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CONDENSING THE SCRIPT 63 ing than from thirty, for with the greater lengths there will be much that is unnecessary and redundant. Let us suppose that Jack and Tom meet and that Tom suggests to Jack that they go and see Harry. The meeting takes place on the street. A person not familiar with photoplay form might be expected to write it something like this: 7- A street corner, showing a handsome house in the rear with a lawn in front. In the distance Jack is seen approaching, walking along briskly and swinging his cane. Just before he gets to the corner Tom comes in from the opposite direction. He and Jack see each other and smile. As they come closer Jack shakes hands with Tom and they both turn and face the camera. They talk for a few minutes, and finally Tom suggests to Jack that they go and see Harry. Jack says he doesn't mind, so Tom turns back and he and Jack come walking toward the camera, talking and laughing. They pass out of the scene. Now all of this is a part of the action of the scene, but very little of it is essential to the telling of the story. It would be just as possible to play this scene in front of a brick house setting flush with the sidewalk, in front of a saloon or store or in front of a vacant lot. That there is a handsome house in the rear of the scene is not essential to the story, though it makes for a land- scape effect. The director, far more than the author, is alive to the necessity for pretty backgrounds where they are to be had. Without need- ing to be told, he will procure the best background he can obtain without too much trouble. This, then, will leave merely the street corner. But why the street corner? The action would be as plain if the meeting occurred in the middle of the block. That still fur- ther cuts it down. We say simply "street" instead of street cor- ner. It is not very important that we gain a word here, but it is important that we reduce the direction to its simplest form, for now the director sees that the corner has nothing to do with the meeting. In the middle of the block there may be a house vastly superior to one to be found on any corner. He could tell from the full script that it did not have to be on a corner, but he has more important matters to consider than this and the more simple di- rection will be better and so we say "Street" and let it go at that, Nothing more is needed. It is not always possible to say merely that it is a street scene. It may be that the scene would lose force if it were not played in the business section instead of a