# What are the shot sizes from extreme wide to extreme close-up, how are they framed on a person, and how do I use them as the first element of a Veo-style prompt?

- id: art_01M5NP64CQCNKZGF5ERYB9GM6Z
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T02, T03, T06 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-24T00:50:17.105Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5NP64CQCNKZGF5ERYB9GM6Z

Problem. Shot-size words give inconsistent framing if used loosely. Conditions. Storyboarding and prompting. Source statements (Wikibooks Movie Making Manual; open-text, not a film-school syllabus). Extreme long/wide shot: subject a tiny figure vs surroundings. Full shot: entire body, head to toe. Medium wide / medium long (3/4) shot: from the knees up. Cowboy shot: roughly mid-waist to just above head, camera often at hip level (slightly low angle) - this page's cowboy and 3/4 definitions differ from other sources that put the cowboy shot mid-thigh up. Medium shot: waist up. Medium close-up: just above head to about mid-torso. Close-up: shoulders to top of head. Extreme close-up: crops the subject, picks out a detail. Veo 3.1 guide: put camera and composition first in a five-part prompt [Cinematography] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style & ambiance], with composition terms such as wide shot, close-up, extreme close-up, low angle, two-shot. Method (inference). Pick one size...

Problem. Shot-size words give inconsistent framing if used loosely. Conditions. Storyboarding and prompting. Source statements (Wikibooks Movie Making Manual; open-text, not a film-school syllabus). Extreme long/wide shot: subject a tiny figure vs surroundings. Full shot: entire body, head to toe. Medium wide / medium long (3/4) shot: from the knees up. Cowboy shot: roughly mid-waist to just above head, camera often at hip level (slightly low angle) - this page's cowboy and 3/4 definitions differ from other sources that put the cowboy shot mid-thigh up. Medium shot: waist up. Medium close-up: just above head to about mid-torso. Close-up: shoulders to top of head. Extreme close-up: crops the subject, picks out a detail. Veo 3.1 guide: put camera and composition first in a five-part prompt [Cinematography] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style & ambiance], with composition terms such as wide shot, close-up, extreme close-up, low angle, two-shot. Method (inference). Pick one size per shot; state it as the first words ('Medium close-up, ...'); when you need continuity across a dialogue, keep singles at the same size unless an editorial reason exists; because definitions differ by source, anchor with body landmarks ('framed from the waist up') in the prompt. Limitations. Sources disagree on boundaries; no evidence in these sources about how models interpret the labels. Version/date. Wikibooks page oldid 4313350; Veo guide Oct 15, 2025.

Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources.

Limitations: Wikibooks is an open text; a cowboy-shot discrepancy with other sources is noted but I did not fetch them. Prompt advice is inference.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Movie_Making_Manual/Cinematography/Shot_Sizes",
      "note": "Extreme Long Shot; Full Shot; Medium Wide Shot; Cowboy Shot; Medium Shot; Close Up; A formula for effective prompts; Language of cinematography; prompting"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/ultimate-prompting-guide-for-veo-3-1",
      "note": "Extreme Long Shot; Full Shot; Medium Wide Shot; Cowboy Shot; Medium Shot; Close Up; A formula for effective prompts; Language of cinematography; prompting"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Problem. Shot-size words give inconsistent framing if used loosely. Conditions. Storyboarding and prompting. Source statements (Wikibooks Movie Making Manual; open-text, not a film-school syllabus). Extreme long/wide shot: subject a tiny figure vs surroundings. Full shot: entire body, head to toe. Medium wide / medium long (3/4) shot: from the knees up. Cowboy shot: roughly mid-waist to just above head, camera often at hip level (slightly low angle) - this page's cowboy and 3/4 definitions differ from other sources that put the cowboy shot mid-thigh up. Medium shot: waist up. Medium close-up: just above head to about mid-torso. Close-up: shoulders to top of head. Extreme close-up: crops the subject, picks out a detail. Veo 3.1 guide: put camera and composition first in a five-part prompt [Cinematography] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style & ambiance], with composition terms such as wide shot, close-up, extreme close-up, low angle, two-shot. Method (inference). Pick one size per shot; state it as the first words ('Medium close-up, ...'); when you need continuity across a dialogue, keep singles at the same size unless an editorial reason exists; because definitions differ by source, anchor with body landmarks ('framed from the waist up') in the prompt. Limitations. Sources disagree on boundaries; no evidence in these sources about how models interpret the labels. Version/date. Wikibooks page oldid 4313350; Veo guide Oct 15, 2025. · locator: Extreme Long Shot; Full Shot; Medium Wide Shot; Cowboy Shot; Medium Shot; Close Up; A formula for effective prompts; Language of cinematography; prompting · source: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Movie_Making_Manual/Cinematography/Shot_Sizes

Rights:
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