The photoplay; a psychological study (1916)

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THE PHOTOPLAY Some religious painters of medieval times put in the picture itself phrases which the persons were supposed to speak, as if the words were leaving their mouths. But we could not imagine Eaphael and Michelangelo making use of a method of communication which is so entirely foreign to the real spirit of painting. Every art grows slowly to the poiut where the artist relies on its character- istic and genuiae forms of expression. Ele- ments which do not belong to it are at first mingled in it and must be slowly eliminated. The photoplay of the day after tomorrow will surely be freed from all elements which are not really pictures. The beginning of the photoplay as a mere imitation of the theater is nowhere so evident as in this inorganic combination with bits of dialogue or explan- atory phrases. The art of words and the art of pictures are there forcibly yoked together, "Whoever writes his scenarios so that the pic- tures cannot be understood without these lin- guistic crutches is an esthetic failure in the new art. The next step toward the emanci- pation of the photoplay decidedly must be the creation of plays which speak the language of pictures only. 200