Medium shot

What is Medium shot?

A medium shot frames a person from roughly the waist up, splitting the difference between a close-up and a wide shot. It shows enough of the body to read posture and gesture while keeping the face large enough to read expression, making it a common default for on-camera dialogue.

When you'd use it

1. 1When a talking-head feels too tight for the topic but a wide shot loses facial expression.
2. 2When the speaker's hand gestures or posture are part of the communication.
3. 3When setting a neutral, conversational visual register for the majority of a video.
4. 4When cutting between a close-up and a wide shot and needing an intermediate option.

Example

A founder filming a product demo uses a medium shot for the bulk of the explanation, then punches in to a close-up when holding up the product so viewers can see the specific feature being described. The shift reinforces that the close-up moment is the important one.

Use cases

1. 1Framing a creator from the waist up so gestures read alongside facial expression in a tutorial.
2. 2Shooting a product explainer at mid-distance so both the speaker and the product are visible.
3. 3Using waist-up framing as the default coverage for a multi-take interview segment.

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