Pictures and the Picturegoer (October 1915 - March 1916)

PICTURES AND THE PICTUREGOER 10 Week i:\d:xG Oct. 2. 1915 How to Write a Picture Play BY A SCENARIO EDITOR. PART III. IT now only remains to discover the most .suitable form in which to write the scenario, so that it may be easily dealt with, first by the scenario editor and afterwards by the producer. The scenario editor of a big firm of cinema tographers as a rule puts on one side all scripts which are not typewritten. However good a handwriting may be, it is more difficult to glance rapidly over than typewriting — and the editor's first glance is nearly always a rapid one. He gets so used to reading plots that it only requires a hasty survey to show him whether a scenario is worth considering more carefully or not. Always have your scripts typewritten, then — of course on one side of the paper only, and on paper without lines. This last item only refers to those authors who do their own typing; professional typewriting offices invariably use unruled paper. It is usual (at any rate in this country) to send a letter with a script ; but such letter must be as short and concise as you can make it. The following is an example of all that is necessary :— " To the Scenario Editor, " Messrs. Movies, Ltd. " Dear Sir — I enclose herewith for your consideration scenario of a three-reel drama entitled ' The Path of Duty.' " Yours faithfully, If you wish to state a particular price for your work, put the figure cm the front pasje of the script, not in the covering letter. Write your name and full address on the first and last pages of your scenario (the first page occasionally gets torn off and mislaid) and bind it together with a good paper fastener of the correct size — the " push through and bend over " type are as useful as any. Enclose a stamped, addressed envelope of the right size and shape to receive your script without any additional folding, and fix your scenario envelope and covering letter temporarily together with a bent* steel-wire clip (cost about (id. a gross). It is the "set-out" of a manuBcripl which most concerns the production department, and naturally what is right for the producer is alBO 1 • i u 1 1 1 for the editor. The best way is to begin with the title-page, containing the name of the lilm. its type (drama, comedy, &o), its approximate length in reals (each reel averages 1,000ft. of film), and the name and address of the author. Follow the title-page by a synopsis 61 the story />., tell the editor the whole plot in as few words as possible, but don't on any account miss out any details. Don't say. for example, " Burglar Bill ma:iages to escape by n clever ruse. . . ."■ It is absolutely essential to explain that clever ruse. After the synopsis comes the cast of characters, with very brief particulars about each of the principals. The scene-plot next claims attention. This is merely a full list of scene-settings, or locations, with the numbers as they appear in the scenario. Example : — Mr. Brown's Study ..Scenes 1, 14, 22 Passage 4. 19 Ballroom ..".... ...:...'. "„ ' 2.6,9.17 . . . Ac Ac. There should he two lists of scenes. one for "interior scenes which are photographed in the studio — and one for " exteriors," or outdoor scenes. The " body " of the seenario is now all that remains, and this, of conrse, consists of full details (without dialogne) of the action which takes place in each and every scene. The scenes should l>e numbered consecutively from the beginning to the end of the scenati": should it be a two or three reel film, don't begin renumbering at the commencement of the second and third reels. It is the fashion just now to type scripts on small sheets of paper, roughly half-quarto size, and to put only one scene on each page. Of course this method is rather extravagant in the amount of paper it uses, but it has many advantages from the producer's point of view. Above all. remember to do everything in connection with your scenario (horoughly. The old saying is a very true one—" What is worth doing at all is worth doing well.'" The Exp. TUNES AND THEIR PLAYERS. Fred Adlinrflon. .1 NIGHTS Of QLADNESS I A THOUSAND KISSES