Planning · DirectingNO.160 / 166

Watch: First a wide shot: an apartment block at night with one window lit. The audience knows where and when. Then cut into the room behind that window, and the scene begins.A line-art demo that only illustrates the technique, not finished footage.

Planning · Directing

Establishing Shot建立镜头

Before a scene starts, use a wide shot to tell the audience where and when this is.

Category: Directing
Group: Basics
Medium: Planning
Library: 160 / 166

This is a step in making a film, not a visual technique. For the whole process, see Make an AI short from scratch.

Prompt templates are written from how generation models usually behave and have not yet been verified one by one with real generations. “Common pitfalls” are judgment from experience, not official limits.

When to use it

Every time you arrive at a new location, after a time jump, at the opening.

Prompt template

establishing shot, extreme wide, slow push-in or locked-off, clearly showing location and time of day (a city skyline, a school gate, an old neighborhood on a rainy night), no close-up characters, 3 to 5 seconds.

Sample prompt · generate a video directly

The technique comes first, followed by the scene, action, performance and duration. Paste it straight into a video model and swap in your own characters and plot.

Establishing shot, extreme wide: a small-town long-distance bus station on Lunar New Year's Eve, red lanterns on the bus stop sign swaying in the wind, scattered fireworks bursting in the distant night sky, an empty parking lot with a single bus, its lights off. Locked-off camera slowly pushing in, no close-up characters in frame, 4 seconds, cold blue winter-night tones with touches of warm red.

Common pitfalls

Opening straight on a close-up of a face, so the audience doesn't know where they are.
The establishing shot doesn't match the style or weather of the interior scene that follows.
A long aerial for every scene drags the rhythm.

Parameter tips

Weather, time and light must match the next shot; 2 to 4 s is enough.