Technique of the photoplay (1916)

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CHAPTER XLI 203 ten and I will tell you the sad story—." They are even more awk- ward; which is saying not a little. 2. Theoretically the photoplay should move in chronological or- der, beginning with the earliest action and continuing in logical se- quence to the last action recorded. Theoretically this should always be done. In practice it should be done wherever possible. Where it cannot be done and it is necessary to go back and pick up some thread of the story, possibly because it has been held back in order to obtain a surprise, then the vision must be resorted to. The ideal play is as free from visions as from leaders,- but unfortunately there are few ideal plays. If it can be made a matter of choice then the vision is select- ed as being the less intrusive of the two because it is in action and not in words. This is particularly true of the vision within the frame or the true vision. The fade vision is more of an intrusion, but still less of an interruption than an explanatory leader. The true vision had the advantage of being a part of the running scene. It pos- sessed another advantage in that it was more difficult to handle and therefore was less frequently used. The ease with which the fade vision is made seems to encourage its more frequent use. 3. The straight vision, or vision within the frame, was produced by double exposure or double printing; generally the former. On the screen it formed a part of the running scene and was not a scene by itself. Generally it was shown in the upper left-hand corner, because a majority of the masks so were made for this effect. The scene per- haps showed the false sweetheart about to make a marriage for money. He thinks of the little girl back home whom he still loves. He looks up into the corner of the picture and strikes a pose he can hold without great fatigue. In the corner we see the picture of the girl he loves, perhaps in a pose we remember from the early action. The vision fades out and the man resumes his action. We do not have to be told in a leader that John remembers Nellie. We can see that he does. 4. This effect is obtained by slipping into the camera a mask which cuts off this corner of the scene. The man holds his pose while the crank of the camera is given a certain number of turns. Then he resumes his action, the turns of the camera crank still being counted. At the end of the scene the film is turned back the proper number of counts, the masks are changed so that now only the corner is exposed to the film. Once more the film is turned down until the portion is reached where the vision is to appear. Now the camera is set up on the vision and this is made. When the film is developed, the vision appears as a part of the scene. 5. Such a vision would have been written into the script as a part of the scene and not as a special scene, appearing: 36. John's room —John dressing for the wedding—pauses—picks up a photograph from the bureau—looks at it— VISION of John and Bess as in scene nine—fades—John sighs—rises—calls Valet—gets into coat—exits.