Picture-Play Weekly (Apr-Oct 1915)

HIXT5 POR SCENARIO WRITERS 29 r . likely present a script which conitxes anj-thing but favorably with the rst man's. It is well, therefore, to ►rm the pencil-and-notebook habit and t down ideas wherever you find them : home, at work, on the street, at irties. in church, while reading the tper. and hundreds of other places, ttien you are never short of material work with, and in case you get an ^vance tip on a market you will be able • turn it to profitable use. And. relember. an idea is just a sudden ia'>iration, and unless strongly impressed the mind, will soon vanish, probably '^?ver again to appear. '^'iAGAIX THE ELEMEXT OF CARELESSXESS. • Recently we had occasion to call on editors of two companies, neither of ^fhom are purchasing much from the ■ .'.:side at the present time. During visits, we were told that within the . two months the authors have be — c negligent in regard to sending a c.mped, self-addressed, return envelope ^lith every script. For some time this "lorry seemed to have been taken off ■^jie editors' shoulders, as most of the ■libmitting writers conformed with stu"io requirements in regard to this, but it eems that many have lapsed into the 'i habit, or else a new crop of writers risen who know nothing of this rule. I e hope, however, that none of our ;aders will be guilty of this offense, or se equallv" fatal ones of writing on two des of the paper, or in longhand, or Drgetting to place your name on the top f the first sheet of the manuscript and '^e bottom of the last ; or, worst of all. "lling a manuscript. A WORKING SCRIPT. The ambition of practicalU^ all be'inners and of a great number who have ■'lies to their credit is to write a work"^ig script. To some it seems to come ^Etural. while others could not furnish perfect scenario to save their lives. f ome cases this is undoubtedly due to j.e tact that the meaning of ''working cript" has never fully been compre"^ended. H This is simply the term applied to a :enario which is handed to a director "^nd which can be produced as written, 'xcepting a few minor changes necessi' =:ed by footage, accidents, et cetera. It ?afe to say that the~majorit} of perect working scripts are more the results ''^f careful criticism by the authors after ^ey have been written than of wonder'"cl forethought. For instance, if you write a scene in which you state that Mary hurries to the grocery store around the comer, telephones, and returns home. }-ou will find, upon carefully examining the script after its completion, that three scenes, rather thjin one, are necessary to "get over" this action — one in the room as Mary leaves, one in the store as she telephones, and one in the room again as she returns. Had the script been accepted by a studio in its original form, a staff writer would have gone over it and made this change, and we would not have written a working script. One example does not really do this subject justice, but even the beginner can realize that several changes of this kind would necessitate considerable work on the part of the salaried staff man. even though we assume that the plot action was excellent, and the price offered for the script would go down in accordance. If you would write a working script, you must constantly keep before you what the finished production would be like when thrown on the screen and just what an impression each scene would make on an outsider seeking diversion. It is here that the majority of new writers fall down. They cannot analj-ze their own scripts. To overcome this weakness, everj scenario should be written as close to perfection as possible, a terse description of the action to take place in each scene being set down in such a comorehensive manner that the director cannot fail to grasp it. Then the script should be put away for a few days. When it has "cooled off," it should be gone over with a cold, critical eye to see if a scenario has been written which could be placed upon the screen in its original form and which would transfer everj^ idea the writer had in mind clearly to any audience. If not. the weak points will probably be noted and the changes made. THE MY.=TERY STORY. It seems to iis that until a writer has become familiar enough with technique to be sure of himself, he should heed the danger sign which is placed near the mysterj story. Without a doubt, the screen offers many opportunities for the development of this class of stories, but it must be remembered that it is infinitely easier to spring a surprise via fiction of the spoken drama than through the medium of the silent art The Essanav Film ilanufacturing Company has been specializing in this particular class of productions for some time, but their scripts are prepared by experienced staff writers who have long since mastered technique. An excellent example of a mystery? play was their release in February entitled "Thirteen Down." A man is taken from the bread line by a millionaire, who had made a bet -writh a friend that environment will change any man, and is appointed secretary to his benefactor. The millionaire has an invention which he is about to sell to the United States government, and the actions of the man of the streets makes the millionaire's daughter think he is planning to steal it. A friend of the millionaire is told of the whereabouts of the invention, and, upon returning from the theater one evening, the inventor finds his friend and another mac prisoners in the hands of the man ot the streets. The latter explains that the men attempted to steal the invention, as they are in the employ of a foreign power, and that he is a secret-service man. baring been on the trail of the foreign agents at the time the millionaire took liim from the bread line. Through the entire production nothing occurs to suggest the real identity of the secret-ser\-ice man, and the denouement is entirelj unexpected. Upon analyzing the plot, however, we remember that Is was seen on several occasions speaking to the butler and another }"oung man. who prove to be his assistants. We felt all along, though, that the butler was himself trying to steal the invention. To the writers who feel they can plaj with technique, the mj-sterj stor\ will very likely prove alluring, but it behooves us to remark that those who attempt the journey better be sure that their mystery is a real one. for nothing will fall flatter than a vvould-be myster}'. whose denouement is obvious. Incidentally the skill of the actors and actresses, in whose hands the leading roles are placed, plays no small part in a production of this kind, for in many scenes the miscarriage of the slightest bit of acting is liable to reveal their identity. Live-\s"ire Market Hints. The Lubin Manufacturing Companj-. Indiana .-\venue and Twentieth Street Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, of which Lawrence !McCloskey is editor, is in the market for two and three-reel dramas of strong plot, novel construction, and powerful climax.