Writing the Photoplay | Page 7

exposures. This is frequently used for taking "stills," or photographs of certain striking situations in the scenes, from which are made half-tone cuts for the magazines and trade-paper illustrations, and used in designing the large and small lithographed posters used by the exhibitors.
CAMERAMAN: See Camera.
CAST: The characters taking individual, and not merely mass, parts in a photoplay.
CAST OF CHARACTERS: The list of characters prepared as a part of the photoplay script for the use of the director or producer. It is customary to make this cast of characters full enough to outline eccentricities and individualities of character, together with brief suggestions for costume.
CLOSE UP: The enlarged portion of a scene, introduced at a point in the action where it is necessary to show some action or facial expression that would perhaps not be understandable at the regular range used for the main portion of that scene. It is employed, as is the bust, to enlarge figures on the screen. Like the bust, it is also designated by its own number in the continuity of scenes of a photoplay script.
CONTINUITY: See Scenario.
CUT-BACK: A return to a previously shown scene so as to keep the thread of the action clear.
CUT-IN, OR CUT-IN LEADER: A sub-title which cuts into or breaks the action of a scene instead of appearing before the scene opens. Cut-ins are therefore the sub-titles giving the words spoken by one or more of the characters in a scene. They constitute the "dialogue" of the photoplay.
CUTTING: It happens not infrequently that from 5,500 to 7,000 feet (or even more, if the director is inclined to be wasteful) of negative film is exposed, or used up, in taking the scenes intended for a five-part (5,000-foot) "feature." In every case, a certain amount of film in excess of what is actually needed is inevitably exposed in the photographing of the complete picture. In the "cutting room" of the studio the director "assembles" his picture--pieces together the different scenes, sub-titles, and inserts, and "cuts" portions varying from a few inches to many feet in length when such portions, if retained, would be regarded as "padding," or superfluous footage.
DIAPHRAGM: A term applying to a portion of the camera apparatus, and also applied to the process of causing one scene to disappear, or another to appear. Like the "fade out" and "fade in," the "diaphragm out" and "diaphragm in" are descriptive terms, but having a different purpose. While the "fade out" or the "fade in" separate two parts of a scene, and bring in between them the thing thought of or spoken of, the "diaphragm out" and the "diaphragm in" (both usually placed in the script on a separate line) serve the purpose of covering a supposed lapse of time in the action, where a leader is not needed. (More fully explained in text.)
DIRECTOR: Sometimes called the Producer. The man who plans and directs the building and setting of all scenes in the production of the picture, as well as casting the actors and actresses for the various parts, pointing out, in a general way, what costuming and make-up are required, and directing their acting and stage "business" during the taking of scenes. "Producer" more properly is the term applied to the manufacturer or manufacturing company.
DOING A PICTURE: To "do" a picture is to produce it in film form. To say that a picture has been "done" in five reels is simply to state that the production has required approximately five thousand feet of film.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE: Same as super-imposure. The practice of exposing the same negative film twice, used extensively in producing "vision" effects, "ghosts," etc., as well as in photographing scenes where one of the players is cast in a "double r?le," as of twin sisters or brothers, as is more fully explained in the text.
EDITOR: The person who receives, examines, and passes on your photoplay. He decides as to the merits of your story, after which, if he accepts it, it is turned over by him to the director.
EPISODE: See Serial.
EXTRAS, OR EXTRA PEOPLE: Supernumeraries, either male or female, who "dress" or "fill in" certain scenes, or who may even be given small parts, or "bits." "Extras" are frequently used as soldiers, cowboys, pedestrians, saloon loungers, guests at a ball, or in other similar capacities.
FADE IN: When the screen is dark, and a picture comes up gradually until it is clear, this is called a fade in.
FADE OUT: When the opposite from the fade in occurs, the scene dying away until the screen is blank, this opposite term is used. These two terms are employed in the photoplay manuscript for the purpose of indicating that some character is thinking of, or telling another about, something that has already happened, or that is prophetically expected to happen. The character is seen thinking, or talking,