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Some scripts I read specify the exact camera angle of every shot-- where the camera starts, what we see, how it will move during the scene.

And some scripts are a little less specific.

Is this only because the former is the shooting script, a modification of an earlier script so as to include such specifics? Or is it just a difference in style?

While writing a script, or what will at the very least be the first version of a script, should you specify camera shots? Or should that be left for other people to add in and decide upon later?

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Check out the details in this script, which was written by the Executive Producer of the show (also its inventor and lead writer). He is adding shooting details because he has the authority to. An ordinary screenwriter would not presume to frame shots and talk about production details as if his opinion mattered. – Robusto Aug 6 '12 at 19:41

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Screenwriters don't specify shots or camera angles -- that's the job of the director and cinematographer. Since you know nothing about the actual production when you're writing the script, such information would be entirely hypothetical and largely useless.

As the screenwriter, you should specify the setting and time in the scene's slug line, using INT. or EXT. for interior or exterior, a brief description of the setting, and DAY or NIGHT for the time of day. 

 INT. JOE'S GARAGE - NIGHT

Sometimes it might be necessary to include some additional information, i.e. if it's important that the scene be taking place at dawn, include that. 

 EXT. ARIZONA DESERT - DAY (DAWN)

Or, if it's a flashback you might need to include some information to indicate the change in set (if it's not obvious from the dialogue or action). 

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET (1933) - DAY

Beyond those broad strokes, almost everything is a production decision, not a script decision.

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So directors/cinematographers rewrite the script later, to add these details in? Also, is that to say it's far more normal to add in these details if you are the director? – Aerovistae Aug 5 '12 at 16:08
When a film goes into production, the cast and crew don't work off of the screenplay. The cast uses individual sections that are specific to that day and possibly even that actor. The crew, on the other hand, uses the shooting script, which is like the screenplay on steroids. In it, the director and cinematographer have made a detailed outline of every shot, based around the action and dialogue. The screenwriter (I'm sure often to their chagrin) have nothing to do with this. – Joel Shea Aug 5 '12 at 17:33
If the screenwriter is also the director, I guess technically you could add in whatever you like, but remember that many others need to work off the screenplay as well (such as the actors, producers, sound engineers, etc). There's really no need to burden the script with that stuff just to save on the step of creating the shooting script. – Joel Shea Aug 5 '12 at 17:36
I'm amazed that that works at all. It seems to me that a person could write a fantastic screenplay only to have it completely butchered by other people modifying it to their heart's content. The final product could be drastically different from the starting material. – Aerovistae Aug 6 '12 at 16:33
@Aerovistae: This is why writers are at the bottom of the pecking order in Hollywood. If you have any power, you become a producer. – Robusto Aug 6 '12 at 19:37

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