Writing the Photoplay Part 15

12--Hallway, showing door of library--

Wilkins, the butler, kneeling before library door, his eye glued to key-hole.

13--Portion of library, same as 4, seen through key-hole--

Ralph is explaining to Tom how he came to owe Blakely the money, etc.

Now let us take up the different points just as they have been introduced in the foregoing example, and briefly explain each.

The leader is shown, first of all, simply as an example of an ordinary before-the-scene leader. In writing a scenario such as the one of which this might be a part, if you introduced the cut-in leader in Scene 11, there would be no necessity for giving also the ordinary bald statement-leader before Scene 9. The fact that "Tom discovers his brother's crime" is made plainer by Tom's own spoken words, in Scene 11, than an ordinary leader before the first scene in the library (in this example) could make it. In the middle of this scene (9) Tom reads his brother's unsent letter, and you write "On screen, letter,"

following this note to the director with the letter itself. After the letter you write "Back to scene," showing that the scene in the library is not ended and that the action which is broken by the flashing on the screen of the letter is continued just as soon as Tom lays the letter down--that is, as soon as it disappears from the screen.

The "bust" comes next, but since we wish to compare the bust with another technical device, the "close-up," let us pa.s.s it by in detail for the moment. But you must remember, when introducing a bust, that it is a separate scene, and must, therefore, be given a separate and distinct scene-number. The bust breaks the scene in the library as Tom scrutinizes the check through the reading-gla.s.s. The letter previously shown also broke the scene, or interrupted the action; but the bust, being considered as a separate scene, is given a scene-number--10.

After the bust (10), Scene 11 takes us back to the library; but we do not follow the scene-number (11) with "Maxwell's library, same as 4"

(4, as the example shows, was the number of the first scene played in the library). Instead, we write "11--Back to 9," which shows that the action in the library is picked up and continued from the point where it ended (on the screen) when the bust picture was flashed.

_11. Masks_

After Tom has openly accused his brother of forgery, as shown by the cut-in leader, the scene changes to the hallway outside the library door. We see Wilkins, the butler, who is implicated in the plot against Ralph, kneeling and peering into the room through the key-hole. This is a very short scene, but it is necessary to show two things: not only that the brothers are being spied upon, for we are not interested in merely watching the butler kneeling there, but it is important for us to see _what_ he is watching so intently--the action in the library. So, after we have shown the spy kneeling outside the door, the scene is shifted back to the continuation of the interview between Tom and Ralph. This time, however, we see it on the screen in a way that merely _suggests_ the butler kneeling outside the closed door. On the screen appears a large key-hole, and within its limits the scene between the brothers is acted.

The effect thus produced is termed a "mask." Ordinarily the lens of a moving picture camera is masked by a metal plate, rectangular in shape, one inch wide by three-quarters of an inch high. The use of this mask prevents the light from spreading up or down the film as it is being exposed. As explained in Chapter III, each of the sixteen tiny pictures that make up a foot of film is termed a "frame," and, the camera being masked as described, the light is permitted to act upon only one frame at a time. But within this limit of one inch by three-quarters of an inch another mask may be used, cut in any form that the producer may desire. It may be a key-hole mask, as in the foregoing example; it may be simply circular, to suggest that the scene is viewed through a telescope; or a mask with hair-line bars, which will suggest that you are looking through a window. We examined a script a short while ago in which a travelling salesman for an optical goods house amused himself in the interval before train time by watching through a pair of binoculars the street below and the buildings opposite his hotel window. The scene enacted in an office of a building not far away led him to believe that a murder was being committed, and the action which followed was extremely funny. The scene in the office, watched by the "drummer" through the binoculars, appeared on the screen as though viewed through a large and very round figure eight, lying on its side, thus: [symbol: figure-eight].

The four just mentioned are the commonest forms of the mask; but we have seen masks cut in the shape of oak leaves, bottles, and other forms, though these latter were used merely to obtain novel effects.

The mask may be used as an inserted scene--as we have here chiefly considered it--or it may serve as a sort of excuse for the entire action of the photoplay, as in the case of the commercial traveller and his binoculars, and add effectiveness by its novelty of presentation.

_12. The Bust and the Close-up_

In former usage, the term "bust" was employed to describe any enlarged view, as a watch, a face, a hand turning a door k.n.o.b. Now the term has been given a less wide range and has been superseded in its broadest meaning by another technical expression--the "close-up."

The bust now means any enlarged _object_, such as a hand holding a watch, a box of cigars on a table with a note pinned to a cigar, or any object shown close to the camera, _where no action is called for_.

If Maud comes into a room and sees her sister staring at the window sill, crosses to the sister's side and stares also, it is natural that we wonder what it is that causes the consternation. The camera is manifestly too far away to show unmistakably what Maud picks up--say, a broken-off knife-point. Suppose that it is part of the plot to have the spectator also grasp the fact that there is a dark stain on the knife-point. We must get it closer. So we write the scene up to the point where Maud holds up the object, then we start another scene and say:

43--Bust of Maud's hand holding knife-point to show blood-stain in shape of rude star.

There is no action. The hand simply holds the object. A scene of this kind is usually taken before a black curtain or in front of some such indeterminate background. Later, this bust scene is inserted into the film at the proper point. A point worthy of notice is that bust scenes are always taken, and close-up scenes are _nearly_ always taken, either before or (usually) after the scenes into which they break have been done. If the plot demands that a certain character examine his watch at a certain point, and if the spectator is supposed to see exactly what time the watch shows, the director is not going to stop his camera, bring the camera nearer to the player or the player nearer to the camera, as his method may be, make the bust picture, and then resume the taking of the "wide-angle," or full-size-stage, scene. Much time can be saved by making the _different kinds_ of scenes separately. This explains why every scene and every kind of scene in the entire scenario _must_ be given a separate scene-number. The scenes in a photoplay may be likened to a cut-up picture puzzle, each part of which must be properly a.s.sembled and inserted in its proper place to make a complete, understandable picture.

As has already been said, the bust picture in photoplay is like the spot-light in the regular theatre. It centres the spectator's attention on a certain object and holds it there until the important object is fully observed by the watcher. It "not only magnifies the objects, but it draws particular attention to them. Many points may be cleared in a five-foot bust picture which would require twenty to thirty feet of leader to explain, and the bust picture always interests. Sometimes in a newspaper ill.u.s.tration a circle surrounds some point of interest, or a cross marks where the body was discovered. The bust picture serves the same purpose, and answers, as well, for the descriptive caption that appears under a cut."[17]

[Footnote 17: Epes Winthrop Sargent, _The Technique of the Photoplay_.]

Bear in mind, then, that the introduction of a bust scene makes the succeeding portion of the action in that setting _another scene_, with its own consecutive number.

In the past few years, the number of scenes to the reel has been almost doubled, in most studios; and this is due to the increased use of the close-up. The bust and the close-up are entirely separate in their utility and effect, yet, properly used, each has been found a valuable addition to the technical devices of photoplay construction.

It is now frequently the practice of many directors to bring the camera nearer to a certain character, or group of characters, at some important point of the action for the sake of emphasizing facial expression or certain bits of "business" that are vitally essential to a proper understanding of the plot.

This may be accomplished in three different ways--the method employed always depending upon the nature of the scene as well as of _the setting or location_. First, if the surroundings of the character at that stage of the action are important as having something to do with the "business" being carried out--if, for example, it is necessary to show, at close range, the actions of two characters who are seated at a table--the director has the camera moved down toward them, and that particular close-up, or series of close-ups, is taken usually, as has been said, after all the wide-angle scenes in that setting have been "done," for the obvious purpose of rendering unnecessary the frequent shifting of the camera.

If, on the other hand, the director merely wishes to emphasize at certain points in any scene the facial expression of his players, as affected by the humorous, startling, or other emotional "business"

incidental to the plot at that point, and if the surroundings of the character or characters may be indeterminate without detracting from the value of the scene, the player or players may be brought _nearer to the camera_, and the close-up may even be made with the subjects posed against a plain, dark background. This method of obtaining the close-up is frequently resorted to, and, it may be said, is not always truly "artistic," if seriously considered, inasmuch as it tends to detach the character from the surroundings of the scene, and make the result more than ever in the nature of a figure in the spot-light. We have seen many pictures, particularly those with female "stars"

featured--as, for example, the Mary Pickford pictures--in which the action of a scene would be broken several times, and the head of the pretty "star" shown photographed against a plain, very dark background.

The third method used in the studios is one which actually changes a wide-angle view into a close-up without breaking or interrupting the action in the slightest degree. This is accomplished by mounting the camera on a specially built platform on wheels--on a truck--which as a rule is operated on wooden tracks previously prepared to suit the action taking place in that set or location. Take for example the Babylonian setting (the princ.i.p.al Babylonian setting, that is) in the D.W. Griffith production, "Intolerance." When this scene is first thrown on the screen we see an immense open court, surrounded by banquet halls and long corridors, with walls reaching up to tremendous heights, the walls themselves banked with huge figures of heathen G.o.ds and images and great elephants, compared to which the human figures partic.i.p.ating in the scene are mere pygmies. At the back of this enormous setting is a flight of steps, perhaps a hundred feet or more in width, upon which are probably a hundred girls going through the graceful motions of a religious dance. We are permitted, for several feet of film, to view the immensity and the grandeur of ancient Babylon in this wide-angle view. Then, smoothly and steadily, we approach the back of the set--the great flight of steps, with the dancing figures. Hundreds of details of architecture and sculpturing are unfolded as we draw nearer, and when the truck suddenly stops, we have a close-up of part of the steps with the dancing girls just finishing their performance.

The point is, simply, that if a mere close-up of a certain character or group of characters is all that is desired, either of the two methods first explained is used. But if the director has an unusually beautiful and imposing setting which he wishes to show off, the moving truck, with the constantly turning camera, gives him exactly what he wants to show. Close-ups of this type may be likened to the more frequently used panoramic scenes--"panorams"--obtained in open-air work by mounting the camera on a train, an automobile, or some other moving vehicle. Another point is that the ordinary close-up, produced as first described, is the one most used because it does away with the footage consumed in the gradual-approach method.

Suppose, now (following up the previous example of the use of the bust), that having shown Maud's hand holding up the broken-off point of what she believes to be her brother's knife, we go back to the wide-angle view of the room and show the two sisters together, and Maud casting the knife-point from her in horror. Let us imagine that they are supposed to suspect some other character--their brother, in fact--of having used the knife of which this is a part, to commit some crime. This character now comes into the room. We want to register certain expressions and, what is equally important, we want to isolate one character's expression from that of another, so that the eye and mind of the spectator will not be confused by the wide range of vision employed in the full--or wide-angle--scene. We show the brother as he comes into the room and stops, seeing the eyes of the two girls fixed upon him. How shall we isolate him? Not by the use of the bust, for the bust is now employed only to give a close view of an _inanimate object_. We use the close-up, and we write the scenes thus:

42--Living room, same as 15.

Maud comes in to find Ethel staring at an object lying on the window sill. She crosses and stares down at it also, then, with a shudder, picks up--the knife-point!

43--Bust of Maud's hand holding knife-point to show blood-stain in shape of rude star.

44--Back to wide-angle of room.

Maud flings the knife-point from her in horror, then turns to Ethel and clings to her. Both look towards door as Frank enters. He advances a pace or two, sees them, and stops, aghast.

45--Close-up of Frank. His eyes suddenly drop, he sees the object lying on the floor, and, slowly, his hands go up over his eyes.

46--Close-up of Maud and Ethel. Maud slowly turns to her sister with a question in her eyes--"Is he guilty?"--and bows her head, then looks up quickly and fixes her gaze on Frank.

47--Close-up of Frank. With agony in his eyes, the boy protests his innocence. Suddenly he pauses, realizing that he is not making an impression.

48--Back to wide-angle of room.

Both sisters are staring at Frank. Maud's look is one of unmistakable accusation. She looks down at the floor. Frank follows her gaze. Maud stoops, picks up the knife-point, and holds it out towards him. He slowly advances and takes it from her. He knows what they expect--what they demand!

Slowly, hesitatingly, he draws a pocket knife out of his pocket. The sisters come closer, drawn magnetically by the horrible thing they fear to see--the meeting of the knife and the broken point.

49--Close-up of Frank. A very close view to show him slowly opening the knife, the point of which is broken off. The other hand puts the bloodstained point to the broken blade. They match! They fit absolutely!

50--Back to wide-angle of room.

With an anguished face the boy cries:

_Leader_--"I DIDN'T!--OH! WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?"

_Back to scene_.

He sees a hardening of Maud's face. Silently his hands unclench; the knife-point falls to the table. Then, with an access of fear, he closes his knife, thrusts it into his pocket, and rushes wildly out, while the two girls merely stare after him, too horror-stricken to move, to follow.

The foregoing is a good example of how "straight" action, all in one uninterrupted wide-angle scene, would not be half so convincing, dramatic or suspense-holding as the broken-up series of scenes, all in the same setting, all in the one situation. Incidentally, Scene 49 shows very clearly the distinction between the bust and the close-up.