The technique of the photoplay ([c1913])

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

102- TECHNIQUE OF THE PHOTOPLAY should be a proper place, since there is but one place where the scene will fit in its chronological order. He doesn't stop to realize that there are many things that might happen ten minutes before another action or two weeks later with- out in the least affecting the story. The villain has to slip the marked bills into the hero's pocket before he can accuse him of theft, but he might have arrived at that determination after the hero knocked him down for trying to kiss the heroine or after the scene in which he reads a letter from his lawyer telling him that his creditors are trying to make trouble and will do so unless he marries the rich heroine and pays his bills. It may seem that there is no choice of position, since the re- sult is the same, but again the reasoning is mistaken. If the de- cision to get the hero into trouble follows the blow it is a crime of revenge. If it follows the lawyer's letter it is a crime of greed. In the same way, after the hero is thrown into jail we have a short scene of the villain gloating over his triumph and another showing the heroine in despair. It may not seem to make any difference which comes first, but a little thought will bring a dif- ferent answer. It is our purpose to make the hero and heroine loved and the villain hated. We are sorry enough for the heroine, because we just saw her sweetheart carried off to jail. If we show her first and then the villain, her scene will 'add strength to his because we have fresh in memory the pitiful spectacle of her tears to inflame afresh our resentment against the villain. We may show that the husband suspects his wife of wrong- doing and then run a scene that proves her innocent, but if we first proved the wife innocent and then showed the false charge we should gain far greater sympathy for the wife. If we want the sympathy we reverse the scenes. If we want sympathy to go to the husband, we tell of the innocence in a leader without action. A photoplay is not a greater or less number of typewritten words. It is the best and most complete assembling of certain germane facts in their proper order. It is as nice a study as the technique of the stage and is as exacting when properly done. If you would write a really good photoplay first ascertain the value of each character and scene, then place each scene and use each character in such a fashion that each gives as much assistance to other scenes and characters as possible.