Moving Picture World (Dec 1917)

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1942 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 29, 1917 ftsfflKmKttatstsmnnaas The Photoplaywright (XXXXXXtXX Conducted by EPES WINTHROP SARGENT. INQUIRIES. Questions concerning photoplay writing addressed to this department will be replied to by mail if a fully addressed and stamped envelope accompanies the letter, which should be addressed to this department. Questions should be stated clearly and should be typewritten or written with pen and ink. Under no circumstances will manuscripts or synopses be criticised, whether or not a fee is sent therefor. A list of companies will be sent if the request is made to the paper direct and not to this department, and a return stamped envelope is inclosed. Judgment. THREE letters in one week asked where the services of a good critic might be obtained, as the writers wanted to know whether to keep on working or quit. A fourth letter carries this phrase: I've not sold any stories yet. I've not written any. And when I do write a story I'll know it. This last refers to fiction stories and is from a photoplay writer who announces his turning to the other field. He went through the photoplay end and no one had to tell him when he had arrived. He sold until the company he dealt with went out of the market. Now he'll start work on fiction and wait until he can write before he seeks to sell. He is 'writing stuff steadily, but he knows that what he has written are not stories. And here is another line that speaks of the right way : I have Esenwein's book and find it helps, but I am doing as I did with photoplays. I am studying stories themselves and not books. That is not what he really means. What he does mean is that having a book of technical rules, he is now gaining an understanding of those rules through the dissection of current fiction as well as his own experiments. If you will do that, you'll soon know whether or not you can eventually write plays or fiction. No one can tell you. The knowledge must come from within. If you do not know that you can, probably you cannot and never will succeed. Some Do. Most writers declare that there is no market, and they are right if they find none, but some still seem to be selling. Mrs. Bertie Moyer wrote the other day to announce the1 sale of her sixth script to Sidney Drew (which is one better than we could do), and she added that she averages $75 a week from her plays. This is exceptional in the present staff writer craze, but it shows that it can be done, even now. And Mrs. Moyer sells both one-reel comedies and five-reel dramas, which is still more unusual. Quit Kidding Yourself. The technique of photoplay writing is the art of telling a story in action instead of in words. It is a waste of time to ignore this for the trick work and stunt stuff. It is very true that a knowledge of the possibilities of the camera is essential to the proper telling of a story, but these are accessories and not the. end aimed at. It is easier to study the technique of form, and for this reason too many do so. They split hairs over close-ups and resplit the same hair on dissolve and fade, they proudly invent phrases such as "circle-to-full-screen." "diaphragm-and-sold-open-at-half-field," and stuff like that and feel that they are making progress. They are, but it is in a rearward direction. What sells a story is a good idea and not a light effect or a new scheme for leaders. Use effects as a means to an end and not as an ultimate goal. Perhaps the novice is not to be blamed when he sees so many releases that depend upon sky shots and similar stuff, but he should remember that this is the work of incompetent studio writers who cannot originate stories and trust to effects. He cannot compete with these on their own grounds. He must make attack through a different angle and offer the ideas the studio writers lack. Be a Surprise. We think that some — indeed, many — authors make a mistake in plugging too hard at the market. They start sending out when they begin to write, and stop only when they quit through discouragement. They argue that some editor might, at some time, take a story. Very true, but there is danger that before they achieve success the editors will have grown so tired that they will find no appeal in the stories. You see yourself in the glass every day. Unless you suffer some physical or mental worry there is no perceptible change from day to day. You notice no alteration, nor do the friends with whom you come in daily contact. But you meet a friend you have not seen for a year, and at once he notes the changes that are imperceptible to those who see you daily, and yet clearly discernible to one who has been absent. He comments that you have lost or gained flesh, and you are surprised. You have not noticed this because the change has been so gradual. It is the same way in sending in stories. If you make improvement slowly, the change is so gradual that an editor does not notice it. If you stay away for a year, and then come in again the editor will see a pronounced difference. It is hard to hold off for a year, but It will pay the beginner. Changing Demand. According to late reports the demand for rough comedy in England Is abating and a more polite form of entertainment is required. The English people have passed the stage where they desired enforced gaiety and now there will probably come a market for an appeal to the gentler emotions. Their characters have ripened under the hand of war, and the human interest story is more nearly what is wanted. It is probable that over here a somewhat similar condition will prevail. For a time the rougher comedies and stressed drama, without reference to war, will be the demand, changing back to heart interest as we become more used to the actual war condition. But at no time Is the purely war drama going to be in demand, for we have war in our real lives and have no desire to see repeated on tie screens the worries of the day. The picture theater is pre-eminently the theater of the masses and it is foolish to seek to make appeal to producers with war dramas. The time for these will come twenty years after the war, not now. Holding It. What you find out for yourself sticks. What you are told is soon forgotten. Learn to do your own remembering. Even Worse. There is just one thing less in demand than a patriotic story Just now and that is a peace propaganda story. Comedy and comedy drama will be Increasingly in demand, and studios are going to count their production costs more carefully than has been their wont, so do not write stories that are expensive in production. Try to get your effects through less costly means. And more than ever be careful to avoid giving offense of any sort. Getting Facts. Be inquisitive. Get all the facts you can. Some day you can use some if not all of this material, and you can never tell what part you can use. Keep your eyes open. If you see something you do not understand, ask someone who knows. On the elevated roads here in town the conductor puts a key into a box above Cue door of the second coach and takes out a slip of paper. He does it each trip and thousands see this done, but scarcely one in each thousand knows that the little strip he takes out records the saving in current consumed, and that he gives it to the motorman, who turns in his slips at the end of the day and gets a bonus on the current saved, yet anyone who asks the conductor will be told. It is the same wherever you go. Get facts and when you have enough facts you can make your stories more real. Some of the best stories written have been suggested by the most ordinary facts, looked at with the creative imagination. Get the facts and cultivate the imagination. Contentment. The first requisite to authorship is a contented mind, but contentment does not mean self satisfaction over one's own stories or progress. It means an acceptance of the conditions as they are instead of discontent. Do It All. Don't write a halfway good story and offer it to the editor with the suggestion that you are certain that Miss Blank's charming personality will do the rest. Do it all yourself and you'll have the personality as an added attraction. Reversing. The true story is too true to be good. Technique of the Photoplay By EPES WINTHROP SARGENT Practical pointers on the preparation of stories for the screen, answering the hundred and one questions which immediately present themselves when the first script is attempted. A standard and tested handbook for the experienced writer of picture plots as well as for the beginner. "Straight-from-theshoulder" information from an author with a wealth of real "dollars-and-cents" experience. By mail, postpaid. Three Dollars Order from nearest office. THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD, 516 Fifth Ave., N. Y. Schiller Bids-, Chicago Wright & Callender Bide.. Los Angeles