# Close-up

Camera / Shot size / Distance. Checked 2026-10-13.

Emotion and detail: the viewer reads small changes in the face.

- Use when: The moment of a reaction, a product touching skin, a decision.
- Phrase: close-up of her face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/shot/close-up
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/shot/close-up.json

## Watch out

- Asking for a smile returns a generated smile. Describe what the eyes, mouth and breath do instead. (measured; Director Chair field notes on video prompting)
- Perfect skin reads as AI. Ask for unretouched skin with pores and fine lines. (measured; Director Chair field notes on image prompting)

## Prompts

### Nano Banana Pro

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Compose a tight close-up that focuses intensely on the subject's expressions and features.
```

### Nano Banana 2

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Compose a tight close-up that focuses intensely on the subject's expressions and features.
```

### GPT Image 2.5

```
A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].
People and framing: close-up of the subject's face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third
Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.
```

### Seedream 5

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Close-up of the subject's face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third.
```

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
First frame: close-up of the subject's face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
First frame: close-up of the subject's face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third
Shot 1: one continuous shot
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. Close-up of the subject's face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third.
```

### Veo 3.1

```
Close-up of the subject's face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third. [your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image.
```

## Look further

- https://aicameracontrol.com/ : a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate
- https://shotdeck.com/ : real film examples of this frame size (paid, link only)
- https://flim.ai/ : film, ad and music-video stills of this frame size (free tier, link only)

## Goes well with

- Medium close-up: https://directorchair.ai/shot/medium-close-up
- Extreme close-up: https://directorchair.ai/shot/extreme-close-up
- Three-quarter view: https://directorchair.ai/angle/three-quarter-view

## Source

Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.