Sound motion pictures : from the laboratory to their presentation (1929)

23o SOUND MOTION PICTURES art out of the old. Sound is bringing to the screen a degree of sincerity, impressiveness, and entertainment never achieved before. A different criticism declares that there may be situations in a type of motion picture that are not suited to dialogue. Very well. Such situations can perhaps be told more effectively with pantomime; and in such cases there is no reason why the sequence of scenes should not be handled in a most effective manner. The proof of the pudding, here, is that pantomime is resorted to on the spoken stage, where it has suited, not ruined, the action. What of the writer? The development of the new screen art is likely to increase his importance, for the industry must exert its best efforts to encourage the creation of a new literature for the new medium. It is likely that the writer of to-morrow will prove of even greater significance than the writer of the past. He will be promoted to a plane of major importance; he is likely to occupy the same relative position to sound screen art that playwrights hold in the traditional theatre. Authors of imagination will write complete manuscripts in the manner of stage scripts. However, such writers will understand the fundamentals of screen technique. Their responsibility will not cease with the writing of a story, but in many instances will follow the story through its various phases of production until the final cutting. In this way they will understand requirements and become familiar with production problems. They will play a part in solving the latter. A new type of story is already being devised — a technique that will bridge the gap between action and dialogue. The abrupt change of tempo when the dialogue stops and the action resumes will somehow be blended into a smooth-running continuity. If the problem is carefully studied there is no reason for sacrificing action or tempo in