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Show Hints On How To Write Scenario! A Past Master Of The Art, Capt. Peacocke, Gives Advice To Aspirants. Giving A Story Tniey And Intereit By "Flbi" and "Cut Bseki" Growing Tcndenoy To Do Away With Sab-Titlc See and Study The Pictures, He Say. Capt. Leslie T. Peacocke is one of the most proline and most successful of scenario writers and up to the present pres-ent time ha given to the screens more than three hundred photoplays. It varied experience is of service in thc making of a scenario writer. Capt. Peacocke was well equipped. Born in India, educated at Eton and Sandhurst and for eleven years an officer in the British Army, continually in active service in Burmah, South Africa and other British possessions, his opportunity oppor-tunity for observation of life in varied phases was certainly extensive It was with a view to obtaining some light upon thc processes of scenario construction thc writer called upon Capt Peacocke "W hile thc scenario has advanced materially in technique," began the Laptain, after consenting to talk on the subject in which he is so well versed, ' it is far harder to write a photoplay these days, owing to the in- j creasing scarcity of plots. Not so long ago thc script writer jumpily followed the story straight through, taking no account of the lapse of time Thus, for instance, we saw a man leave his office, walk through thc street and arrive home. A script then , numbered Fifteen to twenty scenes ! Now the writer gives his story tensity ten-sity and interest by 'flashes' and 'cut , backs.' For instance, we see a thief . I about to enter a house Then we I are shown a man asleep in bed The , picture flashes to thc burglar on thc ( out.-ide of lhc window and then back . to the man within awakening at the . sound. Every detail is shown. At the same time the photoplay gains in ; variety. Photoplay wrights now strive to do entirely away with sub-titles. The story of thc present day should : carry itself by its own action. The I lack of sub-captions is an advantage, for instance, to the foreign element among the picture house patrons, who cannot clearly understand English. I 'The scenario is unquestionably ad l ancing. But good plots cannot be found without returning to thc old I stories. It is getting harder every ' day Of course, an experienced writ 1 cr can make an entertaining picture out of very little. "The photoplaywrightfl of the future will be the experienced men, whether writers developed in contributing to the screen or our so-called 'big' authors. au-thors. The fiction writer can succeed if he studies the game. Even our best plawncht is a poor scenario iioitsman, uniess nc understands the pictures. Where a play has a cast of I ten and utilizes three or four acts in telling, thc same story on the screen would require fifty to sixty people, as everyone mentioned m thc story would have to be visualized in order to carry the theme, and forty to fifty scenes would be needed Thc trained scenario writer sees his work in his mind's eye. Then, too. the average drama is dependent upon dialogue. Vet thc playwright when he understands under-stands the demands of thc film-should film-should be successful if he is good at situation building "The big writers should be able to furnish thc best photoplay stories." continued Captain Peacocke. "I do not mean writers who depend upon a i ' distinctive style, but men of versatility versa-tility and imagination. " I asked Laptain Peacocke for a few words of advice to writers. "Writers should sec and study pictures," pic-tures," he replied "They should make their scenes short, using 'flashes' and 'cut backs.' The eye tires of a scene after thirty or forty seconds. A good scenario averages thirty-five to fifty scenes in a single reel, and sixty to one hundred scenes in a two-part drama. "But one per cent, only of the published pub-lished magazine stories has picture possibilities. A scenario is all action. Each scene must have niuvcmcnt must work up to a dramatic situation. The average short story has but one or two situations. There are few original ori-ginal ideas. The skill and charm of workmanship make the story'. "Care should be taken in making the script synopsis short. The synopsis synop-sis should arouse the editor's intereit at once, presenting the plot in such a manner that it can be grasped in a moment. It must be brief, attractive, jand with the story presented in a way that thc editor will not have to read through tlu detailed scenes for the vital points. "The scenario, as written scene by scene, must be condensed to the barest bar-est outline. The average story writer has a tendency to describe everything in detail That is all wrong. "The atmospheric conditions and environment governing the companies should be studied. Scenarios requiring requir-ing a Western setting should not be sent to a New York company. r those requiring a European background back-ground be forwarded to a California organization. l..r instance, manufacturers manufac-turers do not want stories of snowstorms snow-storms in the summer time. "Writers should keep the cost of production in mind. Many spectacular spectacu-lar things such as the destruction of a boat by fire ate impossible without heavy cost As few interiors as possible pos-sible should be used." sssssHsssssLH |