Camera-Move Library — 50 Moves in 5 Technique Modules
Original camera-move library by jnMetaCode (MIT). Camera moves are universal film craft — the naming, phrasing, examples, and 5-stage integration here are our own original work, a from-scratch reference covering the standard techniques every director's toolkit contains.
Companion to genre-camera-sop.md: that file indexes moves by genre (horror / action / romance / suspense / epic); this one indexes them by technique (movement / composition / editing / atmosphere / portrait light). Two axes onto the same craft.
How to use
Each move is a Stage-4 (camera) or Stage-3 (atmosphere) ingredient, not a whole prompt. Pick a move, paste its phrasing into your prompt, and keep the two house rules that separate these from generic "cinematic camera" lines:
- Breathing line, always: "Handheld shot. Throughout, maintain an extremely subtle, breath-like camera float to enhance presence." (Drop it only for deliberately rigid locked-off / top-down moves.)
- Sound, always stated:
Sound: No score. Production audio only.then enumerate the scene's signature ambient.
Format per move: Move (中文) — paste phrasing → the effect it buys. Phrasing is generalized and IP-safe; swap {subject} / {place} for your own.
Module 1 · Movement & Transitions 运动与转场 (1–10)
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Empty-frame bridge (空镜转场) | "Slow drift across an empty {place}, no subject in frame; hold, then the next shot opens on a matching color/tone" | Bridges scenes on mood, not action — breathing room between beats |
| OTS dialogue (过肩对话) | "Long-lens over-the-shoulder, foreground shoulder soft, focus on the far face, shallow depth of field" | Two-hander tension in a single frame; beats cutting back and forth |
| Emotion close-up (特写情绪) | "Extreme close-up on {hands/eyes}, micro-movement only, a tremor / a tightening grip" | Interior state without a word of dialogue |
| Dolly follow (推轨跟拍) | "Smooth dolly tracking behind the walking {subject}, steady, matching pace" | Momentum — the viewer travels with them |
| Low-angle hero (仰拍起势) | "Low angle looking up at the standing {subject} against the sky, slow tilt up" | Power and arrival without a victory pose |
| High-angle crowd (俯拍众生) | "High overhead looking straight down, {subject} small within a larger pattern" | Fate, distance, insignificance — the god's remove |
| Pan-scan vista (摇镜扫景) | "Slow horizontal pan across a wide {landscape}, revealing its full scale" | Establishes the world; lets the frame breathe |
| Tilt-shift miniature (移轴虚化) | "Tilt-shift, a shallow band of focus across a wide scene, top and bottom blurred" | Toy-model unreality; dreamlike detachment |
| Backlit silhouette (逆光剪影) | "Hard backlight, {subject} rendered as a near-black silhouette, bright rim only" | Archetype and loneliness; identity withheld |
| Handheld chase (手持跟拍) | "Tight handheld POV behind the running {subject}, frame jolting, lagging half a step" | Visceral pursuit; life-and-death pace |
Module 2 · Time & Composition 时间与构图 (11–20)
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Slow-mo overcrank (慢动作升格) | "Extreme slow motion on the instant of {impact/shatter}, debris suspended mid-air" | Sanctifies one moment; sculpts a beat into ritual |
| Time-lapse undercrank (快动作降格) | "Fast time-lapse, clouds and shadows racing, light shifting over a near-static frame" | Compresses years; reads as 'time passes / all is fleeting' |
| Rack focus reveal (焦点转换) | "Rack focus from the foreground {object} to the figure behind it" | Hands the viewer a clue/connection in one continuous beat |
| Frame-within-frame (画框构图) | "{Subject} framed through a doorway / window / arch, a natural border around them" | Depth plus voyeurism; the frame implies an outside watcher |
| Diagonal dynamic (对角线构图) | "Strong diagonal line through frame (stairs, roofline), {subject} moving along it" | Instability and kinetic energy; great for action |
| Absolute symmetry (绝对对称) | "Dead-center symmetrical composition, {subject} on the central axis, sides mirrored" | Order, ritual, authority — Kubrick-cold formality |
| Rule-of-thirds (三分法构图) | "{Subject} on a thirds intersection, generous negative space toward their look direction" | Natural balance; breathing room reads as calm |
| Foreground occlusion (前景遮挡) | "A foreground element slides through frame, partially blocking {subject}" | Withholding; a 'reveal-by-uncovering' ritual entrance |
| Background bokeh (后景虚化) | "Shallow depth of field, {subject} sharp, background melted to soft bokeh" | Isolates the subject; a halo of focus around them |
| Foreground bokeh (前景虚化) | "Out-of-focus foreground (leaves / lights) drifting across, {subject} sharp behind" | Atmosphere + peering-in intimacy |
Module 3 · Editing Grammar & POV 剪辑语法与视点 (21–30)
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Oner / long take (长镜头一镜到底) | "One continuous take, no cut, camera follows {subject} through the space" | Immersion; real-time, unbroken tension |
| Montage intercut (蒙太奇剪辑) | "Rapid 0.5s intercut of charged details — sparks, eyes, blade, a held breath" | 1+1>2; crisis and climax energy |
| Dissolve (叠化转场) | "Slow cross-dissolve, two faces/scenes overlapping before one resolves" | Passage of time, fate, memory, the dream/real border |
| Flash-white (闪白转场) | "Hard flash to white, then resolve on a new time/place" | Traumatic-memory jolt; sudden violent recall |
| Cut-to-black (黑场转场) | "Hard cut to black, hold one beat, resolve on the next scene" | Punctuation; a time jump or a forced pause to reflect |
| Match cut (匹配转场) | "Match cut on a shape/color/motion — a tossed {object} becomes another object/place" | Magic-trick continuity; collapses space and time |
| Sound bridge (声音转场) | "Carry the next scene's sound in before the picture cuts" | Primes anticipation/dread across the cut |
| Subjective POV (主观视角) | "First-person POV, the camera is {subject}'s eyes, frame sways with gait and breath" | Embodiment; fear and urgency from inside the body |
| Objective POV (客观视角) | "Detached locked-off observer, no involvement, {subject} framed coldly" | Clinical distance; unease through non-intervention |
| God's-eye top-down (上帝视角) | "Top-down overhead on a pattern/maze, {subject} tiny within it" | Fate and scale; the human dwarfed by the design |
Module 4 · Atmosphere & Environment Light 氛围与环境光影 (31–40)
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Voyeur frame (窥视视角) | "Camera hidden behind a screen / foliage, a partially obscured view of {subject}" | Surveillance tension; the watched-without-knowing dread |
| Reflection / mirror (反光倒影) | "Shoot {subject} via a reflection — water, glass, metal — the real subject off-frame or secondary" | Poetic, uncanny doubling; a psychological hint |
| Fog / haze (烟雾氛围) | "Volumetric haze, god-rays cutting through, {subject} moving within it" | Mystery; softens clutter, adds depth |
| Rain (雨景氛围) | "Heavy rain, droplets on surfaces, {subject} soaked, reflective wet ground" | Melancholy, despair, heightened drama |
| Snow (雪景氛围) | "Snowfall blanketing a muted world, one accent color (red) against the white" | Purity, isolation, sanctity — loneliness as beauty |
| Night (夜景氛围) | "Cool moonlight against a warm practical light, deep shadow, {subject} lit by one source" | Mystery; the divine or the hidden inside dark |
| Sunrise (日出氛围) | "Sun rising behind {subject/structure}, cool-to-gold gradient, rim light" | Hope, rebirth, justice arriving |
| Sunset (日落氛围) | "Sun sinking to the horizon, orange-to-purple sky, long silhouettes, wind in the clothing" | Irreversible melancholy; the epic farewell |
| Candlelight (烛光氛围) | "A single unstable candle/flame as the only light, all else in shadow, slow push to the lit eyes" | Intimacy plus instability; quiet dread |
| Side-light sculpting (侧光塑形) | "45° side light, half the face/body in shadow, a hard light-dark boundary" | Drama and duality; the hidden side of a character |
Module 5 · Portrait Lighting & Story Beats 人像布光与起承转合 (41–50)
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Flat front light (顺光平柔) | "Even soft frontal light, no hard shadow, skin natural and smooth" | Calm, clarity, openness |
| Rim / backlight outline (逆光轮廓) | "Backlight forming a bright outline that separates {subject} from background, face in shadow" | Separation; the sacred or the mysterious |
| Top light / sacred (顶光神圣) | "Vertical top light forming a column down onto {subject}, the rest in shadow" | Revelation and judgment — or something eerie |
| Bottom light / horror (底光恐怖) | "Light from below the face, unnatural upward shadows distorting the features" | Menace; the monstrous, the wrong |
| Rembrandt portrait (伦勃朗光) | "45° key light, a small triangle of light on the shadow-side cheek" | Classical depth, dignity, gravity |
| Butterfly portrait (蝴蝶光) | "Frontal high key light casting a small butterfly shadow under the nose" | Glamour, high fashion, cold beauty |
| Ring-light portrait (环形光) | "Ring catch-light in the eyes, even frontal fill, slow push to the eyes" | Modern, hypnotic; locks the viewer's gaze |
| Split light (分割光) | "Hard side light splitting the face into exact light and dark halves, no gradient" | Inner conflict; the good/evil duality made literal |
| Fade-in open (渐显开场) | "Image fades up from full black, detail resolving slowly into a gentle push-in" | Ceremonial opening; dream resolving into real |
| Fade-out close (渐隐收尾) | "Image fades slowly to black, sound lingering after the picture is gone" | Reflective ending; melancholy afterglow |
Pairing the two axes (technique × genre)
This library says how a move works; genre-camera-sop.md says which moves a genre wants. Cross them:
- Horror → Voyeur frame + Bottom light + Cut-to-black
- Action → Handheld chase + Diagonal dynamic + Slow-mo overcrank
- Romance → OTS dialogue + Foreground bokeh + Fade-out close
- Suspense → Rack focus reveal + Frame-within-frame + Objective POV
- Epic / Sci-Fi → Pan-scan vista + Low-angle hero + Sunset
Chain 3 from one row so motion and tone rhyme; keep one lens and one color grade across the cut (color drift wrecks a multi-shot edit).
Reminder: the breathing line and
Sound: No score. Production audio only.are not decoration — they're the line between these and a generic "make it cinematic" prompt. Keep them in.