Matt Holmes: Author and screenwriter in Praha, Czech Republic.

A movie star's performance is totally subjective, while an athlete's performance is totally objective.

Wes - I agree with you to a degree but let's also acknowledge that any 'sport' that includes an artistic/execution score (think about ice skating, snow boarding, gymnastics, etc) is probably more subjective than acting....anybody with eyes and ears can make a pretty simple determination about whether an actor is 'amazing' or 'okay' or 'complete crap'....very few people in the world get the opportunity or have the knowledge base to judge sports that involve complex 'artistic' or 'technical' scores... But that wasn't my point....MY POINT is that societal taste determines what most people classify as stardom....as such, I don't see that American society will ever give up idolizing the biggest hollywood movie stars, as a matter of popular interest....that's all I was trying to say....not trying to belittle sports versus acting....

Hi Matt, (fellow Cz resident), we have a home in Brno, Cz. We live binationally, (Prague, Brno, and US)

I can officially announce today that i will be co-producing my first ever feature film (directed by Anthony Abuah) We need your help... ‪#‎MAKEAPLEDGE http://youtu.be/9xhS0XHL4_o

And you as well!

Thanks for the connect :-)

Thanks for the advice :-) Much appreciated and I'll pop stuff up on my profile page (loglines, etc) as I complete it....keep an eye out...

YOU ARE VERY WELCOME MATT.....

Good luck and best regards, Ivan

To some extent, this depends on what the screenplay is for. Is it a spec or are you writing this for either yourself or someone who has commissioned you to write it? In other words, you're already on the team and it's now just a tool to lead toward production. A pure spec screenplay should, IMHO, have no camera, acting, or other directions. Why? If you want your reader to be "in the story" he shouldn't suddenly be catapulted into a sort of behind-the-scenes moment - as in, "This is where the camera is and we're going to point it over there." Camera movement, lens choices, angle, and acting directions stop the story and take a reader out of it. And many of the "directions" in screenplays that have them are really editing choices. As was mentioned before, it's pretty easy to "suggest" angles, lenses, movements, etc. in the way action is written. Spur-of-the-moment examples: WAY ACROSS THE STREET, A WOMAN WAVES HER HANDS = Wide Shot. A WOMAN WAVES HER HANDS IN FRONT OF HER FACE = Medium Shot. A WOMAN'S FINGERS FLUTTER AS SHE WAVES HER HANDS IN FRONT OF HER FACE = Close-Up. In each example, the extent to which the woman dominates the frame is suggested by what we're told first. Just some thoughts...

At the risk of repeating myself, at no time ever should you include camera angles. Even POVs are irrelevant. Unless you are funding, producing and directing the film, then your ONLY job is to tell the story. Tell a story that is engaging and captivating. One that is driven by well drawn characters that come to life on the page and drive the story forward through their conflicts and pursuit of their goals. The biggest problem that you should be looking at is how engaging is my story? Does it leap off the page or just dribble along? Why would someone invest millions of dollars and years of their life to make my story into a feature film? Focus on putting together a sequence of events that make an interesting story. There are over 2000 books on the market that can teach you all the techniques you need. Start with the most popular ones

Hello Matt.