{
 "slug": "top-down",
 "name": "Top-down (flat lay)",
 "category": "angle",
 "group": "Height",
 "media": [
  "image",
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-10-13",
 "effect": "Turns a table into a layout: objects become shapes in a graphic arrangement.",
 "use_when": "Food, products laid out, unboxing, a workspace.",
 "phrase": "top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface",
 "pitfalls": [
  {
   "text": "Counts of named objects and positions on a grid land (three cups, the plate in the centre). Margins and spacing in numbers do not; fix exact layout in the edit.",
   "evidence": "measured",
   "source": "Director Chair field notes on image prompting"
  }
 ],
 "per_model": [
  {
   "model": "nano-banana-pro",
   "phrase": "Capture the scene from a direct top-down, bird's-eye perspective, flattening the depth to emphasize the geometric arrangement of the elements below.",
   "evidence": "unverified",
   "checked": "2025-12-08"
  }
 ],
 "external_refs": [
  {
   "site": "shotdeck",
   "url": "https://shotdeck.com/",
   "what": "real film examples of this angle (paid, link only)"
  },
  {
   "site": "flim",
   "url": "https://flim.ai/",
   "what": "film, ad and music-video stills of this angle (free tier, link only)"
  },
  {
   "site": "aicameracontrol",
   "url": "https://aicameracontrol.com/",
   "what": "a free 3D stage that sets this value and writes it into the prompt"
  }
 ],
 "licensed": [],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "high-angle",
  "birds-eye-view",
  "insert-shot"
 ],
 "rights": "own-work",
 "evidence": "film-craft",
 "source": {
  "url": null,
  "note": "Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"
 },
 "body": "",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/angle/top-down",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/angle/top-down.md",
 "prompts": {
  "nano-banana-pro": "[your subject] in [your setting]. Capture the scene from a direct top-down, bird's-eye perspective, flattening the depth to emphasize the geometric arrangement of the elements below.",
  "nano-banana-2": "[your subject] in [your setting]. Capture the scene from a direct top-down, bird's-eye perspective, flattening the depth to emphasize the geometric arrangement of the elements below.",
  "gpt-image": "A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].\nPeople and framing: top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface\nExclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.",
  "seedream-5": "[your subject] in [your setting]. Top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface.",
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nFirst frame: top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nFirst frame: top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface\nShot 1: one continuous shot",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. Top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface.",
  "veo-3.1": "Top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface. [your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image."
 },
 "licence": {
  "code": "MIT",
  "text": "CC BY 4.0",
  "third_party": "Clips and card texts inside a \"licensed\" block belong to their makers and are shown with permission and credit."
 }
}