Write your story, don't direct it
Screenwriting matters: Learn about camera terms, but only rarely use them. You write the story, let the director do the directing.
When you get into screenwriting, you read scripts, often shooting scripts. And you’ll find yourself bombarded with camera terms. Learn about them, by all means. Use the ones essential to telling your story but, whenever possible, stay away from them and just write your story.
We’re writers, we think we’re pretty good at what we do. Writing is our core, is what we’re about. And although making films is all about collaboration, we all have our expertise. Just as we won’t tell the make-up artists how to do their job on the set, we also shouldn’t tell the director how to do his/hers - and when you use camera terms in your script, that is essentially what you do.
Every director I’ve worked with appreciates (and they make it a point saying so, too) the fact that I write the story without using camera terms. All we, as screenwriters, need to do is tell the story as strongly and clearly as we can. We’ll also talk with the director, we’ll go over the script, we’ll answer any question the director may have. But it’ll be up to that director to decide on a close-up, freeze frame, pan, split screen, etc. as the best way to convey the story on screen.
As mentioned in the intro, there are moments in screenwriting when you feel you absolutely have to use a camera term. The mention of a POV, for example, instantly coveys a great deal more than just where to put the camera. Just remember - always use camera terms sparingly and with caution. Same as you, directors don’t want to be told to execute on what someone else has already decided upon. Same as you, they have their creative pride and their essential creative process.
So here's a glossary of camera terms - while you may not want to use most of them (you now know why) - they're still very useful to know:
ANGLE: The angle of the camera on the subject, as in Low Angle Shot, or High Angle (a bird's eye view). A Wide Angle Shot is one that includes the maximum lateral dimension of a scene.
CLOSE-UP (CU): The camera is very close to the subject. If the subject is a person, the shot includes only the head, or head-and-shoulders. It may be further defined as EXTREME CLOSE-UP (XCU).
CRANE SHOT: A moving shot taken by a camera that is mounted on a mobile lift, usually vertical.
CUT: The simplest transition between two scenes. One scene ends abruptly, the other begins. SMASH CUT is deliberately jarring or startling for dramatic effect. JUMP CUT skips ahead of time.
DISSOLVE (DISSOLVE TO): The slow visual melting of one scene into another.
DOLLY IN, DOLLY BACK: The camera, mounted on wheels, moves closer or further back from the subject. These can also be expressed as CAMERA IN, CAMERA BACK or CAMERA PUSHES IN, CAMERA PULLS BACK or TRUCK IN, TRUCK BACK.
ESTABLISHING SHOT: A general view of an a without selecting a specific subject. Usually used in connection with large areas (street, train station, etc.).
EXT: An exterior shot.
FADE IN: Shot changes slowly from darkness to a fully lit picture.
FADE OUT: The reverse of Fade In.
FRAME: A single rectangular picture on the developed strip of film.
FREEZE FRAME: All action seems to freeze, as though the film has suddenly become a still photograph.
FULL SHOT: An all-inclusive view of a person, place, or thing.
INT: An interior shot.
INTERCUT: An indication to alternate back and forth between two or more scenes, as in a telephone conversation (e.g. INTERCUT - JOHN IN OFFICE AND MARY IN BEDROOM)
LONG SHOT (LS): A view of people or things at a distance.
MEDIUM SHOT (MS): A waist-high shot of one or more people.
MONTAGE: An impressionistic sequence of brief shots, artfully blended to connote a passage of time, a stream of consciousness, etc.
PAN (PAN TO): Camera remains in the same location, but pivots from left to right or from right to left. A PANNING SHOT is a sweeping lateral view of a scene. WHIP PAN is an extremely rapid panning shot.
POV: Abbreviation for Point Of View. A POV Shot is one in which we see something through the eyes of a character in the story, as in JOHN'S POV.
REVERSE SHOT: If we are looking over John's shoulder at Mary, then suddenly we are looking over Mary's shoulder at Johne, we have taken a Reverse Shot.
SLOW MOTION: Everything seems to move dream-like at an unnaturally slow speed.
SPEEDED-UP MOTION: The opposite of Slow Motion.
SPLIT SCREEN: The picture is divided into two or more segments, allowing us to see more than one scene at the same time.
STOCK SHOT: A film sequence, shot some time ago, and stored in a film library for possible reuse in another film. This frequently refers to old newsreel footage.
SUBLIM: A very quick shot, barely within the threshold of visual perception. Usually a fraction of a second.
SUPERIMPOSE (SUPER): A direction calling for the overlay of one picture onto another. Screen titles are often Superimposed Over Action.
TIGHT SHOT: The camera narrowly selects a person, group, or thing, to the exclusion of everything else in the vicinity.
TILT UP, TILT DOWN: Camera remains in the same location, but pivots vertically up or down.
TITLES: The name of the film, the author, the actors, etc., printed on the opening frames of the film.
TRUCKING SHOT: The camera, mounted on wheels, follows a moving object in any surface direction. This can be further specified as REAR TRUCKING SHOT, SIDE TRUCKING SHOT or TRUCKING FROM FRONT.
TWO-SHOT: A picture of two persons. It can be further defined as a MEDIUM TWO SHOT, TIGHT TWO SHOT, etc.
V.O.: Abbreviation for Voice Over. Used when the actor reading the lines does not appear on screen. Interchangeable with O.C., which stands for Off Camera.
WIDE ANGLE: The maximum lateral view of a scene.
ZOOM (ZOOM IN): A sudden, rapid enlargement of a subject, accomplished by the camera lens. For example, CAMERA ZOOMS IN on Martha's necklace, or ZOOM IN on closing title.