A field guide to cinematography techniques & AI video prompts
Make every
frame matter.
The language of cinema, at your fingertips. Explore 309 master entries and 170 variants. Find your look. Direct your next frame.
The creative toolkit
A language worth learning.
Camera, light, color, rhythm.
Explore 309 master entries and 170 variants — techniques, looks, scene presets and workflows.
- Dolly Zoom / Vertigo
FreeDolly Zoom / Vertigo+1 variantCouple camera translation with the opposite focal-length change. Hold the selected subject height within a designed ±5% tolerance while background scale changes relative to it; never fake this with elastic geometry. - Monochrome Noir Scene Look
FreeMonochrome Noir Scene LookUse motivated hard shadows and restrained unresolved blocking, with monochrome tonal separation for these recipes. Preserve source-linked wet highlights and world-space shadow geometry; no colored neon substitute. - Associative Match Cut
FreeAssociative Match Cut+2 variantsCut directly between distinct contexts using a declared screen-space correspondence; no morph or dissolve substitutes for the match. - Orbit / Arc
Orbit / Arc+8 variantsMove the viewpoint around a stationary subject; keep the selected radius approximately stable and aim inward. Use the declared sweep, direction and support, not a rotating subject or optical-axis roll. - Aerial Travel
Aerial Travel+3 variantsUse one coherent elevated route with persistent terrain landmarks and the specified height profile. Fixed focal length; do not replace flight with a flat map enlargement. - Camera Roll
Camera Roll+2 variantsRotate about the optical axis at a fixed station and focal length. The entire world rotates consistently in the frame, never individual objects. - Crane / Jib
Crane / Jib+8 variantsUse a continuous supported arm path with the specified vertical and horizontal displacement. Compensating tilt is allowed when declared; keep focal length fixed and avoid impossible intersections. - Dolly Translation
Dolly Translation+9 variantsTranslate the camera through the declared path at fixed focal length. Let foreground/background perspective change; focus may track distance, and only explicitly declared aiming compensation is allowed. - Truck / Lateral Parallax
Truck / Lateral Parallax+3 variantsTranslate laterally at fixed height, focal length and heading. Keep the scene stationary so near/far parallax and changing occlusion prove the move. - Slider with Aiming Compensation
Slider with Aiming CompensationMove on a short straight rail; use only the small declared pan needed to hold the product. Keep the product and world lights stationary. - Occlusion Reveal
Occlusion Reveal+1 variantStart with the target genuinely occluded by opaque foreground geometry. Clear that occluder by the declared translation, with tilt only if specified; do not fade or dissolve the occluder. - Optical Zoom
Optical Zoom+8 variantsHold the camera station, orientation and subject geometry fixed while changing focal length on the declared timeline. Do not add dolly parallax, face morphing or an unannounced digital crop. - Tracking / Follow
Tracking / Follow+5 variantsTravel with the moving subject using the declared relative position and distance profile. Maintain spatial continuity; follow focus and framing without replacing travel with a stationary telephoto pan. - Rigid Object-Mounted Camera
Rigid Object-Mounted Camera+5 variantsParent the camera rigidly to the stated object anchor. The rig and anchor share translation and rotation; moving parts such as wheels and people may move independently. - Gimbal Travel
Gimbal TravelStabilize roll and unwanted angular shake while moving through the real route. Allow a small smooth height drift, not sharp footfall jolts or a frozen two-dimensional background. - Body-Supported Stabilizer
Body-Supported Stabilizer+1 variantUse a body-supported stabilizer reference to isolate footfall shocks while following one continuous route. If the route crosses a doorway, pass through its actual open space; on stairs, gain real height with the steps. - Handheld / Reactive Motion
Handheld / Reactive Motion+2 variantsTie small camera motion to breath, steps and a readable reaction. Keep the subject recoverable; avoid random violent procedural shake or an artificially perfect repeating cycle. - FPV Flight / Open-Threshold Travel
FPV Flight / Open-Threshold Travel+2 variantsUse a connected virtual flight route through genuinely open gaps. Bank only when the path calls for it, preserve obstacle clearance and decelerate into the declared landing frame. - Locked-Off
Locked-OffLock position, orientation and focal length. Let all change come from the staged action inside the frame; no automatic reframing, drift or push-in. - Double Dolly
Double DollyMove the subject platform and camera together at a constant relative transform. Keep the full planted feet visible; the subject never walks or slides their soles. - Choreographed Camera
Choreographed CameraCoordinate each performer beat with the explicitly assigned camera move and shared holds. Execute one continuous rehearsed sequence, not unrelated decorative motion. - Earth-to-Subject Scale Transition
Earth-to-Subject Scale TransitionTreat this as a four-source multiscale composite. Preserve the same hooked coastline, lighthouse and target axis through every scale handoff; no unrelated map substitutions. - Macro Eye Approach
Macro Eye ApproachUse a continuous macro approach toward the same eye, stopping outside the corneal surface. Preserve iris identity and use a declared virtual close-focus reference, not an impossible real-lens minimum-focus claim. - Accelerating Fall View
Accelerating Fall ViewUse the declared virtual vertical acceleration curve. Keep the downward axis and ground geometry stable; end while still descending above ground, with no unexplained hover.
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What this library is for
GrokCine is a field guide to cinematography techniques for people directing shots, including shots they will describe to an AI video tool. The techniques are the ones used on a set: how the camera moves, where it sits, how the frame is divided, and how light, lenses, color, weather and cutting change what the audience reads.
Start from a discipline when you know the craft name, or from the A–Z index when you have a term. A style page is not a technique page. Styles are named looks — a director, a movement, a format — with the visual rules and a short prompt. Technique pages are the grammar those looks are built from.
Each master entry has a definition, a note on when to use it, and a free short prompt. When a shot is known by a second name, that name keeps its own URL and points at the same master. Preview clips are examples made with third-party models, so you can see one reading of the idea before you write your own prompt.
The disciplines
Every master entry lives in one of these disciplines. Open a discipline to see its techniques, or use the index when you already have a term.
- Camera Movement: How the camera travels through space — pans, dollies, cranes, handheld, and more.
- Composition: Arranging subjects and negative space inside the frame for balance, tension, and focus.
- Camera Angle: The vertical and lateral viewpoint that shapes power, vulnerability, and POV.
- Lighting: Key, fill, backlight, and motivated sources that sculpt mood and depth.
- Focus & Depth: Depth of field, rack focus, and optical tricks that guide the eye through space.
- Framing: Shot size and subject framing — from extreme wide to extreme close-up.
- Lenses: Focal length, distortion, and glass character that rewrite perspective.
- Color: Palettes, contrast, and grade choices that carry emotion and period.
- Time & Tempo: Slow motion, time-lapse, freeze frames, and other manipulations of time.
- Optical Effects: Flares, double exposure, split screens, and in-camera optical play.
- Editing: Cuts, matches, montages, and transitions that shape rhythm and meaning.
- Atmosphere: Fog, rain, haze, and environmental texture that thicken the world.
- Genre Looks: Recognizable visual recipes for noir, sci-fi, horror, romance, and more.
- Viral Looks: Internet-native visual recipes and stylized looks built for short-form shareability.
A master page is the definition to cite. A variant keeps that mechanism and changes one variable, such as direction or degree. An alias is only a second name: its URL points back at the same master and does not invent a second definition.
Preview clips are short examples made with third-party video models. They show one reading. They are not a guarantee that another model, or the same model on another day, will match the frame. GrokCine does not generate the image or the video for you.
The free short prompt is a starter sentence on the technique or style page. The shot card is the timed recipe: scene, frames, action, light, and color. Three sample cards are free to read. GrokCine Pro opens the rest on the web.
Shot cards
Every recipe as a shot card.
Start and end frames, timed action, lighting and color, a camera parameter table, and copy-ready still-image and video prompts. GrokCine Pro opens all 479 cards on the web, and three are free to read.