I have written CLOSE UP:, and EXTREME CLOSE UP:, in some of the stuff I've done lately,but truly that is because I am writing for myself, or for the people here to share in what I am seeing.  I do not really expect to become a professional writer.  However, my example is based on my not expecting to be a professional.  For those wishing to become a professional, and they come to a site such as this, I think it would behoove them to listen to the writers here who have been produced.  They are here to share what they know.

A person can write a script anyway they wish.  That much is true.  However, from all the articles I see by people in the industry, there are ways that will get you in and ways that won't.  I don't believe the good folks here, both students of the art and those who are produced already, would be giving bad advice just to mold you into a paradigm of their choosing.

OK, check this out and tell me what you guys think...

Lakewood’s example

A wide shot shows rows of cubes. No one’s here yet. There’s a small card in the center of each desk.

CLOSE ON a single desk. The card is the same therapeutic caution card Walter gave to Meredith and Porter.

NEW ANGLE inside of a pair of cubes, the card in the center of the desks.

NEW ANGLE inside of an office. The same situation.


My reworking of Lakewood’s example

Rows of empty cubes.  A small card sits on each desk, inside the cubes.  It’s the same therapeutic card Walter gave Meredith and Porter.

It’s the same thing in each cube, and on every desk.


So, here I’ve cut the passage down from 9 lines to 4 lines.  I’ve said the same things, for the most part, and didn’t need to use any camera directions.  I think it goes without saying that, for us to be able to read and recognize the card, it will have to be shot as a CLOSE UP.  I don’t see any reason to use camera directions in this passage.



As he disappears from frame we’re left looking into Porter’s empty room until the camera pulls back and the hole becomes just a pinprick of light in the wall.

And then the lights go out.

FADE TO BLACK.


This example is a set up shot that is meant to be visually impressive.  Does it work?  Can’t be sure, but it sounds cool.  But is it something that a spec writer should be including in his script?  I don’t think so.  Would this “story” be any different without this passage?  I highly doubt it.

Quoted from Toby_E ^^ Some things will always need to be changed though, due to filming restrictions, budget, actors etc. However, I think if director's change a significant amount of the script, then it can be pretty crappy.

I was referring to the latter part.  The former is damn near unavoidable.  Everything in moderation.

Jesus Christ.

Whether you write with camera directions or not has nothing to do with your script getting read or sold. Personally, I do not use them -- scripts with no camera directions are easier to read -- but that does not mean that it is wrong to write them.

I cannot remember who said the following (paraphrased) statement, but he/she is 100% correct: "Camera angles or no Camera angles. It doesn't matter, just WRITE WELL"

I agree with him.

I used to avoid unproduced scripts littered with 'we see' and camera angles, but now I really don't care. If you got a great story, then you got a great story and it will be noticed eventually.

--Julio

Julio, I understand where you're coming from, but I do not agree with you.

I doubt a spec script coming in from a no name writer that is loaded with camera direction adn we see and we ehar would be read by any professional.  It would be tossed out early on, as it would most likely read very amateurish.

Obvioulsy, these are just my feelings, adn I could be very wrong...I doubt it though.

Quoted from Dreamscale I doubt a spec script coming in from a no name writer that is loaded with camera direction adn we see and we ehar would be read by any professional.  It would be tossed out early on, as it would most likely read very amateurish.

Let's say that among the hundred or maybe thousand scripts they get, it's obvious that those kind of details help to get your script rejected.

remember WE PASS

Yeah, exactly...and...they get some 50,000 unsolicited scripts each year.

Quoted from Dreamscale Yeah, exactly...and...they get some 50,000 unsolicited scripts each year.

And who knows how many GOOD stories in it.

I guess the point is that it's such an easy thing to leave out, I don't know why it's even up for discussion.

Like I said before, if you find yourself trapped in a situation where you absolutely have to explain what the camera is doing, then do it.  If not, what's the point, really?  If odds are (and they are, as you can cite any number of sources) you're not going to impress them with your knowledge of camera angles, just leave it out.

...that get rejected before the reader even realizes he's got something good in his hands.

Quoted from Dreamscale ...that get rejected before the reader even realizes he's got something good in his hands.

That leads to another thread...

Quoted from Dreamscale I doubt a spec script coming in from a no name writer that is loaded with camera direction adn we see and we ehar would be read by any professional.  It would be tossed out early on, as it would most likely read very amateurish.

Depends on which side of the fence you're talking about.  Hollywood, your script would most likely be submitted by an agent who read it and deemed it professional enough.

On a smaller, more independent level it's anybody's guess, but my experience is that those things don't amount to a whole lot positively or negatively.

I found these camera angles completely inappropriate:

Quoted from Lakewood CLOSE ON a shelf of SELF HELP TITLES. Walter pulls down DUMPING DEPRESSION. CLOSE ON a medicine cabinet full of prescriptions. Walter pops some pills.

Quoted from Lakewood CLOSE ON a night stand where a copy of SIX STEPS TO A NEW YOU lies open. In bed beside it, Walter sleeps.

Close ups like these are extremely unnecessary.  If you're going to show the titles of the books, it's a given that it is close up.  

And do you really want to have a close of the medicine cabinet?  If it's not a close-up, then you can see everything in scale.


Phil

You shouldn't put camera directions in your script unless you have a camera and are prepared to show us every single one of them.

This topic should be easy to close out --- Camera Directions -- If you're a screenwriter and nothing else; Don't use them. EVER!  Simple and clean.

You are a writer... If you can't describe how a scene should be without shortcuts, maybe you shouldn't be a writer.