Mastering Midjourney AI: How to use camera angles in your prompts
Understanding how photography camera angle terms work in your Midjourney prompts will greatly improve your AI Art.
Understanding how photography camera angle terms work in your Midjourney prompts will greatly improve your AI Art.
As you start learning how to prompt in Midjourney AI, you realize soon that camera angles are critical for a perfect prompt. Photographers and movie-makers use them to give their audience with a view of your subject’s location and the scene in your story. It’s also a powerful tool to make the art more appealing, adding a specific style to it, and making it easier for your audience to get what you’re putting down. Mastering Midjourney camera angles can take your amazing images to the next level.
Let’s explore how to make more effective prompts with the key camera angles for Midjourney prompt generator. I’d suggest you use them in your next photography prompts with a hyphen to prevent any confusion from the Midjourney Bot.
First, a disclaimer: This tutorial assumes you are already familiar with the AI Tool, have access to either the Midjourney Discord server, or the Midjourney website, and know the basics of writing an image prompt. If you have any doubts, please check this
How to use Midjourney: Ultimate guide for beginners
Dive into the world of AI art with this comprehensive beginner’s guide to mastering Midjourney.
Beginner’s Guide to Midjourney.
Let’s dive in!
1. Eye Level Angle
Also known as eye level shot, full body shot, establishing shot, medium shot, medium full shot, straight on shot, MFS shot.
The eye level angle is the most common and straightforward one. It provides a neutral and realistic perspective that makes the audience feel as if they’re part of the scene. It’s an excellent angle to use when you want to build empathy with the characters or convey a sense of intimacy. It is also the default mode in Midjourney, so if you don’t specify a camera angle, this usually is the one you’ll get.
Prompts used:
Prompt1: Frontal glamour shot of beautiful woman with long silky black hair, white skin and grey eyes, pure, soft, white background, natural lighting — v 6
Prompt2: Minimalist human with backpack in a foggy forest, vibrant colors of the sky, orange, pink, yellow, purple, neon, polygon, octane rendering — v 6
Prompt3: Front photography of cowboy aiming a gun, cinematic movie poster, dust, wind, sun, daylight, dramatic mood, western background, bokeh — v 6
Pro Tips:
Be aware that in previous versions, including Midjourney v5, unless you specify otherwise, the subject will be placed in the center of the shot, with adequate space on either side. Midjourney v6 takes the effort to shake things a bit. Aspect ratio obviously influences this as well. In horizontal images, subjects are moved to one of the sides sometimes.
Use an eye level angle when you want to emphasize normal dialogue between characters in your AI image generation.
Avoid using an eye level angle for more tense or dramatic scenes, as it may not be as effective in conveying the intended emotions.
2. Panoramic Angle
Also known as wide angle, wide angle shot, wide angle lens, wide perspective, panoramic shot, ultra wide angle, extreme wide shot, long shot, extreme long shot, far shot.
This wide angle a variation of the eye level angle, but it will always imply a great distance between the observer and the subject.
Prompts used:
Prompt1: Panoramic angle, epic rocket launching, massive starship in the style of industrial cyberpunk, vast loneliness, muted tones, heavy smoke, mist, bright fire, symmetric — v 6
Prompt2: Panoramic angle of a lone man in a wasteland, dystopic scene, menacing mood, lone, isolation — v 6
Prompt3: Panoramic shot of a massive alien jungle, nature bloom, growth, natural lighting — v 6
Pro Tips:
This is a shot that will set the scene by providing an overview of the location. Be aware that sometimes Midjourney AI may generate these images with a curved view distortion.
Using it combined with a very horizontal aspect ratio for maximum effect.
When used with isolated elements, it will create a sense of vastness and/or scale.
3. Low Level Angle
Also known as knee level shot, ground shot, ground shot angle, ground level, low angle shot.
This camera angle is an effective tool to create a sense of power, dominance, or intimidation in your AI Art. The low angle will position the camera below the subject, pointing upwards. It’s best used when you want to make the subject appear more menacing, powerful or larger than life.
Prompts used:
Prompt1: Low Angle photography of a person, sunglasses, hoodie, — v 6
Prompt2: Low Angle photography of menacing dark tower, storm, thunders and lightning, dangerous place — v 6
Prompt3: Low Angle photography of Godzilla rampaging across a city, destruction, danger — v 6
Pro tips:
Use a low angle when you want to create tension or suspense, as it can make a subject appear menacing, or dangerous.
When used on characters, the Midjourney bot will default to a regular shot, and the angle of the camera will be hard to detect. To ensure it’s noticeable, one possible fix is to add “Full Body” to your AI prompt, and describe some details in foot and head (shoes, a gesture, hair, etc) to ensure the AI mind takes them into account.
Add cinematic lighting to reinforce any mood you may want.
4. High Level Angle
Also known as high angle shot, top down shot, top down perspective, elevated shot, overhead shot.
The high level angle is the opposite of the low angle, as it positions the camera above the subject, pointing downwards. It’s an effective tool to make the subject appear smaller or weaker, creating a sense of vulnerability.
Prompts used:
Prompt1: Top down shot of Young woman with long blonde hair sleeping, in the style of artgerm and neoartcore, attractive, hourglass body, white clothes, laying in bed, bedroom, hyper-realistic, insanely detailed — v 6
Prompt2: Top down photography of dancing woman, long hair, white dress, spin, smiling, happiness — v 6
Prompt3: Top down art of unusual room, messy, books, clothes, genius at work, woodwork — v 6
Some Tips:
Overhead shot, top down shot, and top down perspective mean that the camera is almost straight down from the top, with few or no side views.
This shot can make the subject appear small and/or away.
It’s a favorite shot for food photography.
5. Aerial-View
Also know as satellite view, aerial perspective, drone footage, bird’s eye view.
A more extreme version of High Angle. Like Panoramic, it will imply big distances between observer and subject.
Prompts used:
Prompt1: Aerial View of streets and buildings of a city, urbancore, night lights, oranges and azure, motion, street movement — v 6
Prompt2: Aerial View photography of a lone man standing in the street, shadows, despair — v 6
Prompt3: Aerial View image of a small town plaza, nature, community, trees, earthcore — niji 6
Pro Tips:
From the top, it can create a sense of vastness, scale and an all-encompassing view. The satellite view is the highest point of view. Use it when you want to create a sense of detachment or distance between the audience and the subject.
This is the default angle for panoramic views of cities and locations.
6. Dutch Angle
Also known as dutch tilt, canted angle, and oblique angle.
The Dutch Angle is a view that is tilted to one side, creating a sense of action, unease or disorientation. It’s a unique angle that can be used to convey tension, suspense, or chaos.
Prompts used:
Prompt1: Dutch angle, action shot of robot mecha in battle, dynamic action, full body, technology, biomechanical, futuristic — niji 6
Prompt2: Dutch angle, World-War II soldier in battle, explosions, confusion, gunfight, dynamic action — v 6
Prompt3: Extreme Dutch angle of female assassin in black catsuit in combat, masked, daggers, close up intensity — niji 6
Some tips:
The camera will tilt to one side, creating an off-kilter effect. To ensure Midjourney uses the angle, add to your prompt descriptions of the background, otherwise it won’t be noticeable.
Use a Dutch Angle when you want to create a sense of disorientation or confusion. It’s also very useful in battle scenes, as it adds dynamism to the shot.
It’s difficult to use Dutch Angle in more calm scenes. Midjourney will default to eye level angle view no matter what.
In conclusion, prompting camera angles in Midjourney is a powerful tool for creating an immersive and engaging storytelling experience. By following the best practices outlined above when using generative AI, you can use camera angles effectively to convey the intended emotions and create a unique and memorable experience for your audience with the help of artificial intelligence.
Thanks for reading!
Hi👋 I’m Erik, a product designer by day, and AI educator by night.
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