16 Cinematography Techniques for Beginners (and AI Prompts)
August 22, 2023
Cinematography techniques are the choices that turn a recording into a film: how you expose and focus the image, which lens you pick, where you put the light, how you frame, angle and move the camera, and how shots cut together. This guide covers 16 essential cinematography techniques for beginners. For each one you get what it is, a film that uses it well, and an example prompt that directs the same shot in AI video. Quick answer: the techniques beginners should learn first are exposure, focal length, depth of field, composition, camera angles, shot size, three-point lighting, color, camera movement and continuity. They matter just as much in AI video, because image and video models respond to the same vocabulary. Words like “low angle,” “85mm lens,” “shallow depth of field” and “slow dolly in” are how you direct an AI shot instead of hoping for one. If you want the full catalog of
