The art of sound pictures (1930)

1 12 THE ART OF SOUND PICTURES what I have made up, reading the script through while I hear my own voice in the dictating machine. When I find that I have said something which must be changed, I make a note of it on the script at the point where the change should occur. To prevent confusion, these correcting notes should be written in a different color of pencil or ink from those which were set down in advance of the dictating. I next take a fresh set of dictating records and make a complete revision, straight through. Then I listen in on this. Not until I have developed the dialogue to the point where I feel it is essentially correct do I turn the records over to the stenographic force to be typed.” The dialogue is now ready to be criticized by directors and editors. In writing dialogue, bear in mind that about one foot of film is required for the word of average length. If you have absolutely continuous talking throughout the reel, you can crowd i,ooo words into it. But you must remember that dialogue is never continuous talking. There must always be an appreciable pause between successive remarks, and frequently there must be long pauses to produce the proper dramatic effects. This means that you cannot safely count upon using more than 500 or 600 words per reel, even when the entire reel is dialogue. Should your story call for silent action here and there, as the great majority of stories do, the number of words per reel will be correspondingly reduced. In one picture on which we recently worked, in which the illusion of almost continuous dialogue was produced, barely 200 words were actually spoken in one reel. You must consider whether important dialogue takes