Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1920)

How To Write Movies READERS of Photoplay are familiar with the work of Anita Loos and John Emerson, the best known collaborators in scenario writing in the realm of " motion pictures. They wrote and directed the famous Douglas Fairbanks photoplays of last year — "Wild and Woolly," "Reaching for the Moon," "Down to Earth," etc. They have written many other photoplays for such stars as Elsie Ferguson and Mae Marsh, and they are now authors of all the Constance Talmadge screen dramas of this year. Miss Loos (Mrs. Emerson) has produced a steady stream of successful photoplays from the age of sixteen. This series was posed by Mr. Emerson and his demitasse wife in order to show amateur scenario writers exactly what is expected of a movie writer under the present system. These pictures tell aspiring movie authors how to get the idea of how to assemble the completed film — a duty which producers expect from those from whom they buy their stories. Of course there are a few requisites for success in this work which cannot be given you in two pages — -such as ability to write well, originality of ideas, knowledge of plot construction, and other trifles. ¥ 1WHERE THE IDEAS COME FROM "The greatest mine for movie stories is your daily newspaper. After reading hundreds of hackneyed ideas sent in from amateur scenarioists, we usually find the idea we're after in a headline. You don't think a coal strike makes a good story? We prophesy that more than twenty photoplays during the coming season will be based on that coal strike — just as every good news story forms inspiration for scores of scenarios. Do not work and fret over some flimsy, antique situation. Read the papers and you'll never lack a plot." 2 — READING THE SCENARIOS "Since the demand for movie stories this year is many times greater than the supply and since $5,000 is now the minimum price for a good plot, nearly 70,000 people throughout the country have started to write movies. Send your story to the scenario editor, for no matter how many tons of scripts he gets a week, he'll gladly read it in the hope of finding a good story — just as we do. The pile on the table, representing the stories received in a few days, will give you some idea of the competition in scenario work." i« 3 -WRITING THE SCENARIO "After you've got the plot, sit down and write it out in scenario form, numbering the scenes 1, 2, 3, etc. You'll find it simpler if you collaborate with someone else, for it's mighty easy to get mixed up if you haven't somebody to check you up and keep you from changing your hero's name or your heroine's character. We find it easiest to dictate our scenarios— saves time and facilitates concentration on the work. Composing a script with your own fingers often presents a conglomeration of figures and fancies that bewilder the most adamant of genius. It can be done — but slowly, and when you're under contract to turn out a new photoplay every two months you'll hire a stenographer, too." 4 -PLANNING THE STORY WITH THE STAR "Here you see us working out details of the scenario with our star, Constance Talmadge — something you will have to do when you sell your movie. Make your story fit the star and keep her — or him — on the screen in at least 50 per cent of the scenes, or you'll never sell the script. And when they call you in to town to confer with the star, prepare for shocks, for these notables usually have pretty definite ideas of their own — as in our tableau above where Miss Loos looks her dismay as Miss Talmadge and Mr. Emerson cheerfully set about dissecting a pet scene upon which the authoress had spent many ambitious hours. It's hard — but necessary— to let them revamp." 50