Genre Camera-Movement SOP — Five Film Types
Original methodology extension by jnMetaCode (MIT). Built on the 5-stage structure and the camera+lens aesthetic table from ../methodology.md. The camera-movement conventions themselves are standard cinematography craft, not anyone's proprietary list — this file is our own structured, genre-organized phrasing of them.
Best for: deciding how the camera should move once you know your genre. This is a Stage-4 (camera rules) companion — pick your genre block, paste the move phrasing into your prompt's camera section, and pair it with the suggested lens from Stage 3.
How to use this with the 5-stage structure
A camera move is never the whole prompt — it plugs into Stage 4:
[Camera rules]
Single-shot / Edited : {{one continuous take | edited across shots}}
Move : {{pick from your genre block below}}
Breathing : "Handheld shot. Throughout, maintain an extremely
subtle, breath-like camera float to enhance presence."Two hard rules carry over from the methodology and apply to every genre below — don't drop them:
- Always keep the breathing line. Even a "locked-off" horror shot wants the breath-float, or it reads as lifeless CG.
- Always state sound.
Sound: No score. Production audio only.— then enumerate the genre's signature ambient (see each block).
Each move is written as: Move name (中文) — paste phrasing → the effect it buys you. The phrasing is model-agnostic; phrase tuning per model is at the bottom.
1 · Horror / Thriller 恐怖 · 惊悚
Camera philosophy: the camera knows something the character doesn't. Withhold, delay, let the frame breathe wrong.
Lens pairing (Stage 3): Sony Venice + Canon K-35 — low-light high-contrast, crushed shadows, faint halation on practicals.
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Slow creep-in (缓慢潜行推进) | "Extremely slow push-in toward the subject, almost imperceptible, no easing" | Dread accumulates; viewer leans in before the scare |
| Reveal-by-pan (横摇揭示) | "Slow lateral pan across an empty room, revealing the figure already standing in frame at the end of the move" | The threat was always there — worse than a jump-cut |
| Locked-off with off-screen sound (定镜+画外音) | "Locked-off wide on an empty doorway. Breath-float only. A sound comes from off-frame left" | Forces the viewer to police the edges of the frame |
| Low-angle stalk (低角度尾随) | "Low handheld follow behind the subject's heels, frame tilted slightly, lagging half a step" | POV of something following — never named, never shown |
| Snap-to-nothing (急摇落空) | "Fast whip-pan toward the noise, settling on empty space" | The classic false-alarm beat; primes the real scare |
Do: hold longer than comfortable; end shots one beat late. Don't: light it evenly, or move the camera smoothly toward the scare — smoothness kills dread. Ambient to enumerate: floor creak, distant drip, a single far-off door, the subject's own breathing.
2 · Action 动作
Camera philosophy: the camera is a participant, not an observer. Weight, impact, and direction must read in one pass.
Lens pairing (Stage 3): simulated IMAX film camera + Panavision C-series (35mm, f/4), motion blur added.
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Impact-synced push (撞击同步推进) | "Camera snaps forward on the moment of impact, then settles" | Sells the hit's force; the frame feels the blow |
| Tracking sprint (跟随疾跑) | "Fast follow-tracking alongside the running subject, matching speed, foreground elements whipping past" | Velocity and stakes; foreground blur = real speed |
| Orbit on the standoff (对峙环绕) | "Slow clockwise orbit around two facing subjects, keeping both in frame" | Tension before the clash; geography stays legible |
| FPV plunge (第一视角俯冲) | "FPV free-tilting frame diving down past obstacles toward the target" | Kinetic descent; reads as the body's own motion |
| Low-angle hero rise (低角度仰拍起势) | "Low angle, slow tilt up the standing subject as they straighten" | Power and arrival without a victory pose |
Do: keep motion direction rhyming shot-to-shot (exit right → enter left). Don't: pile FX + blinding light + leap-into-sky on the final beat (Rule 6) — end on weight, not fireworks. Ambient to enumerate: cloth tension, metal scrape, impact thud, low-frequency hum, debris settling.
3 · Romance 爱情
Camera philosophy: the camera is tender and patient. It lingers on the small thing — a hand, a glance, the gap between two people closing.
Lens pairing (Stage 3): Kodak Vision3 250D 35mm + vintage primes (Cooke S4) — warm, soft falloff, gentle grain. Or Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 for shallow intimate close-ups.
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Breath-float close two-shot (呼吸感双人近景) | "Close two-shot, breath-float only, shallow depth of field, both faces soft" | Intimacy held still; the float keeps it alive, not posed |
| Slow drift-in to the hands (缓推至双手) | "Slow push-in from faces down to two hands almost touching" | Lets the gesture carry the emotion, no dialogue needed |
| Over-the-shoulder gaze (过肩对视) | "Long-lens over-the-shoulder, focus on the far face, foreground shoulder soft" | Captures mutual gaze in one shot — beats cutting back and forth |
| Lateral drift past a frame (横移穿过前景框) | "Slow lateral drift, a foreground element (curtain, doorway) passing through frame" | Voyeuristic tenderness; we glimpse a private moment |
| Pull-back to leave them (后拉退场) | "Slow pull-out, the two subjects growing smaller in the warm space" | The restrained ending — affection without a kiss-cam |
Do: let one whole shot be a single expression switch (Rule: expression as the shot's endpoint). Don't: add lens flares, floating hearts, or sappy slow-zoom on tears — the negative-prompt prefab bans these for a reason. Ambient to enumerate: soft breathing, fabric rustle, distant street, a clock, rain on glass.
4 · Suspense / Mystery 悬疑
Camera philosophy: the camera frames information — what's withheld, what's partially seen, who's watching whom.
Lens pairing (Stage 3): Kodak 35mm bleach-bypass — desaturated, hard contrast, silver-cold shadows.
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Rack focus reveal (变焦移焦揭示) | "Rack focus from the foreground object to the figure behind it" | Hands the viewer a clue in a single continuous beat |
| Surveillance high-angle (监视俯拍) | "High-angle locked-off looking down on the subject, slightly wide" | We're watching them; someone has the upper hand |
| Frame-within-frame peek (框中框窥视) | "Subject framed through a doorway / between objects, partially obscured" | Withholds — the viewer strains to see, suspicion grows |
| Slow reverse pull (缓慢后拉揭露) | "Slow pull-out revealing a second presence in the foreground we didn't know was there" | The reveal that recontextualizes the whole shot |
| Tilt-off-balance (倾斜失衡) | "Frame held at a slight dutch tilt, breath-float, never corrected" | Something is wrong but unnamed; unease without a cause |
Do: stage information in layers (foreground / midground / background) and state what each layer is. Don't: over-move — suspense lives in stillness and the slow reveal, not energetic camerawork. Ambient to enumerate: a ticking clock, muffled voices, footsteps in another room, paper, a phone buzzing once.
5 · Epic / Sci-Fi 史诗 · 科幻
Camera philosophy: scale. The camera makes the subject small against the world, then finds the human detail inside the vastness.
Lens pairing (Stage 3): simulated IMAX film camera + Panavision C-series, anamorphic widescreen, volumetric haze.
| Move (中文) | Paste phrasing | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Reveal crane-up (揭示升镜) | "Slow crane/boom up from the subject to reveal the full scale of the environment behind/above" | The world dwarfs the figure; awe in one continuous move |
| Slow majestic push (庄严缓推) | "Very slow push-in across a vast space toward the small distant subject" | Gravity and inevitability; the journey reads as fate |
| Lateral establishing drift (横移建立全景) | "Slow lateral drift across the wide landscape, layers passing at different speeds (parallax)" | Establishes geography and depth; parallax sells scale |
| Low-angle monument (低角度纪念碑式) | "Low angle looking up at the structure/figure against the sky, slow tilt up" | Monumentality — makes the subject feel historic |
| Hold-the-vastness (静守苍茫) | "Locked-off extreme wide, breath-float, subject occupying lower fifth of frame, held long" | The restrained epic ending — let the scale speak |
Do: end on the held wide, not a cut to action (Rule 6 at epic scale). Don't: cram fast cuts into the establishing — scale needs duration to register. Ambient to enumerate: wind across distance, low atmospheric hum, distant rumble, sparse and reverberant — silence is part of scale.
Quick-pick table (genre → default move + lens)
| Genre | Default opening move | Default closing move | Lens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horror | Slow creep-in | Locked-off + off-screen sound | Sony Venice + K-35 |
| Action | Tracking sprint | Low-angle hero rise (no FX pile) | IMAX + Panavision C |
| Romance | Breath-float two-shot | Pull-back to leave them | Kodak 250D + Cooke S4 |
| Suspense | Frame-within-frame peek | Slow reverse pull reveal | Kodak bleach-bypass |
| Epic / Sci-Fi | Reveal crane-up | Hold-the-vastness | IMAX + Panavision C |
Building a sequence (genre × multi-shot)
Don't pick one move — chain 3 from the same genre block so motion rhymes. Example, suspense 3-shot:
Shot 1 — Surveillance high-angle, locked-off, subject enters a room below.
Shot 2 — Frame-within-frame peek through the doorway; a second figure
is half-visible in the background layer.
Shot 3 — Slow reverse pull, revealing that figure was in the foreground
all along. Hold one beat. Cut to black.Keep one lens and one color grade across all three (don't mix tone across a multi-shot edit — color drift wrecks the cut).
Per-model phrasing notes
- Seedance 2.0: ZH or EN both fine; keep move phrasing concrete ("slow push-in", not "dramatic camera"); Doubao app locks 5s/10s.
- Kling 2.x / 3.0: best at smooth orbits and follow-tracking; one banned word rejects the whole prompt — keep phrasing clean.
- Veo 3.1: EN preferred; excels at crane/parallax establishing; 8s/clip, extend in hops.
- Sora 2: fold any "no shaky cam" guardrail into the positive prompt — no negative field.
- Runway Gen-4: describe only the move you WANT;
no Xcan summon X.
The breathing line and
Sound: No score. Production audio only.are not optional decoration — they're what separate these from generic "cinematic camera" prompts. Keep them in every genre.