How to Write Moving Picture Plays (1915)

HOW TO WRITE MOVING PICTURE PLAYS 17 rushes in excited throws himself into chair.” It would be improper to say, ‘‘Helen walked to door hesitated opened door John rushed in, etc.” Do not use four or five scenes to get your story started. Make audience sit up and take notice at the very start. If your story is going to be about John and Mary’s courtship, do not begin with John’s birth, take him through his boyhood days, and put your audience to sleep before he is old enough to ‘‘go acourtin’.” A strip of film is an expensive commodity, and producers do not want to use three hundred feet of it before the real interesting part of the play begins. Make your first scene full of interest to arouse attention; it is a poor play that cannot arouse this deep interest at the very start. (Note in sample play that interest is aroused in first scene by the appearance of Roy’s brother, indicating that there is going to be trouble.) Leave a margin of about one-half inch at left of each sheet in which to insert scene numbers, leaders, etc. (See sample play.) This enables editor to glance down margin and quickly note the number of leaders, inserts, etc. Do not include minor scenes that have no direct bearing on play; each scene should contain some interesting situation, if possible, and have something to do with the unweaving of your story, and NOT merely to fill in. This does not mean, of course, that if necessary to take John through the hall on his way to the street, that he must fall down and fracture his limb in order to afford a little excitement; but it DOES mean that you must not rely upon one or two big scenes to strengthen twenty weak ones. It is unnecessary to describe every little detail. If you say “love scene,” the actors will know how to perform it without telling them in detail your idea of how John should place his arm around his fair one or whether he should kiss her once or three times. It is unnecessary to say, “John and Mary eat dinner Mary pours coffee John passes the butter, etc.” Merely say, “John and Mary eat dinner.” These actors have eaten dinner perhaps as often as you have; they know how. If you are describing a marriage, merely say, “wedding ceremony,” without telling just how they enter, how they stand, how the ring is placed on the finger of the bride, etc., — unless, of course, there is some important detail that has a direct bearing on your story. In the love scene, if John should place his arm around Mary and scratch his finger on her belt pin, or in pouring the coffee you want Mary to spill it over the table, or in the marriage service you want the bride to faint, you must, of course, state it. (See scene 1 of sample play, “love scene;” and scene 7, “excitement.” These words express enough.) Use the word “signifies” as often as necessary, to save words. Do not say, “Joe tells Irene he will not let the ruffians harm her.” Write it, “Joe signifies, ‘I will protect you.’” Don’t write, “Irene answers Joe and tells him she will not marry him.” Instead, say, “Irene signifies, ‘ No.’ ” This is one way in which you can often use bits of conversation or dialogue and often make your scenario more clearly understood. This, of course, does not mean that these words are shown on the screen ; they are merely to describe the scene action more explicitly. (See scenes 15, 17, 21, and 23 of sample play.) If you are going to jump from Helen’s library to Robert’s office, it is best to have at least one exterior scene inserted between the two, or audience might believe that the office and the library are in the same build ing. An exterior scene separates them. If Robert is leaving his office to visit Helen, it would be better to show him coming out of the office building, turning a street corner, or entering the porch at Helen’s home, instead of making him walk out of office and immediately thereafter walk into Helen’s library. (Scenes 32 33 and 34 of sample play illustrate.) Do not be afraid that you are using too many scenes. The length of play is determined solely by the time it takes to act it, and NOT by the number of words or number of scenes. You are not restricted to any certain number of scenes. One play may contain ten scenes and take fully twenty minutes to act; another contain twenty scenes and not run fifteen minutes. For example: John and Joe are rivals for Daisy’s favor. Scene, street corner. John enters leans against doorway Joe enters they start fighting Daisy enters tries to separate them crowd gathers, etc. Don’t you see that it may take several minutes before the conqueror triumphs? But supposing John enters leans against doorway Joe enters sees John turns on his heel and runs, with John after him. In this case the scene will last but a few seconds. Thus thirty short scenes may not equal in length eight or ten long ones. (See Section 25, Length of Play.) Section 17.— LEADERS, OR SUB-TITLES. Leaders, or Sub-titles, denote the printed matter that is used during action of a play to bridge over lapses of time or to give the audience a better understanding of the story, such as, “The Next Day,” “Bob’s Arrival,” “The Conspiracy,” “His Wife Returns,” “Jack Meets an Old Chum,” etc. (Sample play gives several examples. Also see Section 18, Letters, Clippings, etc.) Leaders are to the photoplay as medicine is to our system; we need it at times, but the more we can avoid taking it, the better we are. Were it possible to do so, the perfect photoplay would be one without any leaders, the scene action telling the entire story without resort to words. However, when this is attempted, the lucidity of the story is too liable to suffer, whereas an occasional leader of a few words will bridge over a certain combination of events, giving the story a clearness quickly grasped by the audience, and perhaps avoid the introduction of several minor scenes otherwise necessary to make the story intelligible. For example: John escorts Mary home from church, but when he calls the following evening she appears indifferent. We will say the fact MUST be conveyed that this is to be the following evening. How shall we do it? It is impossible to show all that John did between that hour and the next evening. He may have visited a nearby cafe on his way home, and would feel chagrined if we told. It does not concern us whether he went directly home or not. The audience wants to know how his affair with Mary will terminate. Our only solution is to bridge this time with a Leader — “The Following Evening;” then on with our story. It is also necessary at times to “break a scene,” which can be done either by flashing another scene for a few seconds, and then back to the original scene, or by “breaking it” with a Leader. Supposing Mary and John sit down to eat supper; their appetites may be of the best, and it would never do to tease any approaching hunger of your audience by forcing them to sit for half an hour watching Mary and John devour their evening meal. But perhaps we can break this scene by flashing a scene where Frank and Jane are on their way to visit