Switching between close and distant 3rd

Indeed, the establishing shot is mostly used in the beginning of a scene, with some exceptions of course. I mean you can begin with a close up or whatever shot, as long as some guidance in the setting is soon after served in order to let the audience understand the topography, which is a very important aspect in film making. You can go back and forth with the establishing shots as they serve other narrative or aesthetic purposes as well. You can actually do whatever you want with them, just as long as you've got a clear sense of why you are doing what you are doing and how well it's communicated to the viewer.

But yes, things get much clearer when you introduce a setting first. The viewer understands the topography, the time (could be even chronology), the weather, the conditions, circumstances, etc, etc, which places him/her there and so the MC's (or whichever character you introduce first) POV is easier to connect to. This applies to writing as well, might I point out especially in writing, since you got no visuals at all whatsoever unless the writer hints at them. A good strategy is to begin with the setting in writing, which is fairly common and understandably so.

For dramatic effect, or a multitude of other reasons (might as well be narrative ones) the writer or director, might start with close ups and slowly peel out to the whole picture.

Furthermore, another aspect to keep in mind, in film-making, is the size of the character in the frame, meaning the "how far" is the camera set and at which angle (perspective). Just how small is he is the frame? Does he look like an ant? Is he indistinguishable in comparison to others?

I love far-off, establishing shots. The give a more cinematic feel to a movie.

I'm along the same lines Xoic, I find it easier to treat my plotting, structure and way I construct scenes in terms of thinking about it cinematically. I act it out in my head first, commit the basics to paper, then try and "literacize" around it. Setting a basic establishing shot is good, but I also find adding what I call "sprinkles" a great way to add in extra detail without overloading an establishing shot at the start of each chapter/scene. Starting off every scene the same way with a blurb about the surroundings can get repetitive for me.

In my editing for a friend of mine, she would often info dump, either about something in the scene or the scene itself. I told her to take the entire info dump, break it down into bullet points, then add single lines of description from that info dump along various points around the dialogue or actions depending/as when things naturally point to certain things. That way, the scene can start out with a basic idea of surroundings, but it gets more and more detailed as the scene/chapter goes on; and by the very end, by sprinkling it in here and there in small chunks that naturally fit the scene, you've imparted an entire info dump on the reader under the carpet, so to speak. "Sprinkling" I find is a great way to have your cake and eat it, because it does the job of the camera, whilst also helping you see or notice things with the character and making you feel part of their experience.