American television directory (1946)

comes to mind, but since the climax is to be the death of the little girl, suppose we open with a close-up of her, stretched out on the floor, reading from a story book. We shall then dolly back to reveal the first key picture — the establishing shot of the family group. We maintain diffused focus of atten¬ tion until a line from the mother mo¬ tivates movement toward her, ending in this triangular form, used for its stabil¬ ity and unity of interest. This is followed by a sequence of three-shots, in which the focus is passed from character to character at a leisure¬ ly pace. We then see them pull more compactly together in a circular form, thus heightening the feeling of close re¬ lationship, and setting the stage for the contrasting mood created by the drunk¬ en father’s entrance. On his entrance the circle breaks dramatically to this right angle form. Note that the mother and children are grouped in a mass that counts as a vertical. The direction of their attention forms the line of opposition as it leads directly to the father at the door. The conflict between the father and son is a brief, rapid sequence, built on dynamic diagonal lines. After the exit of the terrified child, there should be a brief period at lower pace and pitch. To achieve this, we make use of the rigidity of the square form of composition. The screech of brakes is heard. We catch the reactions of the mother and the two sons. We build an¬ other key picture on the right angle form, in which the three figures stand¬ ing momentarily rigid are in dramatic contrast with the father who has slumped down at stage right. At the scene of the accident, we shall use strong lines and dramatic contrasts of mass to point up the helplessness of the fragile child against brutal forces. Back in the living room, after the child has been brought in, the solemnity and suspense of the scene are achieved by developing tense diagonals in con¬ trast with the horizontal of her prone position. Through a shift to the cross form [See picture, top right], the inter¬ est is merged in the possibility that the injuries may prove fatal. By a shift to the radial structure, the interest is still further concentrated on the child. We have built to our cli¬ max and doubtless will not be able to resist dollying in for a close-up to catch that faint smile as the eyelids close. A concluding shot suggests itself: a close-up of the little girl’s open story book, with her doll near it, just as she left it in the opening scene. Having thus worked out the visual treatment of the key scenes in a tele¬ vision production, having nailed them down on paper, it is possible for the producer to plan supporting scenes and transitions. By this method he can di¬ rect the movements of the players so as to culminate in strong pictorial compo¬ sitions for all important scenes; confu¬ sion and meaningless pictures will be avoided; strong continuity will be achieved. The method is applicable not alone to dramatic productions, but to all types of programs, for they all depend on good visual continuity for their effect. We have previously pointed out that, even though television is a new medium, there is nothing new in the fundamental principles on which its visual manifes¬ tations must rest. Let us see how they may be applied in building television continuity. 1 — Unity A picture, like a sentence, must have unity. It should tell only one story. There should be nothing in it that is not needed or does not contribute to the over-all effect, either in thought con 64