Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-19
By HARRY O. HoYT


N EVERY photoplay. particularly in
Il feature pictures, there are various minor
characters, many of whom are concerned In
the counter-plot alone, who have direct
bearing on the main character. Consider nil
your characters as lay figures, dsembodted
and colorless. Pick your principal charso-
ter whether II be male or female lead De-
termine Just how you are going to plant this
character In your story; II the character is
TO be a Southern girl or girl Of the pral-
ries or girl of the slums. you must do
something more than plant her character
In a subtitle.
You may say Joan Coleman. a young
southern girl, whose father owns vast
plantation This subtitle or one similar
may be necessary, but If on top of this YOU
DO not show enough Of the atmosphere of
the plantation with Joan thoroughly n part
OF this atmosphere. your story is sure to
lack the convincing note necessary.
On the other hand, we will suppose that
the picture opens with the above subtitle.
We show Joan coming down the steps of
her pillared home In riding clothes, getting
on her favorite horse and riding around the
plantation. We show various scenes at the
negro cabins, in the cotton fields and around
the estate
perhaps in all these scenes we have Joan
riding in and out. Surely here we have
planted her as a Southern girl on vast
estate. but in doing so we have missed an
important point there is no reason for
her riding around the place.
This brings us to our second point In
DIAntinR cha NUi ha
atmosphere you must advance your story.
III this seems difficult, you must search
Tor another opening to establish the char
acter. There is always a way to do II.
We will suppose that your male and
female lead, because of your story, are cas-
lily established, and this is generally the
case. The difficulty lies in the other char
acters, who aid and abet the two or three
leading characters. The question arises as
to just how much space you can afford TO
give Cor character development of minor
characters, and It is here that so many
writer's blunder.
They allow subthemes or counter-plots
to run away with their story. with the re-
suit that when we say there Is too much
plot in the scenario, the writer immediatel.;
cuts down the plot and not the counter
plots or subtheme
II has been said that your story Is as
strong as your counter-plot, or, as director
IeCeHlly Stdttu, IL IL u BOOu STORY II IL mas
a counter-plot If this holds true, the con-
verse of the proposition also holds true.
II you have fairly good plot and no
counter-plot your story will lack depth. II
you have an overabundance of counter-p plot,
your plot is lost sight of.
The counter-plot should never obtrude.
Your story rests on the plot. and IL you have
a fve-reel plot. you can make flve-reel
feature, but II you send in five reels of plot
and five reels of counter-plot you have a
ten-reel feature, which nobody wants.
Too much plot is usually too much coun-
ter-plot, or too much time is given to char
acter and atmosphere development, Don't
make writing scenarios such hard work.
Authors cudgel their brains trying to deter
mine when they have told enough. a book
length novel may contain insufficient mate
rial for a five-reel feature. whereas a short
story or a one-act playet may have more
than enough plot for feature-picture pur-
poses. There is no way to gauge length by
comparison.
II you have only a thread of plot and
this plot is strong enough because of its
uniqueness to make feature picture, you
can then build your characters with greater
care introduce comedy and counter-plot
at length. A synopsis of n five.reel feature
picture may require only 800 words to tell
the whole story, or 1t may require 1900
words.
II you examine a short synopsis you
will discover that the story is probably
elemental in its simplicity. which the coun-
ter-plot barely touched upon The chances
are that this story relies for its strength
upon the uniqueness of the plot, whereas
longer synopses very likely tell an ordinary