Первый кадр — крупный план.

In Russian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• Первый кадр — крупный план
  literally: The first shot/frame — close-up

means:

• The first shot is a close-up.

The dash is often used in writing when one noun phrase is being identified as another noun phrase. It helps show the link that English expresses with is.

Compare:

• Это мой брат. = This is my brother.
• Мой брат — врач. = My brother is a doctor.

You usually would not say Первый кадр есть крупный план in normal Russian. That sounds unnatural here.

Первый is the masculine singular nominative form of the ordinal number/adjective meaning first.

It agrees with кадр, which is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the forms match:

• первый кадр = the first shot/frame

If the noun changed, the form of первый would also change:

• первая сцена = the first scene
• первое видео = the first video
• первые кадры = the first shots/frames

Because this sentence is an identification statement: one thing is being equated with another.

• Первый кадр = subject
• крупный план = predicate noun phrase

In this kind of present-tense sentence, Russian often uses the nominative for both parts.

So:

• Первый кадр — крупный план.

is structurally like:

• Москва — столица России.
  Moscow is the capital of Russia.

The instrumental case is also used in some predicate constructions in Russian, but not in this exact pattern.

Кадр can mean several related things, especially in film, photography, and video:

• a frame
• a shot
• a single image in a sequence

In this sentence, кадр most likely means shot in a cinematic sense, not just a technical frame of film.

So первый кадр is best understood as:

• the first shot
• sometimes the opening shot

Depending on context, it could also be translated as the first frame, but shot is usually more natural in film language.

Literally:

• крупный = large, big
• план = plan, level, shot, framing

But together крупный план is a fixed film term meaning:

• close-up

It refers to a shot framed tightly on a person or object.

Russian uses several standard film terms like this:

• общий план = long shot / wide shot
• средний план = medium shot
• крупный план = close-up

So even though the literal meaning may look strange, you should learn крупный план as a set expression.

Because the phrase is standing as the predicate of the sentence and is in its dictionary/basic form here: masculine singular nominative.

So:

• крупный план = a close-up

If the phrase were used after a preposition, the case could change:

• в крупном плане = in close-up / in a close-up shot

But in Первый кадр — крупный план, no preposition is involved, so nominative is the natural form.

Yes, but the meaning or emphasis may shift.

Neutral order:

• Первый кадр — крупный план.
  = The first shot is a close-up.

Possible alternative:

• Крупный план — первый кадр.

This is less neutral and sounds more like emphasizing close-up first, almost like A close-up is the first shot.

Another common variant is:

• Первый кадр — это крупный план.

Adding это can make the sentence feel a little more explicit or explanatory.

So the original order is a very natural, straightforward way to say it.

The stress is:

• пе́рвый кадр — кру́пный план

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Пе́рвый ≈ PYER-vy
• кадр ≈ kadr
• кру́пный ≈ KROOP-ny
• план ≈ plahn

A couple of useful notes:

• In первый, the е after п sounds like ye: пе́р-
• In крупный, the stress is on the first syllable: кру́п-
• Final consonants in Russian are often pronounced clearly and firmly, so кадр and план should not be softened unnecessarily.

Yes:

• Первый кадр — это крупный план.

This means almost the same thing as the original sentence.

Adding это often makes the structure feel a bit more explanatory, as if defining or clarifying something. In many contexts, both versions are correct:

• Первый кадр — крупный план.
• Первый кадр — это крупный план.

The version without это is more compact and stylistically neat, especially in descriptions, scripts, criticism, or analysis.

Yes, план has several meanings in Russian, just like plan in English can have different meanings depending on context.

Common meanings of план include:

• a plan or scheme
• a map/layout
• a shot/framing scale in film and photography

In the phrase крупный план, it belongs to film vocabulary, so it means something like shot or framing.

This is why крупный план does not mean a big plan here.

It sounds natural and standard, but it belongs especially to the language of:

• film analysis
• cinematography
• script discussion
• visual description

A native speaker would immediately understand it, especially in a movie or photography context.

So it is not overly formal, but it is somewhat domain-specific because крупный план is a technical/artistic term.

Russian has no articles like a or the.

So:

• Первый кадр — крупный план.

does not itself mark definiteness the way English does.

The exact English translation depends on context. Usually here it would be:

• The first shot is a close-up.

Why?

• первый кадр is naturally definite in English: the first shot
• крупный план is usually indefinite in this kind of classification: a close-up

Russian leaves that distinction to context rather than using articles.