Is it okay to write a bit of camera movement in the ACTION? I don't mean the camera movements such as PUSH IN or ANGLE ON.
What I mean is something like the following:
Through an **aerial view**, we see the man following the criminal.
Would it be okay to write 'aerial view' here, without specifying any technical camera movements?
Unless you are also directing the film, DO NOT put camera directions in!
The best way to handle this is to write the scene in a way that evokes the image and movements into the readers mind.
Remember, the first rule of screenwriting is "show don't tell!" Aerial view is on the line of acceptability for a screenplay; if used in a showing way it could be fine, but if one is trying to use it as pseudo-camera direction that is telling and not showing.
Be careful with sneaky camera directions a professional reader might consider it as bad or worse than an explicit camera direction, and might reject your screenplay as a result.
I would stray away from saying aerial view. Maybe something more like, from above the man could be seen following the criminal, or, from the eyes of a crow one could see the man tailing the criminal, etc. While I cant tell you it is wrong to say aerial view, for writing is individual to the person, I feel as if something like this would be more appropriate, unless you were trying to mimic actual camera movements in your story, such as a screenplay.
