The Bottineau courant., 1922-12-28
Even accusing the studio people Of
the theft Of their ideas
First National Picture

u
materlai Of late he has gone mostly to the big
novels for material for Norma Talmadge
Lest you be appalled, by the seeming hopeless
ness of your case, right here let me cheer you up
somewhat. If, as the so-caIled scenario textbooks
tend to make you suppose you had to turn out
the finished product to get your story accepted you
might well feel ready to quit But the opposite
Is the case In fact, the amateur need not and
should not, concern himself with anything beyond
real story, simply and directly told. You need
not and should not worry about entrances, exits,
fadeouts and other teehnicalities. Leave that to
the specialist-the man Or woman whose business
1t Is to put the accepted stoy into practical
form. The amateur Is not expected to write "coa-
tnuity"-that is job separate and apart and Is
the task Of the studio expert
1T Is true that only a small percentage Of the
stories submitted to motion picture producers by
amateur authors is accepted says Marshall
Neilan, one Of this country's most notable produc-
"Yet the reason for this seems rather obvious.
If man advertises for original plans for country
home and hundred different plans are received,
80 per cent being submitted by amateurs and II
per cent by professional home builders there is
little doubt that the accepted plans would be from
one Of the 10 per cent"
"While among the plans submitted by the
amateurs there doubtlessly would be found many
exceptional ideas yet the individual plans on the
whole could hardly be expected to measure up
Turning for moment from the producers point
Of view, let us see what is the newspaper critics
angle on desirabilites in screen stories If what
quote may seem to smack more of production than
of writing, there is, too lesson for the author
whose business, after ALL it Is, rather than the d.
rectors, to supply the situations
MANY of the scenes have been made meanngful
as motion pictures.' quote the critic of leading
New York newspaper on a recent film) For in
stance, there is one in which Henry Garnett know
ing that he must die soon. sits listening to inex-
orable clock. 1t ticks and ticks, counting off the
seconds of his llfe Finally In futile desperation
he seizes the pendulum and stops IT. but he holds
the metal bar. phantom pendulum behind 1t
swings on. Here is cinematography. Here is COM
plete expressiveness within q picturep'
There 1t Is IN a nutshell A reel idea logically
and simply worked out without needless discussion,
directly and clearly to an Inevitable conclusion.
Therein lies one way where your story won't come
back. <&>* gzf-.<r.- -.
Hope Hampton, whose latest starring vehicle Is
Light In the Dark" tells me that the reason 50
many scenario writer's fail Is because they cannot
or DO not put themselves in the place Of the audi
ence. In other words. they cannot properly visual
ize their worE. r. ~.5EzEzzSs
"It should always be borne In mind" says this
STAR .tlat thought and impression can be effected
only by action. Perhaps the ideal film would be
one in which there were no subtitles at ALL do
not know whether that could be, but the next best
thing is where the action is so clear convincing
and the conclusion so Inevitable that only mini
mum number OF subtitles is necessary"
After all, you can't blame the producer, even
though lie may err in sending your story back. It's
different WITH say, magazine editor. and even he
sends stuff hack--lots Of 1t. The magazine editor
may. with not very disastrous results, use medi-
0cre or even d poor story, provided he makes sure
his magazine contains at the same time two or
three good tales The strong stories will carry the
weak But with the photoplay producer 1t is very
different All his eggs, so to speak, In one has
ket. Ii accepting story, or rather In making
picture from It. lie risks the possibility of losing
something like 100000 II makes him more than
careful of his choice. NJ
0 You can. however. be practically sure OF one
thing II your story has real and full screen merit
and you keep 1t going visiting long enough Z Will
stop coming hack at last IN Its place viii come a.
check More writer's than one, by sticking eternaly
at Ii and refusing to quit have ultimately sold their
product Tor Il IS the very act Of writing and re-
writing that ultimately makes professional out of
an amateur s3s s# sE "