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Q&A Should I use a series of shots for this scene?

I would say it's best not to write this as a series of shots. The reason is because whether to break that up into multiple shots is a decision for the director and cameramen to make, not for you. ...

posted 6y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-30T17:15:28Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36907
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:06:58Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36907
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T09:06:58Z (over 4 years ago)
I would say it's best **not** to write this as a series of shots. The reason is because whether to break that up into multiple shots is a decision for the director and cameramen to make, not for you.

Remember that filmmaking is a collaborative process. Your job as the screenwriter is to provide the "blueprint" that everyone else working on the film can use to make sure they're producing the same story together. But they all have their own expertise and their own creative ideas to bring to the table, as well.

As a result, the only things that should go into your script are things that must be included to tell the story. The only time you should specify a series of shots is when the camerawork is essential to telling the story. For example, [the Doom movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706/) has a one-take shot from a first-person perspective at the film's climax. This shot was designed to look and feel like the experience of playing the Doom video game, so the shot absolutely had to be done that way in order to work for that particular story. I would guess that the screenwriter wrote some camera instructions into that scene.

But that is one of extremely few positive examples I can think of. In the overwhelming majority of cases, you're better off leaving room for other members of a production team to make decisions about how a film is shot.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-06-13T15:42:22Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 7