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2l6 A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF SCREEN PLAYWRITING
dubious but willing girl who has been invited to take a drive into the country with a noted rake?
Dialogue directions. The only way for the screen-play writer to be sure that the proper overtones result from an actor's reading of his line is to indicate his meaning with an interpretive direction. Thus, in the first example, the line would be written out, "Well, I think I'll leave," but added to it, in parentheses, would be the direction (bored). The second example would necessitate that (sheepishly) be included after the line, the third (harshly) , and the fourth (dubiously) .
Many actors and directors resent these intrusions into their interpretive bailiwick on the part of the screen writer. But unfortunately there are many actors who require these interpretive signposts. And if the screen-play writer wants to insure that his lines will receive the interpretation he feels they require, he should see that his intention is always made crystal clear to the actors. The good actor —the actor who respects his craft and the ability of the writer— will accept these directions, at least at their face value. If they give him even a minute clue to interpretation, he will be grateful to the writer for having supplied it.
Avoid gratuitous directions. There are many instances, however, when such interpretive suggestions (and that is all they should be) are unnecessary. Certainly it would be completely redundant (and insulting to the actor) to tag the statement "You're a damned liar!" with an (angrily) direction. Where the meaning is explicit, and where the manner of interpretation is obvious from the sense of the words, these interpretive suggestions should be avoided. But where there is any doubt regarding the manner of interpretation— where, in other words, there can be varying overtones— then, by all means, state specifically the interpretation you feel the lines require. Although it is not mandatory, it is best to keep these interpretive directions as uniform as possible. The participial adverb is the most feasible, for it can be tied in with the same grammatical construction in which action directions are couched.