Cinematic Camera Movement Terms for AI Video Prompting

Almost any guide to video prompting for Generative AI will tell you to describe camera motion using “cinematic prompts”.

But what are these terms, and what do they mean? Here my ten top prompts:

1 Static Shot / Locked Off Shot / Immobilised shot

• Definition: The camera remains completely stationary (static), as if mounted on a tripod. The action unfolds within the frame, but the camera itself does not move.
• Best Use Case: Creating natural edit points where subjects enter or leave the frame. Recording a scene which is highly compelling without any movement. A rock-solid, stable focus on the subject’s action.
• GenAI Optimisation: While “Static Shot” is the standard cinematic term, many AI models struggle to fully grasp it! If you face issues, try other prompts like “Locked Shot” or “Immobile Shot” for  better results.

2. Pan / Panning Shot / Whip Pan (Swish Pan)

• Definition: The camera moves horizontally — either left-to-right or right-to-left. Traditionally executed on a tripod, a gimbal is often used today for smoother motion.
• Key Variations: Whip Pan (or Swish Pan). There are very fast, blurred horizontal pan used to move quickly between two subjects or scenes. They create a dynamic, often dizzying effect.
• Best Use Case: Following a subject’s movement or revealing a wider scene without changing the camera’s actual location.
• GenAI Optimisation: Use “smooth pan” or “slow pan” for controlled results.

3 Tracking Shot / Trucking Shot

• Definition: The camera tracks the action of the subject – forwards or backwards, and left to right.
• Trucking shots are a type of of Tracking Shot. Tis is where the camera follows parallel to the subject. Think of cameras that track alongside a runner or a racehorse.
• GenAI Optimisation: Use “Tracking Shot following the subject” for general motion. Use “Truck Left” or “Truck Right” to explicitly get a parallel, lateral movement.

• Best Use Case: Following a character walking down a street, maintaining a spectator’s distance, or revealing a large environment in motion.

4. Tilt / Tilting Shot

• Definition: The camera moves vertically from a fixed point – either up-to-down or down-to-up (nodding motion). Like a Pan, the camera body itself does not change its position.

• Best Use Case: Revealing a subject’s height or scanning a tall object (like a skyscraper or mountain). It could also tilt up from a close-up of a person’s feet to their face.
• GenAI Optimisation: Prompt with “tilt up” or “tilt down”.

5. Dolly Shot / Push In / Pull Out

• Definition: The entire camera platform moves closer to the subject (Dolly In / Push In) or farther away from the subject (Dolly Out / Pull Out).
• GenAI Optimisation: Always use directional cues: “Dolly In,” “Push In,” or “Dolly Out,” or “Pull Out.” This is crucial to distinguish it from a Zoom.
• Best Use Case: Building tension, emphasising a character’s internal conflicts (Push In). Pull outs reveal a character in their location.
• Key variation: A dolly zoom (also known as a Hitchcock Zoom or Vertigo effect) is where the camera moves towards a subject while the lens zooms out (or visa versa). It creates an unsettling effect.

6. Zoom Shot / Crash Zoom

• Definition: This isn’t a a physical camera move, but using a zoom lens to get closer to (or further from) a subject. The camera remains static while the subject is magnified (Zoom In) or demagnified (Zoom Out). This action changes the perspective (unlike a dolly shot).

• Key Variation: Crash Zoom: A rapid, aggressive Zoom In used to jar the viewer or emphasise a sudden realisation.

• Best Use Case: Drawing the viewer’s immediate attention to a detail (Zoom In), or revealing a character’s environment (Zoom Out).

7. POV (Point of View Shots) / Over the Shoulder shots

• Definition: These are also known as “Over the Shoulder” shots as the camera follows the subject in a journey. The camera is often but not always handheld for these shots
• GenAI Optimisation: AI models seem to struggle with this one. Use PoV and Over the shoulder, and minimise any prompts describing the character’s face.
• Best Use Case: These shots allow a subject to lead us on a journey. In other circumstances we can see what they can see and can reveal a challenge ahead.

8. Aerial shots / Drone shots / UAV shots

• Definition: Any shot taken from the air – these days usually a drone (UAV). A drone can zoom, pan, tilt dolly, all incredibly smoothly.

• GenAI optimisation: Combine your aerial prompt with terms like pan, zoom etc to get the shot you want.

• Best use: Dramatic landscapes, following characters in space.

9. Crane Shot / Jib Shot

• Definition: The camera is mounted on a large mechanical arm (called a crane or jib), allowing it to move dramatically up, down, or across a scene from a great height. It can also combine movements like a rising dolly or a complex arc. A Jib is a smaller, more restricted version of a crane.

• GenAI Optimization: Use “Sweeping Crane Shot” for a majestic, grand reveal. Specify how high and fast you want to crane or job to travel.

• Best Use Case: Establishing the scope of a location (establishing shot), a dramatic entrance/exit from a scene, or a concluding, grandiose shot to convey finality.

10. Parallax

Definition; Parallax describes the relationship between foreground and background. Most commonly, think of a shot where the camera tracks left to right but turns so it is continually pointed as the subject. That is the most obvious use of a parallax effect, though there are many more.

Best use case: To create depth and focus on a subject. It is also great for product shots and is a basic shot used by drone pilots.

Nick Skinner is a Film Maker who teaches film making and Generative AI to students at Cardiff University. He also runs his production company, Rough Cut Media.