Technique of the photoplay (1916)

216 THE PLOT OF ACTION On screen —Letter— Dear Uncle : At last I am to be married. It is too bad that you cannot be here to meet my dear Alice, but perhaps some day you will be on our side of the continent. You have always been so good to me that I hate to ask, but it—it takes a lot of money to get married and your last check is all gone. Affectionately, PAUL. Paul shows letter to Collector, who laughs—says he will wait— exits more cheerfully. Leader —A few weeks later. 2. Den as in No. i —Paul on—letter brought—Paul eagerly opens— letter and check—Paul kisses the check—reads letter. On screen —letter— Dear Nephew : Glad you are to be married at last. Inclosed find my check for $10,000. My blessings on you both. Have increased your allowance to $12,000 a year. UN'CLE JIM. Bill collector enters—wants to know—Paul shows check—laugh- ingly throws bill collector out—gets hat and coat—starts to exit —Bill Collector returns—they go out together. Leader —A year later. 3. Paul's den as in N^o. i zvitJi minor changes —Paul on—Jack enters —greetings—valet enters with mail—Paul takes letter—looks at postmark—throws a kiss to it—opens—collapses—Jack reads— On screen —letter. Same handwriting as in Xo. 2 Dear Nephew : Inclosed is check for quarterly allowance and $5,000 for the hoy. Call him after me. bless his small heart. I should see him very soon as I am leaving at once for the east—• an unexpected call. Love to Alice and little Jim. UNCLE JIM. Jack roars with laughter—Paul gets angry—says— Cut-in —"When he finds I've neither wife nor child, he'll cut me off flat." Jack grows serious—they sit down to plan it out. Here we have three scenes, two time leaders and seventy-five feet of letters to get over a fact that is fully explained in the third scene alone. Of course the director can see this and will start with scene three and not with scene one, but the Editor will judge the merit of the entire script by the value of the opening scenes and he will believe that an author who cannot realize what his action should be will not be capable of writing the proper sort of action. 8. If you will take pains to understand the plot yourself, then you will be able to determine what the opening action should be. This is not the story of the ruse by which Paul induced his rich Uncle to in- crease his allowance. It is the story of what follows as the consequence of that ruse. You establish the premise (the ruse) in the letter in scene three, which you now make your scene one. and then go on to tell the story in which you seek to engage the interest. By putting your plot in the form of a question you can state your question as the opening of the action. Here the question is not as to how Paul in- creased his allowance, but what happened as a result of that trick. 9. Some commentators urge that the first scene be made unusually striking that the interest may be immediately engaged. This is not im- like the fiction device of starting off with a strong first paragraph and