Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-01
How to Prepare ~
Character List and YoV
Scene Plot
By HARRY o. TT0xT
Head Of Metro Scenario sfn{.

AS an addendum TO the series Of artItlsl
now coming TO cloee IN the EvDiuN0
LEDGER and supplementinR the fnodeI
scenario printed herewith. Il Is we'll to efii<
a few words relative to the cast and The
scene plot These are vital parts Of etefy=
well-wrtten script. In submitting ecena#
rios for the contest. Il Is absolutely necc8
sary that a cast Of characters and q scene
plot accompany every script
In drawing up your scenario put your
cast Of characters on page by themselves.
or two pages as the case may be. Tt ~
rarely that you will have two pages of
characters and X you find that vou have
you can be reasonably certain that your
plot is rambling and disconnected and TN
interesting. II is impossible to keep
large number of characters straight in the
space of 5000 feet of Aim. Your action
should be centred on rs few people az
possible.
Perhaps the best form for drawing up
your cast IL as follows: In the centre Of
the page write the word Cast" Beneath
It, drop several spaces, and at the left hand
margin write the name of your principal
male character in capitals. A few dots
} or dashes G. - - - then
follow the name, and then give a brief
son described. 1t Is well to designate your
hero as the hero; for example.
JOHN JoNEs--the hero about 20 years old the
sfn ef sosisty Jones' ahas In love NTH
ieadJ. "O ' ''''e' man S0'A'as
with your other characters you can fol-
low the same general plan. You win prob
ably find that John has a mother who has
little to do. You do not need TO cast ha27z
Your action may very likely centre on q
men with one girl. and perhaps witt
fairly strong character part for an elde2
man. Cast the three men and the q &
Then drop few spaces, and then, In
middle of the page put MINOR CdAE*#
ACwTERSb Cast tvvo M tbraa 0f bo rr.u
characters who have most to do. and pun
the others in as maids, servants policel
men. society people, ETC." Perhaps some o;#
the maids have little more to do than
others, but they do not need a separately
cast. For the sake of those who like to
go into detail, another method Of casting
can be suggested. Cast your principal
characters as above. When It comes TO the
minor characters put everybody that ap-
pears in the picture on n separate line, and
after them put the scenes in which they
appear. The director can then readily pick
out the minor characters who are of most
Importance and he viii be able to know
just what provision to make ror his extra
people who will take care of the balance
of the cast.
When you come to the scene plot Il H.,
well to closeup them under exteriors and,
interiors. Taking your exteriors. we wilt'
say that scene No. Is a park This same
park scene is shown in Scenes Nos. 3. ..
dash - and figure one %. Another
dash and figure g. Another dash and figure
8 and so on, indicating the scenes which
take place in that park If you have two
or three close-ups in park scene, they al
become part of the whole scene. we VIII
suppose that Scene No. IL is wide angle
view of a park bench. John and Mary
are seated on the bench. James enters
John is surprised to see him. We will get
a closeup of John. That is Scene No. IL.
NT1trr rrxra will oat n n
realizes that John must be surprised to see
jim This is Scene No. IS. We now come
back to the full view. which is Scens
No. II.
In making up your scene plot you would
write:
PARK ENCH-11-12-1s-14
Such close-ups are all part of whole gen
tions this way and then list your interior
sets in the same fashion. I. e.:
A HALI-5-6-7-1S- etc.
These instructions are brief. but abso-
lutely necessary for all writer's to observe
In submitting manuscripts for the EVENING
LEDGER's competition.
would advise all scenario writer's to
visit a studio as frequently as possible ana
watch the pictures as they are being made.
He will see a thousand and ono little things
which have been passed by In this series.
because 1t is almost impossible to explain
and make clear all the matters that ara
each In themselves of infinitesimal Inn
portance but which In the aggregate count
for much 1t is only by coming to know
the camera thoroughly that you can write
for II thoroughly.
Many a poor script is sold because II fits
the production needs OF the company to
which it is submitted. and the contrary
holds true.
I get many inquiries from writer's asking
how they can know what the different man
ufacturers want. There are two ways OF
knowing The best is to subscribe to soma
good trade journal which gives the synopsis
and advance notices of photoplays produced
by the various manufacturing companies.
The second way is TO watch the screen
See all the pictures you can. Tabulate
them II necessary. By so doing you viii
realize that the program productions ara
one, two and three-reel subjects. Hence.
you have a market for your one two ana
three-reel photodramas with the program
companies,