The technique of the photoplay ([c1913])

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50 TECHNIQUE OF THE PHOTOPLAY Another point to remember is that when you are rushing toward your climax the movement of your action should 'be as rapid as possible and so all explanatory leaders should be used in the earlier scenes, straightening out the situations so that when you come to your climax you do not have to pause every scene or two and make a labored explanation. Keep the last third of your action as free as possible from any sort of insert, but use an insert if you have to instead of passing over the scene that is not clear. The leader should be as brief as is possible. It should be clipped of all unnecessary words, but at the same time you should not trim too much. Be brief, but be fluent. The leader that reads easily is better than the shorter sentence that is abrupt and rough. Don't take the first thing that comes into your mind. Work over and polish the phrase until it is both terse and elegant. Suppose that you have a leader that first comes to you as "Frank and Jim have a quarrel over May Morgan." In the first place you do not need the last word. May is as good as the full name for our purpose. The word "have" is more or less useless. "Frank and Jim quarrel about May," cuts it down to six words. But we can see that Frank and Jim are the disputants. "The quarrel over May" is all you need. You can see that it is a quarrel, for that matter, but "over May" is not smooth, so the other words are kept to make for ease of speech. The four words tell the story, but by using quotation marks and letting Jim speak, the words "Let May alone," will be ample to explain the situation. Perhaps you have something like "Bess refuses Count Casimir's proposal of marriage, telling him that she will give her heart only to an American." You know Bess and the Count. You see that he proposes and is refused. The only point to be explained is that Bess wants an American. Again use the quotation marks and "I will marry only an American" tells the whole story. If you want to keep the audience guessing until the last moment you can use it as a cut-in leader, or you can run it before the scene if you do not want to hold back the fact. The quoted leader is handy, but it should not be used too much, and there is a growing tendency to use two and even three cut-in leaders in one scene. A straight leader and one cut-in is about the limit. A leader or a cut-in, but not both, should suffice. There was a time when the comedy leader was cut out on the ground that it was not needed, but now most Editors will pass a leader if it gives a laugh. Surely a five foot leader with 3