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Cinematography Master List - Coggle Diagram
Cinematography Master List
Shot Distance / Framing (How close the camera is to the subject)
Extreme Close-Up (ECU) - Detail shot (eyes, hand, object
Close-Up (CU) - Face or key object fills the frame
Medium Close-Up (MCU) - Head and shoulders
Medium Shot (MS) - Waist-up framing
Medium Long Shot (MLS) - Knees-up / 3/4 shot
Long Shot (LS) - Full body visible
Extreme Long Shot (ELS) - Distant, establishing shot
Wide Shot (WS) - Emphasizes environment or scale
Establishing Shot (EST) - Sets scene or geography
Group Shot / Two Shot (2S) - Two or more characters framed together
Insert / Cutaway - Detail or reaction within a sequence
Money Shot - The big visual payoff of the scene
Beauty Shot - Glamorous idealized framing of talent or product
Camera Angle / Height (Vertical and lateral orientation of camera to subject)
Eye Level - Natural human perspective
High Angle (HA) - Looking down on subject
Low Angel (LA) - Looking up at subject
Dutch Angle (DA / Canted) - Tilted horizon for tension
Overhead (OH / Bird's Eye / God's Eye) - Directly above, 90° down
Worm's-Eye (WE) - Extreme low angle, from ground up
Cowboy Shot (CS) - Framed mid-thigh up (gunslinger style)
Hero Shot - Slight low angle emphasizing dominance
Top-Down (TD) - Drone or crane perspective
Villain Shot - High angle exaggerating weakness
Ankle Shot - Focused on feet or impact points
Hip-Level / Belt Shot - Waist high for walk-and-talk scenes
Loser's Angle - Subtle high angle for comedic inferiority
Camera Movement (Dynamic or mechanical camera actions)
Pan - Horizontal rotation on tripod
Tilt - Vertical rotation on tripod
Dolly - Camera moves physically closer/farther
Truck - Lateral camera movement left/right
Pedestal (PED) - Camera moves vertically up/down
Zoom / Crash Zoom / Snap Zoom - Lens magnification changes (not camera move)
Crane / Jib - Sweeping vertical move
Handheld (HH) - Natural shake / realism
Steadicam (ST) - Stabilized movement
Push-in / Pull-Out - Slow dolly or zoom for emotion
Tracking Shot - Follows subject movement
360° Orbit / Arc Shot - Camera circles subject
Whip Pan (Swish Pan) - Fast pan for energy / transition
Daisy Cutter - Low-tracking variant extremely close to ground
Zolly / Vertigo Efffect - Dolly + zoom combo; perspective distortion
Creeper Dolly - Ultra-slow push-in for tension
Texas Dolly / Poor Man's Process - Operator steps forward handheld for push-in
Drone Dolly / Drone Jib - Aerial simulation of traditional dolly/crane move
Snorricam / Bodycam - Camera mounted to actor's body (immersive POV)
Overcranked / Undercranked - Slow motion / fast motion through frame rate control
FPV Drone / Racing Cam - First-person view flight perspective
Time-Lapse / Hyperlapse - temporal compression of long events
Composition & Subject Relationship (How the subject is framed within the scene)
Over-the-Shoulder (OTS) - Dialogue framing
Point-of-View (POV) - Character's literal viewpoint
Insert Shot - Object detail within sequence
Cutaway - Contextual or reaction insert
Two-Shot (2S) - Two subjects framed together
Group Shot - Three or more subjects
Reaction Shot - Subject responding to offscreen action
Master Shot - Covers entire action from start to finish
French Over - Over-the-Shoulder shot that crosses eyeline slightly for intimacy
Dirty Over - Over-the-shoulder shot with foreground "dirt" adds realism
Clean Single - Isolated subject, no obstructions
Dirty Single - Includes partial foreground or other actor's edge
Through-the-Object / Frame-within-Frame - Seen through window, doorway, or barrier
Reflection / Mirror Shot - Seen via reflective surface
Over-the-Mirror - Actor seen above mirror's reflection
Silhouette / Shadow Shot - emphasizes outline of lighting contrast
Split Screen / Multi-Panel - Simultaneous scenes or viewpoints
Underwater / Over-Under Split - Half-submerged shot dividing environments
Lens Perspective / Optical Techniques (Affects depth, distortion, and feel)
Wide-Angle (WA) - Exaggerates depth / spatial tension
Normal - Approximates human vision (~50mm)
Telephoto - Compresses distance, isolates subject
Macro / Extreme Macro - Extreme close detail
Fish-Eye - Ultra-wide distortion
Rack Focus - Focus shift between planes
Deep Focus - Foreground & Background sharp
Shallow Focus / Bokeh - Background blur
Split Diopter - Both near and far in focus
Phantom Cam / Ultra Slow-Mo - High-speed cinematography revealing micro-motion
Narrative / Stylized Shots (Distinct visual storytelling tools)
Establishing Drone - Modern aerial establishing shot
Tracking POV - Simulates character walking view
Mirror Shot - Framed through reflection
Silhouette - Subject backlit, dark outline
Shadow Shot - Subject visible only via shadow
Match Cut - Visual or motion continuity
Whip Transition - Rapid motion blur segue
Montage Sequence - Series of brief linked shots
Split Screen - Multiple scenes shown simultaneously
Reveal Shot - Starts obscured, unveils key subject
Tag Shot - Final humorous or ironic shot
Bullet Time / Time Slice - Multi-camera frozen-moment effect
Magic Hour Shot - Filmed at golden hour for ideal light
Beer Shot - Fun, unscripted last take of the day