The Washington herald., 1922-08-13


original. which were translated. to
an extent and after q fashion. into
pictures that moved on the screen.
These ideas were often worked
out and revised by the director
! while he was actually making the
scenes In which they found more or
less complete expression, and. even
when a director knew pretty well
in advance what he was going to
do in q particular scene or story.
he seldom thought II necessary to
follow the guidanu of a carefully
detailed scenario.
Then. when the demand for
stories involving plot rather than
action for It's own sake became
more acute. producers turned to
authors and their works for ma
terial. beginning frankly with
adaptations and later drawing in
writers to concoct stories for the
screen But even when a novelist
: was engaged to write a photoplay
he usually kept to his familiar
medium and turned in a story
pretty much in the form in which
II would appear II printed in a
book or ma agazine.
The services Of an Intermediary
were required before the compost
ton could be OF any practical value
TO those engaged to put II into
scenes and subtitles on a strip Of
hlm. This Intermediary was really
an adapter. II was his business TO
recast the authors story. to change
II where necessary. to rearrange il.
so that il could be set down scene
. by scene on sheets of paper to be
held in the hands of a director. So
the photoplay remained as much an
afaptation as any film version of a
published play or novel.
With a'few exceptions. writer's
St:ll wrote for the screen only in
the sense that their compos3 ons
were intended for immediate.
rather than U'timata. adaptation to
the screen. They dill not become
r "~' : nal =. c.nsrla composers. Studios
s'tll employed adapters to prepare
the sren~-'os. ~ Continuities used
by directors. an". incidentally. di-
re".prs continued. to some extent,
To- make mp their pictures as they
went aloT~. often departing from
tbe Instructions in hand to intro
dace rev business or even whole
scenes Of their own invention.
Sometimes thev were driven to de-
partures by the incompleteness of
Scenarios. and sometimes they in
'"eas Ct what the stories they were
filnrin~ ought to he.
And this Is very LARGELY the sit
ts~t!on today The scenario. or con-
tinu:ty. Is stil nothing more than
a. rearrangement. with modifica-
tons. of its original. as a rule. and
on incomplete or tentative one at
that Il marks certain step in
the process of putting a story on
the screen. but il Is not the foun-
dation. the structural center, of
I'll" phOtopiay.
This is true, at least of many
scenarios. but not of all of them,
for tire method of photoplay pro-
duction is undergoing a change.
Picture makers are beginning to
realize that a photoplay must be
constructed. that il cannot be Just
thrown together as a repository of
IDEAS gathered from all those who
have hand in its preparation for
the screen. from the original au-
thor to the final editor
And they are beginning to real
ize that the center Of this photo
dramatic structure. the foundation
or framework on or about which X
must be built, is the scenario, the
scene-hy-scene description in which
the composition of each scene. the
action that takes place in it and its
definite position with, reference 10
other scenes. are fully and finally
set forth. This is what picture
makers are beginning to realize
This is what some of them have
already realized. They know that
even when a phOtoplay is an adap-
tation il is the scenario that forms
and supports it-or fails to do so.
with the result that. in one part
or another. or altogether. 1t COL
laDses.
This is the truth emphasized by
Rex Ingram. the director of THE
-Four Horsemen Of the Apocalypse. :"
The Conprering Power" and. most
recently. THE Prisoner of Zenda'
now at the Astor Theater Mr.
Ingram says: The scenario is the
foundation upon which every sue
cessful film production is con-
structed." and from this he con-
tinueS as follows:
Allowing for the difference in
medium. practically the same laws
apply TO the production of Il m
play which has artistic merit and
TO the making of a fine piece of
sculpture or mastery painting.
The rough preliminary sketch made
the sculptor for his proposed job
has its parallel in the synopsis
made before the motion picture
scenario is blocked out.
Before a scene Is taken in a
flm play, provided ideal conditions
sxist in the studio. the scenario is
completed, for unless he knows how
to make a well constructed script
nine times out of ten the efforts Of
. director will fail to convince. He
may have the human note. humor,
pathos, hne Characterization ana
photography well composed pic
lures and good lighting. But un-
less he convinces in the telling OF
bis story all these things stand on
q foundation that wobbles.
= The sculptured figure or group
Of figures first takes form in an
IMMATURE. or firmly constructed
frame built according to the pro-
portions of the job. This frame is
composed OF steel braces. wood and
lead piping. all wired together.
Upon this structure the clay Is then
roughly massed.
Just as the moving picture d.
rector must have thorough
knowledge of scenario construc-
uon. the sculptor must be familiar
With this part of his work, whether
he does Il himself or whether II Is
done for him. For II the armature
IL unskillfully put together. It will
not stand when the great weight
Of the clay Is put upon It and his
EFFORTS win be to no purpose. For
eyen IL portions are unhurt when
DE figure collapses the mass will