Screenland (Sept 1922–Feb 1923)

ujiywcaX SCREEMLAND Cii£™H The Senario Writer's Corner By Frederick Palmer THE DRAMATIC "TRIAD"_ IN a magazine story, conflict between two persons is often sufcient, but in a photoplay three factions are usually necessary, the dramatic "triad," in other words. Likewise, the inner struggle of a person with his or her conscience can be depicted by a novelist. It is more difficult for the screen writer to indicate it on the screen. Conflict of the photoplay must be shown in action and it is difficult to give visual expression to mental or moral suffering. The photodramatist should always test the strength of his story by the intensity of the conflict or the cross-purposes of his characters or groups of characters. In considering photoplay situations he should bear in mind the necessity for presenting action that is pictorially interesting and conflicts that are clear and striking in pictures. A photoplay situation can be defined as the crisis of an emotional conflict that can be clearly presented on the screen by means of pictures. Following is a clear example : the unexpected, but logical, entrance of a husband at the moment his wife is entertaining her lover. The sight of the three persons in their proper places on the screen is sufficient to make us understand the situation — and we are at once on the alert to learn what the husband will do, what the wife will do, and what the lover will do. There are thirty-six fundamental dramatic situations, a knowledge of which is essential to a photodramatist's success. The first situation is supplication, a situation capable of a number of variations. The case of fugitives who implore the powerful for help against their enemies is a situation which comes under supplication and has been used in many forms in the photoplay, especially as the inceptive situation of a play To the photodramatist who can de vise new variations, however, it still offers splendid opportunities for development. In the photoplay, its chief use has been in the favorite old romance of the maiden in distress, as the suppliant ; a guar dian or parent as the persecutes; and a brave hero who becomes the power in authority. It bears a close relation to the second situation, deliverance, which is its usual development. EMINENT STAR ;*r °t I dians fopher/ ever. ^f.n 'ail "i he / less *^ at it «*^^ a Pell toy a [penei»g of she \hu •eiwe nowrada the stor* ^y narra..-* »a« to / bora The* of the film, bat as the se there is a decided drop in imagination. One can aJmos see~KHH turning from his lawn to his scrapbooks for Inspiration. We And him first deep down in the building ex This is why we search the Nation for Imagination If you possess the gift, the screen needs you and will pay from $500 to $2,000 for your stories. Will you accept a free test of your imagination? THE WHOLE STORY of the motion picture industry's supreme crisis is told in the newspaner clippings reproduced above. They refer to the newest picture of one of the greatest stars of the screen. Talent costing millions — a fortune invested in the production. And a disappointment to the public! And now the prodcers realize that the whole future of the industry hangs in the balance. To the Palmer Photoplay Corporation they have said: "Search the nation for Imagination. Train it to create stories for the screen." A $10,000 Discovery Wonderful results are rewarding this search. The Palmer Photoplay Corporation discovered Imagination in Miss Winifred Kimball, of Apalachicola. Florida, and trained it to create scenarios. Miss Kimball won the first prize of 510,000 in the Chicago Daily News Scenario contest. Eight other Palmer students won prizes in that greatest of contests, in which 30,000 scenarios were entered. Three Palmer students won all the prizes in the J. Parker Reade, jr., scenario contest, in which 10,000 competed. And the search for Imagination goes on. This advertisement offers you the iree questionnaire test with which we discover such Imagination as lay hidden in a Florida villnge until we found and trained Miss Kimball. * What is Imagination? The power of making mental images. It is the inspiration back of every big thin? ever done. And it is the very essence of motion pictures, because the screen is merely an image of life. The Imagination of a handful of men equipped the industry mechanically. Their creative task is completed. But the Imagination of thousands is necessary to keep the industry operating. New pictures— and yet more pictures — is the cry of Vie theatres and the public. Is it any wonder that producers are seeking everywhere the original story — the scenario written expressly for the screen with the screen's wide latitude and its limitations in view? The Palmer Photoplay Corporation, the industry's accredited agent for recruiting new scenario talent for the screen, is discovering hidden ability in all walks of life, and through its training course in screen technique is developing scenarists whose work is eagerly sought by producers. Will you take this free tett? Ey r. remarkable psychological questionnaire test, which is sent free to any serious man or woman who clips the coupon on this page, natural aptitude for screen writing is discovered. It is a searching, scientifically exact analysis of the Imagination. Through it scores of men and women have had opened to them the fascinating and well-paid profession of photoplay authorship. Persons who do not meet the test are frankly and confidentially told so. Those who do indicate the natural gifts required for screen writing may, if they so elect, enter upon the Palmer home training course. This course equips them in every detail to turn those talents to large profit. The Palmer' Course is actively inspirational to the imaginative. mind; it stirs the dramatic instinc* to vigorous expression. So stimulating are the forces brought into play for screen dramatization, that the Palmer Course has become a recognized aid of incalculable value for men and women in every walk of life when the ability to visualize developments is an asset. Primarily, however, it is for the screen. $500 to $2,000 for a Single Story The Palmer Photoplay Corporation, which exists primarily to sell photoplays to producers, must train new writers in order to obtain stories to sell. The producers are now paying from $500 to ?2,000 for original stories by new writers. Above are the simDle sincere facts. This advertisement is just a part of the Corporation's search for talent worth developing. It is not an unconditional offer to train you for screen writing: it is an offer to test you absolutely free, in your own home — to test you for the creative and imaginative faculties which you may have, but are not conscious of. When you have passed the test, if you pass it. we shall send you. without obligation, a comolete explanation of the Palmer course and service, its possibilities, its brilliant success in developing screen writers, and an interesting inside story of the needs of the motion picture industry today. Will you give an evening to this fascinating questionnaire? Just clip the coupon — and clip it now, before you forget. PALMER PHOTOPLAY CORPORATION, Department of Education, 124 West 4th SU Los Angeles, Cal. PLEASE send me, without cost or obligation on my part, your questionnaire. I will answer the questions, in it and return it to you for analysis. If I pass the test, I am to receive further information about yonr Course and Service. NAME . Indicate Mr., Mrs., or Miss ADDRESS . ' Copyright 1022, Palmer Photoplay Corporation