Shot Sizes

Shot size is the most fundamental choice in cinematography. It controls the emotional distance between the audience and the subject: wider shots give information and context, tighter shots give emotion and intimacy.

Wide = where and what
Medium = who and how
Close = what they feel
Abbreviated to 2–3 letters on a shot list

Where each size cuts the body. The names describe the bottom of the frame; the top edge sits just above the head in all of them except the extreme close-up.

The standard sizes

Shot	Abbr.	What's in frame	Typical storytelling use
Extreme Wide / Extreme Long	EWS / ELS	Vast landscape, subject tiny or absent	Scale, isolation, epic setting
Establishing	EST	The location of the scene	Tells us where and when we are
Wide / Long	WS / LS	Whole body plus plenty of environment	Character in relation to their world
Full Shot	FS	Head to toe, filling the frame height	Body language, costume, physical action
Medium Full Shot	MFS	From roughly the knees up	Groups, walking-and-talking
Cowboy Shot	CS	From mid-thigh up	Confidence, confrontation (originally framed to show a gun holster)
Medium Shot	MS	From the waist up	The workhorse of dialogue scenes
Medium Close-Up	MCU	Chest and shoulders up	Conversation with emotional weight
Close-Up	CU	The face fills the frame	Emotion, reaction, the inner world
Extreme Close-Up	ECU	A single detail: eyes, lips, a trigger	Intensity, obsession, revelation

How much world comes with the subject

Extreme WideSubject small against the world. Scale, isolation, unfamiliarity.

WideWhole body plus room. The character in their environment.

Full ShotHead to toe, filling the height. Posture, costume, action.

Medium Close-UpChest up. The world drops away; the face takes over.

Note

An establishing shot does not have to be wide. Establishing shots have no rules other than building tone and context; they are not required to be wide or shot from a drone. A close-up of a door handle can establish a scene just as well as an aerial of a city.

Shots named by subject and relationship

Beyond size, shots are also named by who is in them and how they relate.

SingleOne person alone in frame.

Two-ShotTwo people sharing the frame, making the relationship visible.

Over-the-ShoulderOne character framed past the other's shoulder. Keeps both connected.

Point of ViewExactly what a character sees. Puts the audience inside their head.

Insert: A close shot of an object the audience must notice: a letter, a phone screen, a key on a table.
Cutaway: A shot of something outside the main action: a clock, a crowd reaction, a detail elsewhere in the room. Also the standard way to reset the line (see Screen Grammar).
Reaction shot: Someone responding to what was just said or done. Often more powerful than the line itself. Watch: Shot Reverse Shot: How to Shoot Reaction Shots (opens in a new tab).
Master shot: A wide take covering an entire scene from start to finish, so the editor always has something to cut back to.
Coverage: All the additional closer shots filmed of the same scene, so the editor has choices in the cut.

Rule

Hitchcock's principle. The size of something in the frame should match its importance to the story at that moment. If you cannot decide between two sizes, ask which one makes the important thing bigger.

Watch

Ultimate Guide to Camera Shots (opens in a new tab) (StudioBinder, The Shot List Ep. 1). Reference: StudioBinder's shot size guide (opens in a new tab).

Cinematography & Mise-en-Scène cheat sheets · built from The Foundations of Cinematography and Mise-en-Scène.