Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1914-01-07
THE PHoTO-PLAY.
interesting Points on Writing
'o' for the Moving Pictures.
NAV sidney s. Booth.I

IBy Sidney s. Booth.
onv people have asked me questions
.s;ne the art OF writing stories fer
play. am encouraged briefly to
cline the system. do not wish to pose
oNs' ..,,aster,, and shall therefore conhne
...olt solely to some of the results OF my
H ~ experience covering some eighteen
o"N q, a reasonable measure OF sue
cess. x;,;r
,iros no great literary skill, yet it is
.sno that it requires mind which can
'-o;,b values fairly accurately and which
enable of presenting ideas in brief,
- .,e and lucid manner. The first funda-
.an,ol requirement is q good imagination
1t 1T ia able to confine itself to the facts
.soi,v life and able to draw from the
coolest facts story full of heart in
terest.
,,,,ost wholly OF action. There is no
d;olopue Not a word need be spoken.
This being the case, we do not write
aneach into our play but convey the idea
o,+hourht by action. The actor would
not say. 81 am AFRAID but we would
write it, Jack registers fear" The
actor will interpret this in his own way
and we secure the action we need.
In order to convey the full meaning of
our story to those who will be called upon
IN interpret it, we must put it into The
host ,ossible shape. We must have it
,oobnically correct. There is much lati-
,r,da allowed in the form the technique
shall take. but for all practical purposes
Tho following is found to answer require
ments
A synopsis OF the story. A cast of the
characters. The scenario. A directors
sheet NAV be added, but this is not essen
tiaI. especially to the beginner, and will
be best learned when an earnest start has
been made. There are, then, but three
main features to remember, viz: the
synopsis, the cast and the scenario.
The synopsis should not exceed $50
words Ia few more words may be allowed
for multiple reel stories) and in those $50
words the whole OF the story you wish to
tell should be written. With so few
words. it follows that every word must
count, and as it is first read by the editor,
il is important that it shall be clear and
full of force. The editor largely judges
the merits OF the story from the synopsis.
The cast is simple. Give each important
character a name with perhaps word or
two of description, e. g.:
Jack Holt. Wealthy: aged about IS
Nellie Winter. Young, pretty, loves Jack
.Choose short names, and keep the cast
small-trom three to six main characters
will do.
For the scenario begin new sheet. Gas
a matter OF fact, in practice it is usual to
write the scenario first and the synopsis
and cast last, and then to place the
synopsis sheet on top Of the completed
manuscript Write your name and ad-
dress on the top. of the scenario sheet, put
the title of the story in the opposite cor
ner from your name, and number the
sheet /. In the margin write the number
some and begin your action, e. g.:
Nelie's Career J. G. Harris,
EiuOEt, Shilis
Scenario.
l. Outside house. Jack enters. Runs down
steps, Slips on banana peel. Slides to
bottom Of steps. Rises, angry and sore.
Kicks at peel and stubs toe. Nader than
ever. ExIt, limpinR.
q Corner Of street. Nellie standing. Jack
enters, limping, etc, etc.
fl is uot pacpssarv m apeci fv I he tvpa nf
house The fact that JACK is wealthy is
sufficient indication, unless he was visit
ing poor relation, when the scenario
would show this in a previous scene. II
Will Le noticed that Jack is not said to
cone out OF house, but that he ''enters".
The OUTSIDE OF the house is the stage for
the moTent, and so Jack ''enters" the
stage. Exit" means that he go out OF
the scene
Keep the scenes as short as possible, but
Keep them clear. Do not sacrifice clear
ness for brevity. But in a love scsne, for
example, 1t is not necessary to go into full
details of the love- making; simply write,
"Jack makes love to Nellie" or, "Jack
proposes" The actors know, probably as
well as you do, how to make love or how
to propose.
Eeyery now and then there appears on
the screen some words or letter. These
appear in order to make perfectly plain
what the action is about. The words are
called ''leader" and this should be
written into the scenario before the scene
II is to make clear. Like this:
LEADER-Jack Is called TO town.
q Mans room. Jack ON. Landlady enters
with telegram. Jack reads. Begins to pack
a grip, hurriedly, etc., etc.
OF course the telegram could be shown,
and this would be called an 'insert", but
1t is easier to photograph the leader than
Telegram. Sometime a letter or other
writing, such as visiting card or news
paper item, is shown, in which case it
should be written as briefly and clearly as
possible. Strive to keep all such written
matter within limit Of thirty words.