyHorse-1.0 from code, with real per-clip prices.