The film till now : a survey of world cinema (1960)

II THE PRECONCEPTION OF DRAMATIC CONTENT BY SCENARIO ORGANISATION A film is essentially characterised by a unity of purpose which is present from the first to the last visual image projected on to the screen. This unity of idea, or central purpose, is unfolded shot by shot, sequence by sequence, and may be called the theme, or in the case of the fiction film, the thematic narrative. It is strictly possible for an entire film to be preconceived in almost exact anticipation of every shot, except in such cases where sudden conditions (such as rain or mist) should occur during shooting, when some alteration in the scenario is justified. No single shot should be regarded as an isolated fragment, but must be reckoned as part of the moving pattern of shots and sequences out of which the film is constructed. Every shot of the many hundred that go to make up a full-length film is related to the preceding and succeeding shots, so that the complete film is related rhythmically. A film is built, and the process of building has well been called montage.1 The process of film construction is mathematical in its precision. It may be compared to building with a box of bricks. The unity of a film is achieved by the combination of the three acts of montage. Montage may be understood as the inclusive, creative, and constructive unity that is present from the birth of the first gleam of idea in the mind of the scenarist, to the final act of assembling the film strips by constructive editing and cutting. A film is brought into being by the development of the preconceived theme by 1 Oxford Dictionary (1929) definition : ' Selection, cutting and piecing together as a consecutive whole of the separate shots taken in the making of a film. (F, f, monter to mount).' 343