American television directory (1946)

The Triangle is used to express unity of interest, stability, or climax. The Circle is used to express continuity of interest, or continuous movement. The S Curve is used to express variety of interest, grace or beauty of movement. The Z Shape is used to express excite¬ ment of interest or extreme change. The Cross is used to express merging of interest, or cohesion. The Radii is used to express concentra¬ tion of interest or intensity of focus. All of the foregoing forms may be used, of course, in the special depth of the picture, as well as in the twodimensional vertical plane. How to Use the Basic Forms The first consideration in planning a television program is how to present it visually. The solution of this problem will be found in the answer to the fol¬ lowing questions: (1) What is the basic character of the program as a whole — formal or informal, light or serious, factual or imaginative, charming, bi¬ zarre, gay or macabre? This will deter¬ mine the over-all feeling which the pic¬ torial continuity should have. (2) What is the mood pattern of each scene and what specific effects are desired? (3) What basic forms of composition will produce those specific moods and effects? (4) In each situation, throughout the program, what treatment of line, mass and form will best suit the content? Just as the actor must think of the appropriate gesture, so must the writer, producer, set designer, cameraman, lighting and technical director think of the appropriate picture. This means thinking of the picture in its abstract form. The procedure should be to start with the abstract and work through to the concrete. It will be somewhat difficult for the novice to think in abstract terms at first, but once he has caught on and acquired that habit, it will become al¬ most instinctive. Then he will be pre¬ pared for catching good visuals “on the fly” in the heat of production, where there are no retakes and excuses don’t count. That is what television demands. Why Is Visual Planning Necessary? Television program production is a complex process, and an expensive one. In camera rehearsal, a lot of equipment and many payroll members are tied up, as well as high-priced talent. Minutes count, and yet enough time must be spent on rehearsal to insure good pro¬ duction. There are only two answers: 1 — preplanning , and 2 — more preplan¬ ning. Visual planning involves picturization, either in the mind or on paper. As time goes on and as visual-mindedness develops, much of the picturization can be planned mentally. But to develop that ability and to insure top ratings even with the ability, the method proposed herein will be found helpful. If is a simplified form of the story-board meth¬ od used extensively in Hollywood, par¬ ticularly in the Walt Disney studios. Its application to television is even more necessary than in motion pictures, for the reason that there can be no retakes when the television show goes on the air; it is good or bad in direct propor¬ tion to the way it has been planned. In some television station set-ups it is not inconceivable that the management will find that it pays to have one or more artists whose main function is to prepare these skeleton story-board treatments, for in this way the program manager can see and evaluate how the production will look — even before it has been started. A Method of Visual Planning Even if a skilled artist is not avail¬ able for making story-board sketches, this should be no deterrent to the pro¬ ducer; he should get his picturization down on paper. Even though he “can’t draw a straight line,” if he can think straight, he will be able to draw “straight” enough for the purpose. It is not to be implied that it is necessary to make sketches of each camera shot, or even of many of them; but there is no denying the fact that a few simple line sketches (no matter how crude) of the key scenes are of inestimable value. They may look like hen tracks to any¬ one else, but they will help the producer to crystallize his own thinking. It will save time in the end and make for bet¬ ter productions. The basic procedure is as follows: 1 — Analyze the emotional content of the key situations. 2 — Select the basic compositional form or combination of forms that will best portray the emotional content involved. 3 — Apply the psychology of line, mass and form to the arrangement of the set, the casting of the talent, their placement and movement. Any one who is visual-minded can use this method of visual planning, and un¬ less one is visual-minded, he has no place in television program production. Let us see how the method might be applied to a dramatic episode. Our problem is a scene of domestic, middle-class family life. At the opening, a mother and three children are en¬ gaged in quiet conversation. An air of peace is established. Suddenly, the drunken father enters and conflict en¬ sues between him and an older son as the father threatens the youngest child. She, a little girl of ten, runs terrorstricken out of the room and the house. Soon, from offstage, the screech of brakes is heard. We cut, by means of film, to the scene of the accident, with its excitement, and then back to the room as the child is brought in and laid on the sofa. The child dies, in the best soap-opera tradition, with forgiveness on her lips and the ghost of a heart¬ rending smile. Our first consideration is the set. Since the feeling at the opening is one of friendly informality, we can use broken horizontals, quiet verticals and graceful curving shapes in informal bal¬ ance. We shall select a combination of basic forms: the right angle for its in¬ formality, softened by S curves for quiet charm. Any one of a number of opening shots 63