Midjourney Shot Types: From Extreme Close-Up to Wide Shot

What shot type controls

Shot type, also called shot size or framing, is how much of your subject fills the frame. An extreme close-up might show only an eye. An extreme wide shot might show a whole valley with a person as a dot in it. Film crews use these names to plan scenes, and Midjourney learned them from captioned photos and film stills, so the same vocabulary works in your prompts.

Framing changes what an image is about. A close-up is about emotion. A full shot is about posture and clothing. A wide shot is about a person’s place in the world. If your images keep feeling slightly off, the framing is often the reason.

Shot type works alongside camera angle, which is the viewpoint (low, high, overhead). A strong prompt usually names one of each, for example low-angle full shot.

Shot types from extreme close-up to extreme wide

The cowboy shot gets its name from westerns, where framing at mid-thigh kept the holster in view. You do not need a western to use it; it is simply a confident, three-quarter-length framing that suits fashion and character work.

How to prompt shot types reliably

Midjourney often drifts towards a comfortable medium framing when you are vague. These steps keep it where you want it:

1. Lead with the shot type. Put it in the first few words: medium shot of a baker, not a baker in a flour-dusted apron, medium shot.
2. State the boundary. Add where the frame cuts: framed from the waist up, cropped at the chin, head to toe. Two signals beat one.
3. Let your details match the framing. This is the most overlooked rule. If you describe shoes in detail, Midjourney will widen the frame to show them. If you describe eyelashes and freckles, it will push in. Only describe what the shot would actually show.
4. Choose an aspect ratio that fits. A full-body shot fits naturally in --ar 2:3 or --ar 9:16. An extreme wide landscape suits --ar 16:9 or --ar 21:9. A square frame squeezes full-body shots and often crops feet.
5. Remove what you do not want. If full-body shots keep losing their feet, add feet visible, shoes in frame. If close-ups keep showing shoulders, add tight framing.
6. Reroll before rewriting. The four images in a grid vary. If one of them is right, build from it with Vary (Subtle) instead of changing the prompt.

Copy-ready shot type prompts

Each example names the shot first, sets a boundary and keeps the details consistent with what would be visible.

• extreme close-up of a woman's eye, flecks of amber in a green iris, reflection of a window in the pupil, macro photograph --ar 16:9 --style raw
• close-up of an elderly fisherman's face filling the frame, weathered skin, salt-white stubble, overcast light --ar 4:5 --style raw
• medium shot of a barista framed from the waist up, pouring latte art, busy café behind her softly out of focus --ar 3:2
• cowboy shot of a desert ranger framed from mid-thigh up, hands resting on a wide leather belt, dusty wind, late afternoon sun --ar 2:3
• full-body shot of a model in an oversized camel coat, head to toe, white sneakers visible, standing on a plain concrete studio floor --ar 9:16 --style raw
• extreme wide shot of a tiny lone hiker on a ridge, vast mountain range and rolling cloud below, dawn --ar 21:9
• establishing shot of a fishing village at dusk, harbour lights reflecting on the water, seen from the hillside above --ar 16:9
• two-shot of two old friends laughing on a park bench, medium framing, autumn leaves on the path --ar 3:2

Using shot types to tell a sequence

Film editors build scenes by moving between shot sizes: a wide establishing shot to set the place, a medium shot to show action, a close-up for emotion, and a detail shot for the key object. You can use the same pattern for storyboards, carousels and campaign sets.

Keep everything except the shot type the same across the set. Reuse the same subject description, lighting and style wording, and consider a fixed seed or a shared --sref to keep the look consistent. For recurring people, the techniques in consistent characters help keep faces and outfits recognisable from shot to shot.

A simple four-frame sequence might be:

1. establishing shot of a lighthouse on a rocky coast at dusk, storm rolling in --ar 16:9
2. medium shot of the lighthouse keeper climbing the spiral stairs, lantern in hand --ar 16:9
3. close-up of the keeper's face lit by the lamp, determined expression --ar 16:9
4. detail shot of weathered hands turning the brass lamp mechanism --ar 16:9

Common framing problems

• Feet keep getting cropped. Use a taller aspect ratio, add feet visible and describe the floor or ground the subject stands on.
• Close-ups come out as head-and-shoulders. Add face filling the frame or tight crop, and remove clothing descriptions below the neck.
• Wide shots make the subject too big. Add a size cue such as tiny figure or small in the frame, and spend more of the prompt describing the environment.
• Two-shots merge or duplicate people. Give each person a short, distinct description (clothing colour, hair, age) and keep the scene simple.
• Extreme close-ups look like illustrations. Add macro photograph and a light source, and try --style raw.

Doing this faster with Dreamdrive

Dreamdrive saves every prompt you run automatically, with its picture, model and settings, into the project you choose, so you can search your Library for it later, copy it with Copy prompt or drag the picture into another tool.