How to add sound to amateur films (1954)

the word "it" occurs sixjimes in the last two sentences. The first two "its" are ambiguous because the preceding noun is "Reformation", not "bell". But if you change one to "bell", you get, "Ever since the bell was cast in 1523, it has called on St. Augustine, 'Protect thy bell and keep it sound'. He has protected it well . . ." The succession, bell, bell, well, provides an echo effect which is irritating when spoken aloud. The same applies to a lesser extent to "protect" and "protected". A way out is the use of synonyms. Normally there is no other word meaning exactly the same as bell. But here you are lucky — "Sanctus" will meet the case. The substitution of "guarded" for "protected" is also useful. Not only does it eliminate repetition, but it relieves some of the stress on the word "well". Try it for yourself. Read the first version aloud, and then try this: ". . . The bell-cot over the chancel holds one of the few Sanctus bells in England to survive the Reformation. Ever since it was cast in 1523, the Sanctus has called on St. Augustine: 'Protect thy bell and keep it sound'. He has guarded it well and it chimes on Sundays as it has done for four hundred years." The difference is not great, but in a long film, a carefully polished commentary repays the work involved. Yes, it does involve work. The example above takes less than 25 seconds to read, yet it took as many minutes to work out. Timing This does not necessarily mean that it should take 10 hours to write the commentary for a 10-minute film. Much depends on the proportion of the film requiring a commentary at all. Commentator and audience will find an occasional rest equally welcome. So if you have no information to impart, keep quiet. By introducing frequent breaks in the commentary, you can also greatly simplify timing. Start each section at its 118