Should you specify camera action in a film script?

Question

Some scripts I read specify the exact camera angle of every shot-- where the camera starts, what we see, how it will move during the scene.

And some scripts are a little less specific.

Is this only because the former is the shooting script, a modification of an earlier script so as to include such specifics? Or is it just a difference in style?

While writing a script, or what will at the very least be the first version of a script, should you specify camera shots? Or should that be left for other people to add in and decide upon later?

Answer 1

Screenwriters don't specify shots or camera angles -- that's the job of the director and cinematographer. Since you know nothing about the actual production when you're writing the script, such information would be entirely hypothetical and largely useless.

As the screenwriter, you should specify the setting and time in the scene's slug line, using INT. or EXT. for interior or exterior, a brief description of the setting, and DAY or NIGHT for the time of day.

 INT. JOE'S GARAGE - NIGHT

Sometimes it might be necessary to include some additional information, i.e. if it's important that the scene be taking place at dawn, include that.

 EXT. ARIZONA DESERT - DAY (DAWN)

Or, if it's a flashback you might need to include some information to indicate the change in set (if it's not obvious from the dialogue or action).

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET (1933) - DAY 

Beyond those broad strokes, almost everything is a production decision, not a script decision.

Answer 2

It's a good question and I keep tripping over.

I am a director writing my first original screenplay and I constantly go back and forth between including angles and not. One day I will put them in and the next day I will go back and remove them all.

It's a tricky one. On one hand I want to show the way I visualise the drama unfolding photographically but on the other hand I don't want to bog down the reader with technical detail when they should be deep in story.

As a first time screenwriter with the clear aim to direct what I am writing, I want industry people to see my flare for the way I will direct it as they read... but there is a big danger of over doing things.

PT Anderson is an obvious example but also a good one for a guy who is probably an equal talent at writing and directing. Take a look at Boogie Nights, it has camera angles thorough it and it reads similarly to how it was directed and cut. So I think the script worked as a clear blueprint for the picture he wanted to make. When you read the script I think the visual style, tone and rhythm of the picture are clear but aesthetic ideas don't overpower the story.

Then take a look at Magnolia which is pretty extreme. At that time New Line said they would give him final cut on whatever he wanted to do next and his dad had passed so he went balls out and wrote an epic script with an abyss of detail. Read the first 10 pages, sooooo much camera direction. I saw the film before I read the script but my feeling is unless you are someone who reads a LOT of scripts it could distract you away from the story.

Perhaps if you read Magnolia without camera direction and PT just said "it will have the intensity of Goodfellas in the way I direct it, that could have been enough to understand how it played out in his head. BUT the benefit for him at the time of writing was (because he knew what ever he wrote he'd direct) he could just create the blue print of exactly what he planned on doing. He's also said in early interviews that he does 90% of the work in the writing and then he doesnt have to worry too much about working it out later. Or something along those lines. To be clear I love both films, just a hand example in regard to writing.

On the other hand have a read of Pulp Fiction. An incredibly visual picture with almost no camera direction in the screenplay. It's more or less a talking picture so it's the right approach. BUT QT knew he's be directing and he'd work out the detail in pre-production, it's worth mentioning he spends a lot of time on that kind of detail leading up to shooting. He's the opposite of Woody Allen.

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid strikes a bit of a balance where by you know what you are looking at through the writing without William Goldman ever saying "camera" or "angle".

Jeff Nichols did a great talk about it that can be found on the On Story podcast. You can find it via iTunes. His school of thought is more in the William Goldman zone whereby you speak visually though action and description and let that tell the reader where you see the camera without resorting to technical jargon.

Perhaps it is about finding the balance and doing what is right for the story you are writing? I find the best scripts are the ones I read straight through without tripping over superfluous detail.

Anyway, they are thoughts. I better get back to adding and removing camera details. Later. x

Answer 3

You cannot write a script without visualizing what's happening, so I say add what you have in mind. I've seen it done both ways (especially in animation). If you plan to direct the feature it can't hurt to add every shot, since everything can be modified later, and will be if it's worth a damn. And personally, I wouldn't want to read a script with some visualization. It's a visual medium. Show me what you're thinking. And to say that you can't call shots without being on the set is absurd. You think they only make story boards after being on set? Call the shots then stage accordingly. Bottom line is: Do what you think is best for that story. The more information provided the better - you can delete things later...

Answer 4

I believe you should only include angles if they are actually important to the plot; not if they are "artistic." If you need to show a bee flying up Mark's nose, perhaps. But even then, aren't you considering the director and cinematographer morons if they can't realize this?

The only example I can think of is, say we have two cops, Alex and Bill, at different ends of their cop car, on a road somewhere. From Alex's POV we can see the suspect hiding in a drainage pipe. From Bill's POV we cannot see the suspect anywhere.

From Bill's POV: BILL: "What the hell? I can't see him anywhere."

Switch to Alex's POV. The suspect's shoes retract slightly, further into the drainage pipe. Alex glances stonefaced at Bill, who is peering down the road, perplexed.

ALEX: "Me neither. Ya wanna try down the road a bit?"

Answer 5

No, that's the job of the Shooting Script, not the narrative script you're probably thinking of.

However, you are allowed to point out Points Of Focus. This is particularly important in some genres such as mystery thrillers where clues not noticed by the characters should be noticed by spectators to facilitate story flow.

Aside from the plot, the only thing you have any say in is information discrepency. Use that.

Answer 6

if you want to own the story and dont want the director to change it in anyway, than you can put little camera angles not too much but if you dont mind changes on yo story then let the director do their job, dont include angles