by Melies
Visual bible of cinematography and film technique: 400+ shots with grammar, examples, and prompts.
Filed by Nigel Camp
We link and credit. We do not host their files.
A visual reference of cinematography and film technique from Melies. It holds 424 entries across camera movement, framing and shot size, angles, lighting, composition, lenses, colour and film look, time and motion, in-camera and optical effects, editing and transitions, and atmosphere and weather, plus sections on genre and viral looks. Each entry has a definition, an explanation of the film grammar behind it, examples and a prompt you can run.
The gap in a lot of AI filmmaking isn't the model. It's vocabulary. If you can't name a shot, you can't ask for it, and you can't brief anyone else on it either. This gives you the names, a picture beside each one, and the reason a filmmaker would reach for it. Melies pitch it as the opposite of a preset grid, and that's a fair way to use it.
Read the grammar before you copy the prompt. A dolly zoom, a high angle or a split diopter each says something specific, and knowing what it says tells you when to leave it out. The lighting and lens sections earn their keep even if you never prompt, because motivated light, telephoto compression and Rembrandt lighting mean the same thing on a real set. The editing section covers match cuts, J and L cuts and cross-cutting, which helps you plan coverage before you generate a single frame.
Each prompt can be run in Melies, which hosts the reference. The terminology works in any tool.
Newer AI filmmakers building a shot vocabulary, prompt writers who want more control than preset styles give them, and experienced crew who want a quick visual reference to share with a team. Credit and source stay with Melies.
