Writing the Photoplay Part 2

SCENARIO: Correctly applied only to that part of the photoplay ma.n.u.script which describes the development of the plot, scene by scene and situation by situation; the complete story is swiftly _outlined_ in the synopsis, but in the scenario it is told--that is, worked out--in action. The continuity of action; often called "the continuity."

SCENE: A scene is so much of the action of a photoplay as is taken in one place at one time without stopping the camera. The instant that there is need to stop the camera, to change grouping, break the progress of the action, introduce or take away characters, or change costumes, that scene is terminated, and with the new start a new scene is begun.

SCENE-PLOT: That part of the photoplay script which lists the scenes and shows the producer at a glance exactly what different sets are required to stage the picture, and how many different scenes may be done in each separate set.

SCRIPT: The typewritten copy of the completed photoplay. A complete script is composed of three parts: Synopsis, Cast of Characters, and Scenario, or Continuity--and sometimes a fourth part, called the Scene-Plot.

SERIAL: A photoplay serial, as the name implies, is a film totaling, say, 30,000 feet in length, and divided into fifteen "episodes," each episode being made up of two reels, or parts--2,000 feet of film. The production covers one long, continued story, each episode planned to end with a thrilling climax, with a "To be continued in our next," so to speak, tail-piece. The climax comes only at the end of each episode (as the two parts released each week, taken in conjunction, are termed). Incidentally, it should be borne in mind that, in all up-to-date picture theatres, two projecting machines are employed, so that no "break" occurs in the showing of any picture. For this reason, "feature" subjects do not necessarily have any special climax at the end of each reel, and, to repeat, serial photoplays have the grand, forward-looking climax only at the end of each episode.

SET: When a room, hotel lobby, or other interior setting is required, it is usually built in the studio, or in the open air near by, and is called a "set."

SETTING: The setting is the scenic environment of the action. Whether indoors or out, the surroundings, properties, furniture, buildings, and, in short, all that comes within the view of the camera, is the "setting" for that particular scene.

SITUATION: A state of affairs in which certain characters sustain such relations to each other that an important change might and almost must grow out of the relationship. In other words, a "situation" is a state of affairs full of dramatic possibilities. When a single character is confronted by the necessity for an important decision, whether of morals or of physical action, we also have a "situation."

SPLIT REEL: See _Reel_.

STAGE: The actual photoplay stage is that s.p.a.ce within the range of the camera in which the action of that given scene will be apparent.

In an interior setting it may be the s.p.a.ce between the camera and the walls of the set, to the full extent of the camera-range, in which radius a host of people may be used; or, in the case of action where intense emotion must be made clearly apparent, the stage may be only a s.p.a.ce beginning at a point from six to eleven feet from the camera lens, and only as wide as the radius of the camera-angle at that distance. Actually, the stage is a variable area, within the camera-range, in the scope of which the required action will be comprehended.

STOCK PEOPLE: The regular members of the stock company employed by the manufacturer, who draw a stipulated weekly salary, even though not acting in a picture every working day.

STUDIO: That part of the producing plant where the pictures are taken.

In its broadest sense, "studio" is often used as meaning the entire manufacturing plant; but such a plant contains, besides the "studio,"

the lighting plant, carpenter shop, scene dock, property room, developing room, drying room, joining or a.s.sembling room, wardrobe room, paint bridge and scene-painting department, dressing rooms, offices, etc.

SUBJECT: Another term for the play. According to its nature, a picture is known as a "comedy subject," "dramatic subject," and so on.

SUB-t.i.tLE: See _Leader_.

SUPER-IMPOSURE: See _Double Exposure_.

TINTING: Such effects as moonlight, artificial light in a room, firelight, etc., are gained largely by dyeing, or tinting, the positive film in various colors. Tinting is also frequently resorted to for no other reason than to enhance the beauty of the scene, as when sunset scenes are tinted in one of half a dozen suitable tones, or when exteriors are dyed in some shade of brown or green.

t.i.tLE: The name of the story. A very important element, since it is really an advertis.e.m.e.nt to draw attention to the photoplay, as well as an announcement telling what it is about. "A good t.i.tle is apt, specific, attractive, new and short."[5]

[Footnote 5: Charles Raymond Barrett, _Short Story Writing_.]

VISION: The showing of a small scene within a larger scene, as in the case of a lover seated, thinking of his sweetheart, and a vision of the object of his thought appearing in a corner of the scene, and disappearing as he smiles. Visions are resorted to usually to indicate the thought of a character, and should be used only sparingly, if at all.

CHAPTER IV

THE PHOTOPLAY SCRIPT: ITS COMPONENT PARTS

We know what a photoplay is; now what are the component parts of a photoplay script?

Simply because the word "scenario" has been so long used loosely as a name for the full written outline or story of the photoplay, it has come to mean the entire ma.n.u.script--or photoplay script, as we prefer to call it--completed and ready to be submitted to the editor.

Accurately, however (see the preceding chapter, Photoplay Terms), the "scenario" is only one of the three or four distinct parts of a photoplay script, as will be developed in full presently. "The Photoplaywright," a department conducted by Mr. Epes Winthrop Sargent in _The Moving Picture World_, was at first called "The Scenario Writer;" however, Mr. Sargent, like most writers and editors, has abandoned the use of the word "scenario" as applied to the complete script. "Scenario" is the name now properly given to the continuity of scenes, or "the continuity," as many are calling it in these days of more precise nomenclature. Furthermore, various trade publications are now urging writers and all others interested in the work to subst.i.tute the word "photoplay" for "scenario," as being more comprehensive and exact when applied to the complete ma.n.u.script. In strict accuracy, however, even "photoplay" is not a sufficiently explicit term when applied to the ma.n.u.script only, while either "photoplay ma.n.u.script" or "photoplay script" is; for, as all writers may learn to their cost, the "script" is not always destined to become a "play." To some, however, this distinction may seem like splitting a hair nicely between its north and northwest corners. At all events, the "photoplay script" is an exact and descriptive term and may well be used by all interested.

What is of fundamental technical importance in a novel, a short-story, or a play? The story itself--the plot. And so also it is in the photoplay; only, and the reasons must be obvious, its importance in the photoplay is even greater. Without the plot, the writer's script will remain forever a script, a mere piece of hand- or typewriting; it will never be transformed by the magic wand of the director into a film picture. Remember always that the photoplay is nothing but a series of scenes _in action_ which make up a story. How can you expect to have action without a sufficient cause for every effect shown and the scenes arranged in such order as to produce a complete illusion of a connected, progressive, climax-reaching story? (And it is just this connected, progressive, climax-reaching arrangement of the events of a story which we call the "plot.") A novel may be largely a study of character; a short-story may deal with action which takes place wholly unseen in the soul of man; a play or a musical comedy may be chiefly a series of scenic pictures or tuneful caperings; but a true photoplay must act out a story--a story with a big central point, supported by contributing points, or situations.

The story, then, comes first--in more than one sense. It is the bait you hold out to the editor of the photoplay company. If he can be interested in your _story_, the script is half sold. This being true, it follows that your synopsis must be clear, interesting, and as brief as you can possibly make it, while still giving all the important points of the story. He must grasp your plot, if not in a nutsh.e.l.l, at least in just as few words as it can be compressed into in order to make its development perfectly clear. You must therefore outline it, so that he may be able to see plainly the possibilities of the story as it would work itself out in picture form.

_1. The Synopsis_

The story must be briefly put, therefore it is necessarily only an outline, a _synopsis_--and that is the accepted technical term--forming the first subdivision of your script. Each of these subdivisions is merely touched upon here, and reserved for separate chapter-treatment later on.

In the synopsis, of course, your various characters are mentioned by name, but it is also necessary to add a separate section to your script, containing

_2. The Cast of Characters_

Almost all motion picture producers are now showing the cast of characters on their films, and it is only a matter of time when every manufacturer will follow their lead, for this is a natural step toward the effect of reality. For this reason, as well as because it has been accepted as following the proper form of photoplay script preparation, your cast of characters should immediately follow the synopsis, and be distinct therefrom.

_3. The Scenario or Continuity of Scenes_

Then comes the scenario--the third and last essential part of the complete photoplay script. In this your story is not told in words but is worked out in action. That is, instead of being told by description, dialogue, and all the devices of fiction writing, the _story_ is described as a series of actions, divided into the required number of interior and exterior scenes, together with the necessary inserts in the way of leaders or sub-t.i.tles, letters, telegrams, newspaper items, advertis.e.m.e.nts, and the like.

_4. The Scene-Plot_

In this preliminary consideration of the several parts of the complete script, it must be remembered that the various producing companies differ as to what they expect a ma.n.u.script to contain. One thing, however, is certain: it is far better to include more detail than is required, than too little. Therefore, on the whole, it is advisable to send a scene-plot (discussed fully in Chapter XI), as this part of the script will show the producer at a glance exactly what different sets are required to stage the picture, and how many scenes are "done" in each set. It is simply a little help extended to a busy man; for in particular it enables the editor to understand on first looking over your script how the scenes follow up and fit in with the action as described in the synopsis. At the same time, it is really a supplement to the ma.n.u.script, and our experience has been that it is more appreciated if written upon a separate sheet, and included with the ma.n.u.script proper. Naturally, the scene-plot is not to be included in scripts sent to companies that ask for "synopsis only."

Strictly speaking, as one writer on the subject has pointed out, the photoplay ma.n.u.script consists of two _essential_ parts--the synopsis and the scenario.[6] Manufacturers, however, have shown their approval of having the list of characters, giving the names of characters and a word or two describing their relations to each other, etc., much as is done in some theatre programs. Let us, then, look upon the complete photoplay script as being composed of

I The Synopsis.

II The Cast of Characters.

III The Scenario, or Continuity of Scenes.

IV The Scene-plot (as a supplement).

[Footnote 6: A discussion of the present-day requirement of "synopsis only," as announced by some companies, will be found in Chapter VIII.]

CHAPTER V

A SAMPLE PHOTOPLAY FORM

While the one-reel photoplay is virtually obsolete today, having given place to plays of two or more reels, the form for the complete script is quite the same for the multiple-reel as for the single-reel photoplay, hence the following specimen will serve just as well to show how the several parts of the full photoplay ma.n.u.script are set forth as if two or even five reels were given. The same thing applies to the number of scenes commonly found in any one reel--nowadays more scenes per reel are customary than was the case when the specimen here given was written, yet the old form for each scene and for each insert is as correct today as ever, so that the present model is a trustworthy one for those who would prepare the complete script, continuity and all, and not "synopsis only."