,,pictorial ,,beauty ,,on ,,the ,,screen ,illustration ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,new ,,york ,,boston ,,chicago ,,dallas ,,atlanta ,,san ,,francisco ,,macmillan ,,co41 ,,limited ,,london ,,bombay ,,calcutta ,,melbourne ,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4 ,,of ,,canada1 ,,ltd4 ,,toronto ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,covered ,wagon4 ,the rich variety of light and shadow in this scene1 combined with the simple strength of the moving pattern1 makes it one of the most charming sections in a remarkable photoplay4 ,see pages #i1 #ff and #adj4 ,,pictorial ,,beauty ,,on ,,the ,,screen ,,by ,,victor ,,oscar ,,freeburg1 ,,ph4,d4 ,,author ,,of 8,,the ,,art ,,of ,,photoplay ,,making10 ,,and 8,,disguise ,,plots ,,in ,,elizabethan ,,drama40 ,,with ,a ,,prefatory ,,note ,,by ,,rex ,,ingram ,new ,york ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #aibc ,all rights reserved ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america4 ,,copyright1 #aibc1 ,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company4 ,set up and electrotyped4 ,published ,october1 #aibc4 ,to ,,james ,,cruze ,because the ,various ,types of ,pictorial ,beauty ,described in this ,book ,may ,be ,seen ,richly ,blended with ,epic ,narrative and ,stirring ,drama in 8,the ,covered ,wagon10 a ,cinema ,composition ,that ,will ,live ,,prefatory ,,note ,by ,,rex ,,ingram1 ,director of the 8,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse10 8,scaramouche10 etc41 etc4 ,in this volume ,dr4 ,freeburg contends that in order to be classified among the ,arts1 the ,cinema must become something more than a series of clear photographs of things in motion4 ,in other words1 a motion picture must be composed of scenes that have certain pictorial qualifications1 such as form1 composition1 and a proper distribution of light and shade4 ,it is chiefly according to the degree in which these qualities are present in a picture1 that it can register the full effectiveness of its drama1 characterizations and atmosphere4 ,dr4 ,freeburg handles his subject clearly and comprehensively1 and ,i know that the majority who read this book will gain a great deal more enjoyment than previously from productions of the calibre of 8,broken ,blossoms10 8,dr4 ,caligari10 8,blind ,husbands10 8,dr4 ,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde10 8,nanook of the ,north10 and films more numerous than ,i can mention by such picture makers as ,messrs4 ,griffith1 ,seastrom1 ,tourneur1 ,von ,stroheim and ,lubitsch4 ,,rex ,,ingram4 ,august #eth1 #aibc4 ,,author',s ,,preface ,if ,i look upon a motion picture as a kind of substitute for some stage play or novel1 it seems to me a poor thing1 only a substitute for something better2 but if ,i look upon it as something real in itself1 a new form of pictorial art in which things have somehow been conjured into significant motion1 then ,i get many a glimpse of touching beauty1 and ,i always see a great range of possibilities for richer beauties in future examples of this new art4 ,then ,i see the motion picture as the equal of any of the elder arts4 ,in other words1 ,i enjoy the movies as pictures1 and ,i do not enjoy them as anything else but pictures4 ,yet it is on the pictorial side that the movies are now in greatest need of improvement4 ,and this need will probably continue for at least another ten years4 ,i feel that a book such as this may prove to be of considerable help in bringing about that improvement4 ,so far as ,i know1 this is the first book in which a systematic analysis of pictorial composition on the screen has been attempted1 although there are certain earlier books in which the pictorial art of the screen has been appraised without analysis1 the pioneer work in that class being ,vachel ,lindsay's 8,art of the ,moving ,picture40 ,the most original things in my present volume are to be found in the chapters on 8,pictorial ,motions0--or1 at least1 they ought to be there1 else ,i am to blame1 because that is the phase of cinematic art which has hitherto received the least attention from critics4 8,movie fans0 in general are my audience1 my hope being that they may find something new in this discussion1 something1 here and there1 which they had not themselves thought of1 but which will help them toward a conscious and keen enjoyment of beauty scarcely observed before1 and to a more certain discrimination between genuine art on the screen and mere pretentious imitations of art4 ,in order not to confuse the issue1 ,i have purposely omitted discussions of plot1 dramatic situation1 characterization1 etc41 except where these matters are so intimately connected with pictorial form that an omission would be impossible4 ,in short1 it is what the picture looks like1 rather than what it tells1 which here occupies our attention4 ,this study is1 therefore1 supplementary to my book 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making10 which is published by ,the ,macmillan ,company4 ,mr4 ,james ,o4 ,spearing1 who was for five years the distinguished motion picture critic on the ,new ,york ,times1 and is now on the production staff of the ,goldwyn ,pictures ,corporation1 has been kind enough to criticize the manuscript of the present work1 and ,i take pride in thanking him publicly for having thus served me with his extensive knowledge and cultivated taste4 ,v4 ,o4 ,f4 ,the ,national ,arts ,club1 ,new ,york ,city1 ,august #bgth1 #aibc4 ,,contents ,,chap4 ,,page ,i4 ,,pictorial ,,art ,,in ,,the ,,movies #a ,,ii4 ,,the ,,practical ,,value ,,of ,,pictorial ,,composition #i ,,iii4 ,,eye ,,tests ,,for ,,beauty #be ,,iv4 ,,pictorial ,,force ,,in ,,fixed ,,patterns #ej ,v4 ,,rhythm ,,and ,,repose ,,in ,,fixed ,,design #fh ,,vi4 ,,motions ,,in ,a ,,picture #hc ,,vii4 ,,pictorial ,,motions ,,at ,,work #ig ,,viii4 ,,pictorial ,,motions ,,at ,,play #aaf ,,ix4 ,,pictorial ,,motions ,,at ,,rest #abh ,x4 ,,mastery ,,in ,,the ,,movies #aed ,,xi4 ,,the ,,mysterious ,,emotions ,,of ,,art #agh ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations 8,the ,covered ,wagon40 ,prairie ,scene ,frontispiece ,,facing ,,page 8,the ,plough ,girl0 #aa 8,the ,shepherdess40 ,by ,le,rolle #ba 8,the ,spell of the ,yukon40 ,cabin ,scene #bh ,a ,study of ,composition in 8,the ,spell of the ,yukon0 #bh 8,daylight and ,lamplight40 ,by ,paxton #ci ,a ,study of ,lines #ci 8,audrey0 #de ,a ,still ,illustrating ,misplaced ,emphasis #ee ,a ,specimen of ,bad ,composition #ee 8,the ,spell of the ,yukon40 ,exterior #eg ,a ,triangle ,pattern #fa 8,derby ,day40 ,by ,rowlandson #fd ,a ,study of ,composition in 8,derby ,day0 #fd 8,maria ,rosa0 #ga 8,mme4 ,le,brun and ,her ,daughter40 ,by ,mme4 ,le,brun #gf 8,polly of the ,circus0 #gi 8,banquet of the ,officers of ,st4 ,andrew40 ,by ,hals #gi 8,the ,covered ,wagon40 ,arroyo ,scene #ic ,a ,typical ,bad ,movie ,composition #ajj 8,sherlock ,holmes0 #ajj 8,the ,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse0 #acc 8,portrait of ,charles ,i40 ,by ,van ,dyck #afc 8,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari0 #agi ,pictorial ,beauty ,on the ,screen ,,chapter ,i ,,pictorial ,,art ,,in ,,the ,,movies ,vast armies of 8movie fans0 in massed formation move in and out of the theaters day after day and night after night4 ,they may be trampled on1 stumbled over1 suffocated2 they may have to wait wearily for seats and even for a glimpse of the screen1 and yet they come1 drawn by a lure which they never dream of denying4 ,yet the individuals in these crowds are not the helpless victims of mob impulses4 ,choose the average person among them1 and you will find that he is able to criticize what he sees4 ,he has developed no small degree of artistic taste during all the hundreds of nights which he has spent with eyes fixed upon the screen4 ,he can1 at least1 tell the difference between a dull1 common-place plot and one that is original and thrilling4 ,he can distinguish between the reasonable and the ridiculous4 ,he is perfectly aware that much of what he sees is plain 8bunk10 that it is false1 or silly1 or of no consequence2 and yet1 after waiting patiently1 he is quick to catch the honest message of significant truth when it comes4 ,he is trained in the appreciation of screen acting1 and does not confuse mere showy performance with sincere1 sympathetic interpretation of a dramatic character4 ,and now1 at last1 the 8average movie fan0 is beginning to demand that motion pictures have real pictorial beauty1 that they be something more than clear photographs of things in motion4 ,here we have struck the measure of the motion picture's possibilities as a new art4 ,the masses who pay for tickets have the situation entirely in their hands4 ,photoplays are improving year by year principally because the public wants better photoplays year by year4 ,when the movies were new1 people were satisfied with novelties1 mechanical tricks1 sensational 8stunts10 pictures of sensational people1 pictures of pretty places1 etc41 but1 although they appreciated what was called good photography1 they expressed no craving for genuine pictorial beauty4 ,later on came the craze for adaptations of popular novels and stage plays to the screen4 ,this was really a great step forward4 ,the motion picture was no longer a mere toy or trick1 but was being looked upon as a real art medium4 ,the public had developed a taste for the exciting1 clearly told story1 and this demand was satisfied by hundreds of excellent photoplays--excellent1 at least1 according to the standards of the day4 ,yet the 8fans0 might have asked for more4 ,they got the story of a famous novel or play1 with fairly well acted interpretations by screen folk in proper costumes1 and with scenes and settings that usually answered to the descriptions in the literary work adapted2 they even got1 here and there1 a 8pretty0 view or a chance grouping of striking beauty1 but they did not regularly get1 or ask for1 the kind of beauty which we are accustomed to find in the masterpieces of painting4 ,but taste has been developed by tasting1 and at last the craving for pictorial art has come4 ,along with this new public demand for better pictorial qualities in the motion pictures have come higher ideals to those who make and distribute motion pictures4 ,the producers are awakening to their opportunities4 ,they are no longer content with resurrecting defunct stage plays and picturizing them hurriedly1 with only enough additions to the bare plot to make the photoplay last five reels4 ,it is not now so much a question of fixing over something old1 as of constructing something new4 ,they are beginning to think in terms of pictorial motion4 ,the directors1 too--those who have not been forced out of the studios by their lack of ability--have learned their art of pictorial composition in much the same way as the public has developed its taste1 that is1 by experience4 ,once they seemed to think that it was enough to tell the heroine when to sob or raise her eyebrows2 now they realize that the lines and pattern of the entire figure should be pictorially related to every other line and pattern which is to be recorded by the camera and shown upon the screen4 ,and1 finally1 along with the director's rise in power and importance is coming the better subordination of the 8stars10 and yet they shine not the less brightly on the screen4 ,the early exhibitors were often accused of being 8ballyhoo0 men1 hawking their wares of more or less questionable character4 ,most of them1 indeed1 never suspected that motion pictures might contain beauty4 ,now the worst of them can at least be classed with picture dealers who value their goods because others love them1 while the best1 including such men as ,dr4 ,hugo ,riesenfeld1 have made exhibition itself a new art4 ,they select pictures with conscientious taste1 place them in a harmonious program1 and show them in a theatrical setting that gives the right mood for sthetic appreciation on the part of the audience4 ,publicity men1 too1 have felt the temper of the public4 ,although they still like to exploit sensational features1 the language of art is creeping into their 8dope40 ,they are beginning to find phrases for the kind of beauty in a film which does not come from a ravishing 8star0 or the lavish expenditure of money4 ,and the independent reviewers whose criticisms are published in the newspapers and magazines have become professional4 ,there was a time when they contented themselves with listing the cast1 revealing the plot in a paragraph1 and adding that 8the photography is excellent40 ,but now we find thoughtful1 discriminating criticisms of photoplays in the film magazines and in the leading daily papers of the country4 ,these critics have learned how to analyze the narrative as a dramatic construction1 and how to evaluate the interpretation of character in the acting1 but they have also learned something else1 and this belongs to the new epoch in the development of the photoplay2 they have begun to observe the pictorial art in motion pictures1 the endless possibilities of beauty in the pictorial combination of figure1 setting1 and action2 in the arrangement of lines and masses1 of lights and shadows1 and in the fascinating rhythms of movement on the screen4 ,this conscious desire for beauty on the screen1 which is springing up all along the line1 from the producer to the ultimate 8fan10 has naturally led to public discussion4 ,in school room and church1 on 8lot0 and 8location10 in office and studio1 in club or casual group1 men and women are trying to find words and phrases to express the cinematic beauty which they have sensed4 ,and by that discussion they are sharpening their senses for the discovery of richer beauty in the films that are to come4 ,my contribution to that discussion has taken the form of this book1 and my aim has been1 first1 to collect the topics which are connected with the purely pictorial side of the movies1 and1 second1 to formulate my conception of some of the principles which govern the creation of pictorial beauty on the screen4 ,i have endeavored to see my subject from various angles1 assuming at times the position of the sensitive spectator and at times standing1 as it were1 beside the average director1 and presuming to suggest to him what he ought to do to please that spectator4 ,to begin with1 let us take care to avoid some of the common pitfalls of photoplay criticism4 ,it has been a common error to judge a photoplay as though it were a kind of visualized book4 ,many of us have slipped into the mistake of expecting motion photographs to give us the same kind of pleasure which we get from printed or spoken words4 ,but let us understand from now on that the beauty of a design-and-motion art must of necessity be quite different from the beauty of a word-and-voice art4 ,this means that we shall have to get out of the habit of using expressions like 8,he is writing a photoplay40 ,a writer might indeed devise a story for a motion picture play1 as he might originate and describe an idea for a painting1 but it would not in either case be proper to say that he had written the picture4 ,this book is not a study of words1 phrases1 sentences1 paragraphs1 etc4 ,it does not deal with literary expression4 ,it deals with fixed and moving designs1 the things which the spectator actually sees1 the only forms which actually hold and present the contents of a photoplay4 ,at times we shall1 of course1 be obliged to say something about the familiar 8sub-titles10 which interrupt the pictorial flow in a film4 ,but word-forms are not characteristic photoplay forms4 ,fundamentally1 a photoplay is a sequence of motion pictures1 and a man can no more write those pictures than he can write a row of paintings on a wall4 ,however1 it would be unfair to say that a writer could not in some way lend a hand in the making of a motion picture2 we merely insist that the finished picture should not be judged as writing4 ,we must also get rid of the notion that 8photoplays are acted40 ,it would hardly be further from the truth to say that paintings are posed4 ,a finished painting may1 in fact1 contain the image of some person who has posed for the artist2 but the painting contains something else far more significant4 ,we cannot thank ,raphael's model for the beauty of 8,the ,sistine ,madonna10 nor can we thank ,charles ,i4 of ,england for the beauty of ,van ,dyck's portraits of him4 ,turning to movies1 it must be admitted that actors are tremendously important1 but it must not be said that they act motion pictures4 ,they only act while motion pictures are being made4 ,we cannot thank them for the poignant beauty of glowing lights and falling shadows1 of flowing lines1 and melting forms1 and all that strange evanescence that makes up the lure of cinematic forms4 ,also we must reject the theory that the artistic quality of a photoplay can be guaranteed by engaging so-called art directors who design backgrounds or select natural settings for the action of the film story4 ,the picture which we see on the screen consists not of backgrounds alone2 it is rather an ever-varying design of moving figures combined with a fixed or changing background4 ,if an art director limits his work to the preparation of material environment of photoplay action1 he is1 by definition1 responsible only for the place-element in the motion picture4 ,even if he were to design costumes and general equipment for the players he would still be responsible for only a part of the pictorial elements that appear upon the screen4 ,plot1 performers1 places1 equipment--these are only the materials which a picture-maker puts into cinematic forms4 ,the art does not lie in the separate materials2 it lies in the organization of those materials1 a process which may be called cinema composition4,a ,in a later chapter we shall discuss the proposition that the motion picture director is1 or certainly should be1 the master cinema composer4 ,here we simply want to make the point that criticism should concern itself with the finished composition as a whole and not with the parts alone4 ,the critic who is interested only in the plot construction of photoplays may indeed be able to make penetrating comment upon such dramatic qualities as suspense1 logic1 etc41 but he cannot thereby give us any information on those visual aspects which please or displease the eye while the picture is showing4 ,thus also the critic who looks only at the acting in the photoplay is likely to be misled and to mislead us4 ,he may not observe1 for example1 that a film which has bad joining of scenes1 or a bad combination of figure and setting1 is a bad cinema composition1 however superb the acting may be4 ,and the critic who writes1 8,the photography is excellent10--a rubber-stamp criticism--is of no help to art-lovers1 because the photography as such may indeed be excellent while the composition of the scenes photographed is atrocious4 ,cinema criticism1 to be of any real value to the 8movie fan10 must be complete4 ,and that means that he must be enlightened concerning the nature of pictorial design and pictorial progression1 as well as concerning the plot1 the acting1 and the mechanics of photography4 ,a ,the terms 8cinema composer0 and 8cinema composition0 were devised by the author in #aiaf1 at the time when he and his students founded the ,cinema ,composers ,club at ,columbia ,university4 ,all of us are beginners in this pioneer work of analyzing the motion picture as a design-and-motion art4 ,but the prize is well worth the adventure4 ,certainly the danger of making mistakes need not alarm us unduly1 for even a mistake may be interesting and helpful4 ,at the start we need to sharpen our insight by learning as much about the grammar of pictorial art as we know about the grammar of language1 by respecting the logic of line and tone as highly as the logic of fictitious events1 by paying tribute to originality in the pattern of pictorial motions no less than to the novelty in fresh dramatic situations4 ,beyond that the prospect is alluring4 ,our new understanding will give us greater enjoyment of the pictorial beauty which even now comes to the screen1 and the rumor of that enjoyment1 sounding through the studios1 will assure of us of still greater beauty in the future4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,practical ,,value ,,of ,,pictorial ,,composition ,the production manager of a large motion picture studio in ,new ,york once declared to the author that he was 8against artistry in the movies because it usually spoils the picture40 8,emotion's what gets 'em1 not art10 he added4 8,besides1 a director has to shoot thirty or forty scenes a day1 and hasn't got any time to fool away with art notions40 ,any one who has seen 8,the ,covered ,wagon0 7directed by ,james ,cruze for the ,famous ,players-,lasky ,corporation7 knows that such talk is nonsense4 ,this remarkable photoplay charms the eye1 appeals to the imagination1 and stirs the emotions--all in the same 8shot40 ,one can never forget the pictorial beauty in those magnificent expanses of barren prairie1 traversed by the long train of covered wagons1 a white line winding in slow rhythm1 while a softly rising cloud of dust blends the tones of the curving canvas tops and of the wind-blown sage brush4 ,again and again the wagon train becomes a striking pictorial motif1 and1 whether it is seen creeping across the prairie1 following the bank of a river1 climbing toward a pass in the mountains1 stretching out1 a thin black chain of silhouettes on the horizon1 curving itself along the palisade-like walls of an arroyo1 or halted in snow against a background of ,oregon pines1 it always adds emphasis to the intense drama of the pioneers battling against the hardships of the trail in '#dh and '#di4 ,here is entrancing change and flow of pattern1 but here is human striving and performance1 too2 and the emotions of the audience are touched more directly and more deeply because picture and drama have been fused into a single art4 ,shortly after 8,the ,covered ,wagon0 had opened in ,new ,york an executive of a certain film company was heard to remark1 8,well1 no wonder it's a success4 ,it cost #gjj1jjj to make it6 ,any one could take that much money and make a great picture40 ,i consider that reflection highly unjust and the argument entirely fallacious4 ,good pictorial composition does not necessarily cost a cent more than bad composition4 ,in fact1 it will be shown in the following chapters that a scene of cinematic beauty often costs less than an ordinary arrangement of the same scene4 ,the pictorial beauty discussed in this book is really a kind of pictorial efficiency1 and therefore must have practical1 economic value4 ,when a motion picture is well composed it pleases the eye1 its meaning is easily understood1 and the emotion it contains is quickly and forcefully conveyed4 ,in short1 it has the power of art4 ,pictorial efficiency cannot be bought4 ,it cannot be guaranteed by the possession of expensive cameras and other mechanical equipment4 ,the camera has no sense1 no soul1 no capacity for selecting1 emphasizing1 and interpreting the pictorial subject for the benefit of the spectator4 ,in fact1 the camera is positively stupid1 because it always shows more than is necessary2 it often emphasizes the wrong thing1 and it is notoriously blind to beautiful significance4 ,you who carry kodaks for the purpose of getting souvenirs of your travels have perhaps often been surprised1 when the films were developed1 to discover some very conspicuous object1 ugly and jarring1 which you had not noticed at the time when the picture was taken4 ,at that time your mind had forced your eye to ignore all that was not interesting and beautiful1 but the camera had made no such choice4 ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,plough ,girl4 ,the pictorial composition at this moment of the action is bad because the spectator's eye is not led instantly to the book1 which is the most important dramatic interest in this scene4 ,see page #aa4 ,it will not help matters to buy a better lens for your camera and to be more careful of the focus next time4 ,such things can only make the images more sharp2 they cannot alter the emphasis4 ,unfortunately there are still movie makers1 and movie 8fans10 too1 in the world who have the notion that sharpness of photography1 or 8clearness10 as they call it1 is a wonderful quality4 ,but such people do not appreciate art2 they merely appreciate machinery4 ,to make the separate parts of a picture more distinct does not help us to see the total meaning more clearly4 ,it may1 in fact1 prevent us from seeing4 ,let us look1 for example1 at the 8still0 reproduced on the opposite page4 ,the picture is clear enough4 ,we observe that it contains three figures and about a dozen objects4 ,our attention is caught by a conspicuous lamp1 whose light falls upon a suspicious-looking jug1 with its stopper not too tightly in4 ,yet these objects1 emphasized as they are1 have but slight importance indeed when compared with the book clutched in the man's hand4 ,this mistake in emphasis is not the fault of the camera2 it is the fault of the director1 who in the haste1 or ignorance1 perhaps1 of days gone by1 composed the picture so badly that the spectators are forced to look first at the wrong things1 thus wasting time and energy before they can find the right things4 ,on the screen1 to be sure1 the book attracts some attention because it is in motion1 yet that does not suffice to draw our attention immediately away from the striking objects in the foreground4 ,the primary interests should1 of course1 have been placed in the strongest light and in the most prominent position4 ,guiding the attention of the spectator properly helps him to understand what he is looking at1 but it is still more important to help him feel what he is looking at4 ,movie producers used to have a great deal to say about the need of putting 8punch0 into a picture1 of making it so strong that it would 8hit the audience between the eyes40 ,well1 let those hot injunctions still be given4 ,we maintain that good composition will make any motion picture 8punch0 harder1 and that bad composition will weaken the 8punch10 may1 indeed1 prevent its being felt at all4 ,but before arguing that proposition1 let us philosophize a bit over the manner in which a 8punch0 operates on our minds4 ,anything that impresses the human mind through the eye requires a three-fold expenditure of human energy4 ,there is1 first1 the physical exertion of looking1 then the mental exertion of seeing1 that is1 understanding what one looks at1 and1 finally1 the joy of feeling1 the pouring out of emotional energy4 ,this last is the 8punch10 the result which every artist aims to produce2 but it can only be achieved through the spectator's enjoyment of looking and seeing4 ,now1 since the total human energy available at any one time for looking1 seeing1 and feeling is limited1 it is clearly desirable to economize in the efforts of looking and seeing1 in order to leave so much the more energy for emotional enjoyment4 ,we shall discuss in the following chapter some of the things which waste our energies during the efforts of looking and seeing4 ,let us here consider how pictorial composition can control the expenditure of emotional energy1 and how it may thus either help or hinder the spectator in his appreciation of beauty on the screen4 ,let us imagine an example of a typical 8punch0 picture and describe it here in words--inadequate though they may be--to illustrate how a bad arrangement of events and scenes may use up the spectator's emotional energy before the story arrives at the event intended to furnish the main thrill4 ,the 8punch0 in this case is to be the transfer of a man from one airplane to another4 ,but many other things will disturb us on the way1 and certain striking scenes will rob the aerial transfer of its intended 8punch40 ,first we see the hero and his pilot just starting their flight in a hydro-airplane1 the dark compact machine contrasting strongly with the magnificent spread of white sails of a large sloop yacht--perhaps thus tending to focus our attention on the yacht--which skims along toward the left of our view4 ,then1 in the next scene1 near some country village1 evidently miles away from the expanse of water in the first picture1 we see a huge ,caproni triplane1 which must have made a forced landing in the muddy creek of a pasture4 ,a herd of ,holstein cows with strange black and white markings1 two bare-footed country girls1 a shepherd dog1 and five helmeted mechanicians1 stand helpless1 all equally admiring and dumb1 while an alert farmer hitches an amusing span of mules1 one black and one gray1 to the triplane and drags it out of the mud4 ,the third scene is strange indeed4 ,it looks at first like a dazzling sea of foam--perhaps the ocean churned to fury by a storm--no1 you may not believe it1 but it is a sea of clouds4 ,we are in an airplane of our own high in the sky1 perhaps miles and miles1 or maybe only three-quarters of a mile1 above sea level4 ,just as we become fascinated by the nests of shadows among the cloud billows1 a black object swings up from the whiteness1 like a dolphin or a submarine from the sea4 ,it is the hydro-airplane with our hero and his pilot2 we recognize them because they are now sailing abreast of us only a few yards away4 ,the hero stands up and is about to assume the pose of ,washington crossing the ,delaware1 a difficult thing in such a strong wind when he is suddenly struck from behind by a villain who evidently had concealed himself in the body of the hydro-airplane before the flight was started4 ,the villain is dressed like a soldier and seems to have a knapsack on his back4 ,meanwhile1 the sea of clouds flows by1 dazzling white and without a rift through which one might look to see whether a city1 an ocean1 a forest1 or a cornfield lies below4 ,suddenly we look upward and discover the triplane1 silhouetted sharply against the sky like the skeleton of some monster4 ,it has five bodies and the five propellors1 which three or four minutes ago were paralyzed in the cow pasture1 now are revolving so rapidly that we cannot see them4 ,it would be very interesting--but look6 the villain and the hero are having a little wrestling match on one of the wings of their plane4 ,let us hope the hero throws the villain into the clouds6 ,he does1 too6 ,but villains are deucedly clever4 ,the knapsack turns into a parachute1 which spreads out into a white circular form1 more circular than any of the clouds4 ,we wonder if there will be any one to meet him when he lands--but1 don't miss it6 ,this is the 8punch06 ,the triplane is flying just above the hydro-airplane4 ,somebody lets down a rope ladder1 which bends back like the tail of a kite4 ,the hero grabs it1 grins at the camera1 climbs up1 and with perfect calmness asks for a cigarette1 though he doesn't light it1 because that would be against the pilot's rules4 ,well1 the transfer from one airplane to another wasn't so much of a 8punch10 after all4 ,now let us count the thrills of such a picture as they might come to us from the screen4 ,first1 in order of time1 would be our delight at the stately curves of the gleaming sails of the yacht1 but this delight would be dulled somewhat by the physical difficulty experienced by the eyes in following the swaying1 thrusting movement of the yacht as it heels from the breeze1 and at the same time following the rising shape of the hydro-airplane2 and it would be further dulled by the mental effort of trying to see the dramatic relation between yacht and plane4 ,but1 whether dulled or not1 this thrill would be all in vain1 for it surely does not put more force into the 8punch0 which we set out to produce1 namely1 the transfer of a man from one airplane to another4 ,the yacht1 therefore1 being unnecessary to our story1 violates the principle of unity2 it violates the principles of emphasis and balance1 because it distracts our attention from the main interest2 and it violates the principle of rhythm1 because it does not take a part in the upward-curving succession of interests that should culminate with the main 8punch40 ,if the plane of our hero must rise from the water1 and if there is to be a secondary interest in the picture1 let it be something which1 though really subordinate1 can intensify our interest in the plane4 ,perhaps a clumsy old tug would serve the purpose1 its smoke tracing a barrier1 above which the plane soars as easily as a bird4 ,or perhaps a rowboat would be just as well1 with a fisherman gazing spellbound at the machine that rises into the air4 ,either of these elements would emphasize the idea of height and danger4 ,the scene of the triplane in the pasture with the cows1 mules1 etc41 might be mildly amusing4 ,but our eyes would be taxed by its moving spots1 and1 since its tones would be dark or dark gray1 the pupils of our eyes would become dilated1 and would therefore be totally unprepared for the flash of white which follows in the next scene4 ,the white expanse of fleecy clouds would shock the eyes at first sight1 since the approach to the subject had not been properly made2 but in a moment we would be stirred by the feeling that we were really above the clouds4 ,we would seem to have passed into a new world with floods of mist4 ,the long stretches of white are soft as eiderdown1 yet1 because of our own motion1 they seem like the currents of a broad river1 and one can almost imagine that it were possible to steer a canoe over those rapids4 ,all this would be the second thrill1 beautiful in itself but not actually tending to emphasize the 8punch0 of a man transferring from one airplane to another4 ,the third thrill would surely come when the hydro-airplane swings up through these clouds1 like a dolphin from the sea1 and yet not like a dolphin1 because it rises more slowly and in a few moments soars freely into the air1 a marvellous happening which no words can describe4 ,yet this thrill1 like the others1 would exhaust our emotions rather than leave them fresh for the 8punch0 we started out to produce1 the transfer of a man from one airplane to another4 ,most thrilling of all would be the moments between the instant when the villain is pushed off the wing of the plane and the instant when his parachute snaps open4 ,the white mass of the parachute1 almost like a tiny cloud1 spreads out at the instant when it reaches the layer of clouds1 as if they pushed it open2 then the parachute sinks into the clouds and dies out like a wave of the sea4 ,after all these thrills1 the intended 8punch0 would come like a slap on the wrist4 ,a man might now leap back and forth from one airplane to another until it was time to go home for supper1 and we would only yawn at his exploits4 ,now one of the morals of this story is that we did get a 8punch10 even though it was not the one originally intended by our imagined producer4 ,treasures often lie in unsuspected places4 ,nearly every common-place film on the screen contains some beauty by accident1 some unexpected charm1 some unforseen 8punch10 something the director never dreamed of1 which outshines the very beauty which he aimed to produce4 ,and whenever a thoughtful person is stirred by such accidental beauty he is delighted to think that such a thing is possible4 ,in the exceptional films1 he knows1 such effects are produced by design instead of by chance4 ,it is better business1 and it is better art4 ,we said at the beginning of this chapter that it was clearly desirable to economize the spectator's efforts of looking and seeing1 in order that he may have the greatest possible amount of energy left for the experience of emotion4 ,this is desirable even from a business man's point of view4 ,we shall now try to show that emotional thrills can actually be controlled by design1 by what we shall call pictorial composition4 ,but how is pictorial composition controlled1 and who controls it8 ,how far is the scenario writer responsible for pictorial value8 ,how much of the pictorial composition shall the director direct1 and how much of it may safely be left to other hands8 ,and1 if a picture is well composed1 does that guarantee beauty8 ,the answers to these questions depend upon our definition of terms4 ,composition in general means1 of course1 simply bringing things together into a mutual relation4 ,a particular combination of parts in a picture may help the spectator1 or may hinder him more than some other possible combination of the same parts4 ,composition is form1 and as such should be revealing and expressive at the same time that it is appealing in itself4 ,good composition cannot easily be defined in a single sentence1 but1 for the sake of order in our discussion1 ,i wish to offer the following as my working definition4 ,the best cinema composition is that arrangement of elements in a scene or succession of scenes which enables us to see the most with the least difficulty and the deepest feeling4 ,a remarkable thing about composition is that it cannot be avoided4 ,every picture must have some kind of arrangement1 whether that arrangement be good1 bad1 or indifferent4 ,as soon as an actor enters a room he makes a composition1 because every gesture1 every movement1 every line of his body bears some pictorial relation to everything else within range of our vision4 ,even to draw a single line or to prick a single point upon a sheet of paper is to start a composition1 because such a mark must bear some relation to the four unavoidable lines which are described by the edges of the paper4 ,to place a flower in a vase is to make a composition4 ,if the arrangement contains more meaning1 more significance than the exhibition of the flower and the vase separately1 and if this meaning can easily be perceived1 the composition is good4 ,a bad composition would doubtless result if we placed the flower and vase together in front of a framed photograph1 because the three things would not fuse together into a unity which contained more meaning than the things had separately4 ,in fact1 even the separate values would be lost1 because the vase would obscure the photograph1 which in turn would distract our attention from the vase4 ,in other words1 the arrangement would not help us to see much with ease4 ,on the other hand1 to place the flower and vase against some hanging or panel which harmonizes with them in color and emphasizes the beauty of the flower1 is good composition1 providing the rest of the environment is in harmony4 ,the vase must1 of course1 stand on something1 perhaps a table or a mantel-piece4 ,this support must have shape1 lines1 color and texture1 all visual elements which must be skillfully wrought into our design if the composition is to be successful4 ,we see1 therefore1 that the artistic arrangement of simple things which do not move1 which stay where you put them1 is by no means a simple matter4 ,what we have just described may be called composition in a general sense1 but it represents only the initial process in pictorial composition4 ,the picture maker's work only begins with the arranging of the subject4 ,it does not end until he has recorded that subject in some permanent form1 such as a painting1 a drawing1 or a celluloid negative4 ,in the recording1 or treatment1 the painter tries to improve the composition of his subject4 ,he changes the curves of the vase and the flower somewhat in order to obtain a more definite unity4 ,he softens the emphasis in one place and heightens it in another4 ,he balances shape against shape4 ,he swings into the picture a rhythm of line and tone which he hopes may express to some beholder the harmony which he1 the artist1 feels4 ,in other words1 the painter begins by arranging things1 he continues by altering the aspects of those things until they fit his conception of the perfect picture of the subject before him1 and he finishes the composition only when he leaves a permanent record of what he has seen and felt4 ,illustration3 ,the ,shepherdess1 a painting by ,le,rolle1 illustrating several principles of design which can be effectively used in photoplays4 ,see page #ee4 ,now it is evident that the painter might begin1 without an actual flower or vase or panel or table1 by merely arranging his mental images of those things4 ,but the process would1 of course1 still be composition4 ,if1 for example1 he were to say to himself 8,to-morrow ,i shall paint a picture of a rose in a slate-blue vase standing on an antique oak table backed by a gray panel10 that very arrangement of images in his mind would be the first phase of his composition4 ,or if a customer were to come to him and say 8,to-morrow ,i want you to paint for me a picture of a rose10 etc41 the process of bringing things together would still be composition2 only in that case it begins with the customer and is completed by the painter4 ,if we apply this reasoning to the movies it is clear that as soon as a scenario writer writes a single line saying that a hydro-airplane takes off from the sea1 he has already started a pictorial composition4 ,although he may not realize it1 he has already brought together the long straight line of the horizon1 the short curving lines of the waves1 and the short straight and oblique lines of the plane4 ,he has already made it necessary to combine certain tonal values of airplane and sky and sea1 though he may not have stopped to consider what those tonal values might be4 ,but the writer does other things of greater consequence than the combining of shapes and tonal values4 ,he prescribes motions and locomotions of things1 and he orders the succession of scenes4 ,even if he writes only that 8a plane rises from the sea10 he makes necessary the combination of a great number of movements4 ,on the screen that plane will have at least four movements1 namely1 rising1 tilting1 going toward the right or the left1 and the movement of diminishing size4 ,and the sea will have at least three movements1 namely1 undulation1 flowing1 and the movement of the wake4 ,now if the scenario writer adds something else to the same scene1 or prescribes the mutual relation of things and movements which are to appear in the next scene1 he is1 of course1 merely continuing the process of cinema composition4 ,insofar as the writer makes the combination of these things essential to the story he circumscribes the power1 he may even tie the hands1 of the director4 ,for the latter1 unless he ignores the composition thus begun1 can do only one thing with it2 he can only carry it on4 ,now it is a sad thing to relate that many scenario writers do not suspect the truth of what we have just said4 ,some of them are evidently unaware of the significant fact that their description is really a prescription1 that even by their written words they are really drawing the first lines of hundreds of pictures1 that they are actually engaged in pictorial composition4 ,they may be without knowledge of graphic art and without skill4 ,they may not be able to take a pencil or a piece of charcoal and sketch out a horse or a hut or the general aspect of a single pictorial moment as it would appear on the screen4 ,they may never have given any thought to the question of how best to arrange simultaneous or successive movements in order to give the strongest emotional appeal to the spectator4 ,yet they are drawing screen pictures1 and drawing them on the typewriter6 ,of course1 even the most intelligent scenario writers1 even those who have the most accurate knowledge of pictorial values on the screen and the keenest power of visualizing their story as it will appear after it has been screened1 are always handicapped by working in the medium of language4 ,words are not motion-photographs1 any more than they are paint or marble4 ,this is the scenario writer's handicap4 ,but1 though we may sympathize with him because of the handicap1 we cannot relieve him of responsibility as the designer of beginnings in the cinema composition4 ,the director has a handicap1 too4 ,he also does not work in the medium of motion photographs4 ,he cannot do so4 ,even if he were to look through the view-finder of the motion picture camera during the entire taking of every scene1 he would not see exactly what we are destined to see in the theater4 ,he would see things only in miniature1 in a glass some two inches square1 instead of larger than life4 ,he would see things1 not in black and white1 but in their true colors4 ,and he can never1 under any circumstance1 behold two or more scenes directly connected1 with no more than the wink of an eye between them1 until after the negatives have been developed1 positives printed1 and the strips spliced together in the cutting and joining room4 ,in other words1 neither the scenario writer nor the motion picture director can ever know definitely in advance just what the finished work will look like to us in the theater4 ,if we are aware of these handicaps1 it may help us to understand why ugliness so often slips through to the screen1 but it will not permit us to tolerate that ugliness4 ,we1 as spectators and critics1 must forever insist that the photoplay makers master their art1 no matter how difficult the mastery may be4 ,it was held some years ago that the only thing the matter with the movies was that the stories were badly composed and of little originality4 ,hence1 a number of prominent novelists and playwrights were hired to adapt their own literary work or prepare new stories for the screen4 ,but these literary men were among the first to discover that better writing does not in itself guarantee better pictures4 ,it is the director who is more truly the picture maker than any one of his collaborators in the work4 ,ideally1 he should prepare his own scenario1 just as the painter makes his own preliminary sketches1 and the fiction writer makes his own first draught of a story4 ,ideally1 too1 the plot should be devised by the director 7who might then truly be called a cinema composer71 devised especially for motion pictures1 and with peculiar qualities and appeals that could never so well be expressed in other mediums4 ,but that is an ideal to be dreamed of4 ,and1 meanwhile1 we 8movie fans0 can enjoy the best that is being produced by collaborative methods1 and we can help toward the achievement of still better things by developing a thorough appreciation of what is pictorially pleasing1 at the same time that we train ourselves to detect and talk out of existence the common faults of the movies4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,eye ,,tests ,,for ,,beauty ,do the movies hurt your eyes8 ,some say 8yes0 and some say 8no40 ,why is it that photoplay scenes sometimes flash and dazzle1 but have neither radiance nor sparkle8 ,why is it that the motions sometimes shown on the screen get 8on your nerves08 ,why is it that you look at so much on the screen and remember so little8 ,these questions can be answered by making certain eye tests for beauty1 and1 having answered them1 we may proceed to a detailed discussion of pictorial composition in a great variety of cases4 ,in order to understand how the pleasure of pictorial beauty comes to a spectator1 we must analyze the processes of looking and seeing4 ,these processes consist partly of eye-work and partly of brain-work4 ,that is1 the physical eye must do certain work before the brain gets the visual image4 ,now if the physical eye has to work too hard1 or bear a sudden strain1 or undergo excessive wear1 it will not function well2 and1 consequently1 the brain will have to work harder in order to grasp the picture4 ,all this causes displeasure1 and displeasure is in conflict with beauty4 ,let us state1 once for all1 that motion pictures need never hurt the eyes--quite the contrary4 ,yet we have often seen photoplays that did hurt the eyes4 ,some of the reasons for this will be given in the following paragraphs4 ,a familiar operation of the physical eye is the contraction and dilation of the pupil4 ,we know from childhood that the pupil grows large when the light is weak1 and small when the light is strong4 ,we also know that the eye cannot make this adjustment instantly4 ,if a strong light is suddenly flashed on us1 for example1 when we lie awake in a dark room it dazzles us1 because our pupils are adjusted for darkness2 it even hurts so much that we defend ourselves by closing the eyelids4 ,in exactly the same way our eyes are shocked by the movies when a dazzling white light is flashed on the screen where a somewhat darkened scene has just vanished4 ,the pupil is caught unawares1 is not instantly able to protect the eye1 and1 besides1 must use up a certain amount of energy in adapting itself to the new condition4 ,such a shock once or twice during the evening might easily be forgiven and forgotten1 might1 in fact1 be hardly felt at the time2 but fifty such shocks in a five-reel photoplay would certainly weary the eye1 and a play of that sort could hardly be called beautiful4 ,the fault which we have just named lies in the joining of scenes4 ,but it is not1 as a rule1 necessary to connect scenes or sections of a film so that there is a jump from the darkest dark to the whitest white1 or vice versa4 ,this can be avoided1 of course1 by the device of 8fading out0 one scene and 8fading in0 the next1 which gives the eye time to adapt itself1 or by 8fading down0 or 8up0 just far enough to match the exact tone of the next picture4 ,the shock can also be avoided by joining various sections of the film in a series of steps of increasing brightness or darkness4 ,the eye is hurt1 we have said1 by a sharp succession of black and white4 ,it is also hurt by a sharp contrast of whites and blacks lying side by side on the screen4 ,such extremes are avoided in paintings4 ,the next time you are in an art museum please compare the brightest white in any portrait with the white of your cuff1 or your handkerchief1 or a piece of paper4 ,you may be surprised to discover that the high light in that painting is not severely white4 ,it is rather grayish or yellowish1 soft and easy to the eye4 ,observe also that the darkest hue in that painting is far from the deepest possible black4 ,the extremes of tone are1 in fact1 never very far apart1 and are therefore easily grasped by the eye without undue strain4 ,and while you are thinking of this practice of painters1 you might compare it with the similar practice of composers of music4 ,your piano has many keys1 the highest one in the treble being extremely far from the lowest one in the bass4 ,yet if you examine the score of any single piece of music you will discover that the highest note in that piece is not so very far from the lowest note in the same piece4 ,it might have been possible to use the entire keyboard1 but the composer has been wise enough not to try it4 ,his extreme notes are so near together that the ear is able to catch them and all the subtle values of the music in between1 without being strained by the effort4 ,it seems1 therefore1 that in artistic matters moderation is a good thing1 is1 in fact1 necessary to produce real beauty4 ,but moderation in the movies is not yet a widely accepted gospel4 ,too often we find that the dazzling flood of rays from a strong searchlight blazes over several square yards of the silver screen1 while at the same moment1 on adjoining parts of the same screen hang the deep shades of night4 ,the contrasts are sharp as lightning1 not only in the scenes1 but also in the sub-titles which are cut in between4 ,our eyes gaze and twitch and hurt1 until it is a real relief to step out and rest them upon something comparatively moderate1 like the electric signs on ,broadway4 ,if there were some mechanical difficulty which made this clashing effect of the motion pictures necessary1 we could never hope for beauty on the screen2 for no art can achieve beauty by producing pain4 ,but we know from the work of such directors as ,james ,cruze1 ,d4 ,w4 ,griffith1 ,allan ,dwan1 ,rex ,ingram1 and ,john ,robertson1 that the moving picture camera is capable of recording light gray and dark gray1 as well as steel white and ebony4 ,they have shown us that it is possible to produce sub-titles with light gray lettering against a dark gray ground1 and that such a combination of tones is pleasing to the eye4 ,they have shown us that it is possible to screen a lady of the fairest face and dressed in the snowiest gown so as to bring out the softest tones of light and shade1 yet show nothing as dazzling as snow and nothing as black as ebony4 ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,spell of the ,yukon4 ,an interesting example of chiaroscuro and the harmonizing of dramatic pantomime with pictorial pattern4 ,the composition1 however1 is slightly marred by over-emphasis on the window4 ,see pages #ee and #fc4 ,illustration3 ,a study of the 8still0 shown above1 illustrating a simple method of analyzing pictorial composition4 ,see page #fc4 ,some of the 8stills0 in this book give a hint of the sharp contrasts in the inferior films1 but it is only a hint1 because the white portions in those illustrations can be no whiter than the paper of the page1 which is dull in comparison with the blaze on the screen4 ,the movie theater is the best place to verify the theories which we are here trying to explain in words4 ,go to the movies4 ,whenever you find that you enjoy the films thoroughly1 then by all means do not stop to analyze or criticise4 ,if you enjoy any particular film so much that you are sure you would like to see it two or three times every year for the rest of your life1 you may be happy1 for you have discovered one of the classics of the screen4 ,do not analyze that film either1 unless you are in the business of making pictures4 ,but if a film makes you uncomfortable1 or if it is so bad that you are quite disgusted with it1 then1 though you must become a martyr to do it1 please stay and see it again4 ,compare the good parts of the film1 if there are any1 with the bad parts2 study it in detail until you see where the trouble lies4 ,and when you have discovered the real causes of ugliness in that film1 wouldn't it be a public service to express your opinion in such a way that the manager of your theater might hear it8 ,thus far in this chapter we have discussed only a single operation of the eye1 namely1 the expanding and contracting of the pupils under the effect of darkness and brightness1 but it is easy to understand now how such an apparently slight thing may seriously affect our enjoyment of the movies4 ,let the reader1 when he is next displeased by a picture1 test it for sharpness of contrast between white and black4 ,he will probably not have to seek further for explanation of its ugliness4 ,another operation which the eye-machine performs is the accommodation to color4 ,it is somewhat similar to the accommodation to distance1 which we shall describe1 if the reader will help us by making an experiment4 ,close one eye and look steadily with the other at an object across the room4 ,now1 without changing your gaze1 hold up your finger in line with this object and about a foot away from your eye4 ,the outline of the finger will be indistinct as long as you keep the eye focused on the remote object4 ,now1 still keeping one eye shut1 look at your finger until you can see the little ridges on it4 ,the eye has changed its focus1 and the remote object is now indistinct4 ,what happens is that the lens within the eye changes its shape1 bulging more for near objects and flattening again for distant objects4 ,this work of the eye1 called accommodation1 is done by certain delicate muscles4 ,a little of it may be stimulating1 but too much will make the eyes tired4 ,now it is a strange thing that certain colors affect the eyes in the same way as distances4 ,painters knew this fact for hundreds of years before the scientists were able to explain the reason4 ,they knew that blue seemed farther away than red1 and arranged the colors in their paintings accordingly4 ,all artists have learned the trick1 even some of our commercial artists1 who make advertising posters for street cars4 ,blue makes the background fall back2 red makes a figure stand forward4 ,the reason for this illusion is that when the eye looks at red it adjusts itself exactly as if it were looking at a near object1 and thus deceives the brain1 so to speak2 and when it looks at blue it adjusts itself as if it were looking at a distant object and again deceives the brain4 ,or1 to state the fact more completely1 a color from the red end of the color scale 7red1 orange1 yellow1 green1 blue1 indigo1 violet7 seems nearer to the eye than one from the violet end1 even though the colors are all placed equally distant from the eye4 ,now we shall see that1 although these effects of color are useful in a painting1 they may be harmful in a motion picture4 ,when we behold a painting in which colors ranging from red to yellow are contrasted with colors ranging from violet to blue1 we may1 indeed1 get a pleasant sensation of the eye because of the stimulating activity in the work of accommodation4 ,there is to most people a distinct pleasure1 for example1 in shifting the gaze from orange-yellow to blue1 because those colors are felt to be 8complementary40 ,but it must be remembered that the circumstances of looking at a painting are entirely different from those of looking at a motion picture4 ,two differences are especially notable4 ,the first difference is that when we look at a painting we ourselves are practically the choosers of when and how long to look at any spot1 line1 shape1 or color4 ,in other words1 we ourselves practically decide on how much and what kind of work our eyes shall do2 but when we look at a motion picture we never know at any instant what we may be called upon to do the next instant4 ,that makes us nervous4 ,we need to be constantly braced for the shock and1 if we are not so braced1 we must suffer when the shock comes4 ,the second difference is that everything in a painting is always actually at rest1 while nearly everything in a motion picture is always in motion4 ,if a painting1 which does not move in any of its parts1 can suggest movement to our imagination1 or can make our eyes perform actual movements of vision1 such movements1 actual and imaginary1 are pleasantly stimulating4 ,the eyes enjoy the natural activity of their work1 and we feel that there is life in the painting4 ,but the motion picture1 by its very nature1 has as much life as it needs4 ,it naturally gives the eyes all the work they can stand4 ,hence1 if they need any stimulating change at all1 it is rather the change from movement to repose4 ,now let us go to the movie theater4 ,very likely before the show is over we shall be treated to a rapid shifting from the blue of some exterior scene in the moonlight to the orange-yellowish glow of some interior scene in lamplight4 ,our eyes1 therefore1 must accommodate their lenses to one of these colors again and again1 only to receive a sudden demand for accommodation to the other color4 ,we have no choice in the matter except to get up and go out4 ,our eyes1 already busy enough1 do not need the stimulation of any more activity1 and our minds1 already active enough1 would prefer the relief of something more reposeful4 ,if the director must have this shifting from blue to orange to blue1 etc41 he might1 at least1 give us some warning1 some softening of the shock1 so to speak4 ,for example1 if there is to be a sudden shift from a yellowish lamp-light scene to a bluish night scene1 a hint might be given by attracting our attention to a window1 through which the blue of night is shown4 ,and similarly in a bluish night scene our attention might be attracted toward the warm glow from a door or window as a warning that the next scene is to be flooded with that color4 ,thus in either case we would have a chance to prepare our eyes for the shift1 and we would sense a better continuity of movement4 ,the subject of color in the movies will be discussed again in following chapters4 ,it may be remarked in passing that1 since color movies are still highly experimental1 it is only to be expected that mistakes of many kinds will be made4 ,doubtless the leading directors can be trusted to learn from experience4 ,yet it behooves us who sit in the theaters to be as disapproving of new faults as we are exultant over new beauties4 ,it is not discouraging to discover a fault1 so long as we see that it is one which might have been avoided4 ,we want to make it plain in this chapter that1 although the movies sometimes hurt the eyes1 it is never due to any necessity4 ,it is a fact that pictures on the screen1 when properly made1 are always pleasing to the spectators' eyes4 ,and he who does not accept this as a fundamental proposition can hardly come by any large faith in the future of the photoplay as art4 ,but we must make a few more eye tests for beauty4 ,if you face a wall about twenty feet away1 you can1 without changing the position of your head1 look at the left side or the right1 at the top or bottom1 or you can look at the four corners of the wall in succession4 ,these three different kinds of movements1 vertical1 horizontal1 circular1 are controlled by as many different sets of muscles4 ,when we look at pictures1 especially large pictures1 these muscles are constantly busy directing our line of regard from one point of interest to another2 and1 whether there are definite points of interest or not1 our eyes will range over the lines and shapes as we try to discover what they are meant to represent4 ,now a certain amount of eye-movement does not hurt the muscles2 it is1 on the contrary1 rather pleasant1 because their business is to attend to those matters4 ,but the eye will become fatigued by a great amount of movement1 especially when it is forced upon us at unexpected moments1 just as any other part of the body will become fatigued when it is forced to perform a great number of sudden1 unexpected tasks4 ,a simple experiment will illustrate this further4 ,suppose that we are sitting in our door-yard1 gazing across a valley at a group of trees a mile or so away4 ,it is more restful to look at those distant trees than at a single tree only fifty feet away2 and the reason is simple4 ,when we look at any object our eyes have a tendency to follow its outline4 ,now1 of course1 it requires more rolling of the eyes to follow the outline of a tree near by than one in the distance4 ,this rolling movement involves muscular work4 ,and1 if we look first at the near1 large object and then shift to the distant1 small ones1 we immediately experience the restfulness of reduced work4 ,there are other reasons why distant objects are restful to the eyes1 but they do not concern us here4 ,have you ever noticed the pleasing effect in the motion pictures when the thing of interest1 say1 a train or a band of horsemen disappearing in the distance1 narrows itself down to a small space8 ,all images on the screen are1 of course1 equally distant from the spectator2 yet there is a sense of restfulness1 as we have just explained1 because the rolling of the eyes decreases with the diminishing of the image and its area of movement on the screen4 ,but suddenly there comes a close-up of a face twenty feet in diameter1 and our eyes have to get busy in the effort to cover the whole field at once4 ,they rove quickly over several square yards of screen until that face is completely surveyed and every detail noted4 ,lots of looking6 ,yes1 but that 8star0 gets fifty thousand dollars a month6 ,can't fool the camera though--crow's-feet on both sides--fourteen diamonds in the left ear-drop and---- ,flash to a broad1 quiet1 soft gray landscape1 with a lone rider on the horizon--oh1 pshaw6--diamonds must 'a' been glass though--anyway1 this picture's good for sore eyes--kind o' easy feelin'--,indian scout maybe--or a---- ,flash to a close-up of a ,mexican bandit1 etc41 etc4 ,and our eyes get busy again mapping out the whole subject from hat to hoof1 from bridle to tail4 ,exciting6 ,oh1 yes1 indeed1 and interesting too1 but not as art2 for those little muscles up there are jerked around too much1 they are working overtime1 and soon get weary4 8,oh1 well1 ,i reckon ,i can stand the strain10 says some heckler1 who 8don't quite1 you know1 get this high-brow stuff40 ,of course1 he can stand it4 ,we have stood the mad orchestra of the elevated trains1 and the riveters1 and the neighbor's parrot for years1 but we do not call it music4 ,the difference between noise and harmony is a physical difference4 ,if this were not true1 no one could ever tune your piano4 ,jarring1 clashing1 discordant sounds displease the ear4 ,just why noise displeases is not for us to say4 ,but we have already explained three reasons why bad motion pictures hurt the eyes4 ,let us remember them4 ,first1 sudden shifts from dark to bright pictures shock the eye4 ,second1 sudden shifts from a picture in a 8cool0 tint to another in a 8warm0 tint1 and vice versa1 over-work the eye4 ,third1 a series of quick close-ups or other pictures in which the frame is filled with the subject demands too much eye-movement4 ,in the case of the close-up1 or any large picture where the points of interest are scattered all over the field of vision1 the eyes1 as we have said1 become strained by too much rolling1 a muscular effort which is necessary even though the separate points of interest may themselves be fixed1 as fixed as the four corners of the screen itself4 ,but when the points of interest are moving things1 as they generally are in the movies1 new causes of strain often arise4 ,sometimes the object we are trying to look at moves so fast that we can hardly follow it4 ,quick movement is generally desired by the directors because they think that briskness1 or 8pep10 makes the dramatic action more intense4 ,consequently people in the movies walk1 march1 dance1 fight1 and carry on with terrific speed until our eyes become tired in the attempt to observe all that is happening4 ,the cure for such pictorial hysterics is simple moderation1 the elimination of jerky movements wherever possible1 and the choice of movements so easy to follow that the eye may perceive them with the least muscular effort4 ,we do not say that you who worship speed shall not have your express trains1 your racing cars1 your airplanes1 your cow-ponies1 and your ,arabian steeds4 ,you may have them all1 because they can be so photographed that an actual run of two or three miles may be presented on the screen as a movement of only two or three feet4 ,we find1 too1 that there is something pleasing about the apparent slowness of actions that are moderated by distance4 ,on the far horizon1 therefore1 the fleetest things seem retarded to a stately pace that claims our restful gaze4 ,but when a quick movement takes place in the foreground of the picture1 too near the camera1 ugliness results1 because the demands on the eye-muscles are too severe and unexpected4 ,thus a sudden gesture1 or the waving branches of trees or bushes1 or a motor car driving up in front of a house1 or even such intended grace as the movement in dancing1 may spoil a picture by being too near the camera4 ,another thing which makes close-up movements ugly is the flicker1 which cannot be entirely eliminated4 ,our readers are doubtless generally aware that what we see on the screen is simply the blending of a rapid succession of still pictures falling on different spots in an order and a direction which gives the appearance of motion4 ,if you examine a film you will find that there are in fact sixteen little photographs1 or 8frames0 to every foot of ribbon4 ,the negative runs through the camera1 and the positive film through the projecting machine1 at a rate of about a foot per second4 ,now let us suppose that we have a screen sixteen feet long and that we throw upon it a picture of a car running at the rate of ten or eleven miles per hour4 ,if the picture is a close view the image will move across our screen in just one second of time1 for the speed we have assumed is at the rate of sixteen feet per second4 ,but1 since there are only sixteen frames in that foot1 or second1 of film1 we know that only sixteen flashes of the car have been thrown on the screen during that second4 ,therefore1 whatever particular part of the car we are looking at has fallen on sixteen different spots of the screen1 and each spot is just one foot to the side of the previous one1 because the screen is by assumption just sixteen feet wide4 ,now these separations are so wide that the eye cannot help noticing them even in the fraction of a second2 there is not sufficient blending of images to form smooth motion2 and the so-called flicker results4 ,however1 if the car is photographed going obliquely away from us1 the entire motion may occupy only a small area of the screen1 no matter how far or fast the car goes2 consequently the images fall much closer together and the flicker becomes so slight that we scarcely notice it4 ,also1 since the field of movement is smaller in extent1 the rolling of our eyes in ranging over the subject is less1 and the fatigue of the muscles is so slight that we scarcely notice that either4 ,we have been arguing that large violent movements on the screen hurt the eyes1 and we hope that our readers agree with us4 ,but if any one is doubtful we invite him to make the following test4 ,go to any movie theater and sit down in the seventh or eighth row4 ,then after having seen about half of the picture1 move back to the last row1 or stand behind the last row4 ,the picture will immediately seem more restful to the eyes1 because the distance has made the screen seem smaller and the motions slower1 two changes which1 of course1 make less work for the eyes4 ,now stay in the new position until the program is finished1 and then see that part of the picture which was at first seen from the front seat4 ,it will appear much more pleasing to the eye than it did the first time4 ,illustration3 ,daylight and ,lamplight1 a painting by ,william ,mc,gregor4 ,the design illustrates artistic balance and rhythm4 ,see pages #da and #gg4 ,illustration3 ,a study of lines to illustrate the value of repetition within a pattern4 ,see page #dj4 ,but we cannot all sit in the back row of a theater1 and besides1 even when screen motions are reasonably slow and limited1 they may still fail to produce the effect of beauty4 ,now1 before we go further into this discussion of beauty on the screen1 let us recall1 that1 as we have already said1 the process of vision is partly eye-work and partly brain-work4 ,these two factors are so closely connected in fact1 that scientists cannot definitely separate them4,b ,b ,if any of our readers are especially interested in the details of physiological and psychological experiments in vision which are made by experts1 they should read ,chapter ,,iii in ,hugo ,muensterberg's 8,the ,photoplay10 and should consult the current numbers and the volumes for the last five or six years of the 8,psychological ,review10 the 8,american ,journal of ,psychology10 the 8,journal of ,experimental ,psychology10 and other similar periodicals1 which are available in any large library4 ,from the results published in scientific periodicals it may be learned that visible ugliness does not always make the physical work of the eye more difficult4 ,this is not to contradict what we have already said in this chapter1 but merely to state that there may be certain kinds of ugliness on the screen which apparently do not hurt the eye at all4 ,and yet ugliness does affect the mental phase of vision4 ,it will be worth while giving a page or more to the testing of this statement2 and the discussion may lead to a useful definition to keep in mind when criticizing the movies4 ,curiously enough1 the muscular movement of the eye when ranging over a single jagged1 irregular line is practically the same as when ranging over a graceful line of similar length and direction4 ,scientific experiment shows that we move our eye-balls in a jerky1 irregular manner1 even when we view the most graceful line that can be drawn4 ,yet it is commonly said by all of us that one line delights the eye and the other does not4 ,evidently1 therefore1 the difference must lie in that function of seeing which the brain performs4 ,but the brain1 too1 is a physical organ4 ,it1 too1 can become fatigued1 and it finds certain kinds of work less fatiguing than others4 ,psychologists have suggested that a graceful line is pleasant to look at because the regularity and smoothness of its changes in direction make it easily perceived as a complete unity4 ,thus in the diagram facing page #ci1 lines ,a and ,b are pleasanter to look at than lines ,c and ,d1 because their character as lines can be grasped by the mind more quickly and more easily than the character of ,c or ,d4 ,and1 for the same reason1 lines ,a and ,b taken together make a more pleasing combination than lines ,b and ,c or lines ,c and ,d4 ,now1 if you will shut the book and try to draw any one of these four lines1 even in your imagination1 you will discover that you remember ,a and ,b almost perfectly1 while you can hardly remember a single part of either ,c or ,d4 ,this proves that in your own case the business of seeing has been more successful with graceful lines than with ugly ones4 ,and1 of course1 successful effort is always more pleasing than failure4 ,our working definition of good pictorial composition1 offered in the preceding chapter1 may be adapted here4 ,let us put it this way3 ,a beautiful line or combination of lines is one in which we can see and feel much with ease1 while an ugly line or combination is one in which we cannot see or feel much except with great difficulty4 ,the terms 8ease0 and 8difficulty0 apply both to eye-work and brain-work4 ,one reason why we see much with ease in a beautiful line is evidently that any one part of the whole is a kind of key to some adjoining or corresponding part4 ,thus in line ,a the lower curve is very similar to the upper curve and leads into it with the smoothest continuity4 ,and this same lower curve of ,a is so similar to the lower curve of ,b that we can see instantly the balanced relation between them4 ,in ugly lines1 on the other hand1 there are no such visual helps4 ,yet1 if some kind of balance or repetition is adopted1 it may be that lines which are ugly when considered singly take on a kind of beauty or interestingness when considered as a group4 ,thus lines ,e1 ,f1 and ,g1 are not as pleasing when standing alone as they become when considered in relation to a similar line symmetrically placed4 ,therefore1 the combinations ,,ef or ,,fg1 or even ,,efg are more pleasing than any one of their parts4 ,now let us apply these principles of continuity and repetition to the lines in a picture4 ,if you turn to ,paxton's 8,daylight and ,lamplight10 facing page #ci1 you will observe instantly the beautifully curving line of the woman's back and also a balancing line down the side of the urn4 ,that sweep of line gives at once the key to the arrangement of the picture4,c ,in other words1 you can see much of that picture with ease1 even in a glance4 ,now if you examine this picture more in detail you will find much continuity of line and many parallelisms of line and shape1 all of which tend to make the arrangement simple1 without reducing any of the actual contents of the picture4 ,c ,out of fairness to the painter it must be added that this canvas1 as the title indicates1 is also a study in the balancing of cool and warm colors4 ,the 8much0 which we can see in a beautiful line includes such things as its meaning or use in the picture1 its fitness for that use1 its power to suggest associations1 its interestingness1 etc4 ,but we shall not take up those phases of beauty in this chapter2 we are now merely arguing that pictorial beauty economizes the work of the eye and brain1 while visible ugliness does not4 ,what we said1 a moment ago1 regarding the value of continuity and repetition in fixed lines may also be applied to moving lines and objects4 ,the great appeal of the screen lies in the showing of vivid movement1 the flow of forms1 the subtle weaving1 through soft play of light and shadow1 of fanciful figures that melt like music while we gaze1 and yet remain in our minds like curves of a strange melody4 ,when such glimpses of beauty come1 our eyes and brains surely do not feel any friction or strain in the process of looking4 ,but when ugly motions are presented the eye must perform excessive movement1 and the brain must exert excessive effort4 ,what is an ugly motion8 ,to answer this we must observe one or two facts concerning the visual process of seeing motions4 ,we must admit the fact that one can perceive the motion of an object without following it with the eyes4 ,any one can test this for himself by fixing his eyes steadily on some spot on the wall4 ,without shifting his glance he may have knowledge of motions going on at other places many feet away from that spot4 ,but it is also a fact that he will immediately feel an inclination to shift his eyes in order to see any one of these motions more clearly4 ,in making that shift he will1 of course1 have to move his eyeballs4 ,now1 if that moving object changes its place1 his eyeballs will continue to make the movements necessary to follow it4 ,and1 if the attention continues directed toward that object1 his eyes will have to make great or small movements1 according as the object makes a great or small change of place4 ,an interesting theory1 which scientific tests support1 is that1 although the eye has to make a series of irregular1 jerky movements when following any moving object1 these movements become fewer and smaller as the smoothness and regularity of the observed motion increases4 ,what we have just said about eye movement explains1 at least partly1 why the aimless crawling of a house fly over a window pane is ugly1 while the graceful flying of a sea gull is beautiful2 why the clambering of a monkey is ugly1 while the swimming of a fish is graceful1 and why the zigzag falling of a sheet of paper thrown from a window is displeasing1 while the smooth spiralling of an airplane is pleasing4 ,in some of the movements which we classify as beautiful1 it is clear that the principle of repetition is at work1 which1 as we have said1 makes seeing easy4 ,any task accomplished once and undertaken again becomes easier and easier with repetition4 ,we have already shown how this makes the perception of rhythmical fixed lines or balanced composition of fixed lines easier for the mind1 if not for the eye itself4 ,a similar experience of ease comes from viewing rhythmical or balanced motions4 ,you would not enjoy watching a dancer whose every movement was entirely unlike every previous movement4 ,the effect would be utter confusion4 ,you could not grasp1 could not remember1 what you saw4 ,and you would probably say that it was not dancing at all4 ,on the contrary1 the beauty of a dance is largely due to the frequent repetitions or similarities of movements4 ,again and again you see and enjoy the same flexing of knee and poising of foot1 the same curving of back and tossing of head1 the same sweeping of hand and floating of drapery2 and again and again the dancer moves through the same path of circling lines4 ,yet in these repetitions there are slight variations1 too1 because no human being works with the precision of a machine4 ,and as you watch the dance you get variety without multiplicity2 you see much with ease4 8,now1 look here10 cuts in some old-time producer1 8you don't mean to say that you want our actors to dance through a drama1 do you--a murder scene1 or a wedding1 or a meeting of profiteers to raise the price of soap80 ,no1 indeed1 we do not4 ,in fact1 we are hardly thinking of them as actors at all--not in this chapter4 ,we are merely thinking of them as moving shapes upon a screen4 ,and we want those shapes to move about in such a way that the motions will not hurt our eyes4 ,if we study those films that please us most we shall discover easy continuity of movement1 so that a path of motion described in any one scene is extended1 as it were1 into a similar path of motion in the following scene4 ,in such motion pictures there may be shifts1 but there are no breaks4 ,paths of motion on the screen can remain long in our memories1 as though they were fixed lines in a picture4 ,clearly1 therefore1 it would not be pleasing to have these remembered lines of motion clashing with those which are being perceived4 ,illustration3 ,from ,audrey4 ,cover up the left half of this picture and the lower half of the remaining part1 and the quarter which then remains will contain a more pleasing and dramatic composition than that of the view taken as a whole4 ,see pages #ec and #ga4 ,so much for the optical effects of single motions coming in succession4 ,now we must advance to the consideration of several motions going on in various directions during the same moment1 which is a more usual situation in the photoplay4 ,several motions at once may constitute a harmony or a jumble1 according to the first demands which they make upon the eye-work and brain-work of vision4 ,the difference between visual harmony and disharmony seems to depend partly on the fact that a pair of human eyes work together as one1 and not as two separate instruments4 ,you cannot look up with one eye and down with the other2 you cannot look to the left with one eye and to the right with the other2 you cannot look at a distant object with one eye and at a near one with the other4 ,hence1 if you try to look intently at two or more objects crossing each other in opposite directions1 your eyes are baffled and the effect is not pleasurable4 ,there is also a conflict in our mental work of seeing1 when opposing motions try to claim equal attention at the same time1 unless1 as we have previously stated1 these motions are in some kind of rhythmical balance with each other4 ,because of this baffling of eye and brain1 therefore1 we are displeased by the sight of two automobiles passing each other in opposite directions1 or by the crossing of an actor's gestures with the spoke of a wheel or the twig of a tree4 ,a particularly ugly crossing is that of false and real motion1 which even some of the best directors still indulge in4 ,false1 or apparent1 motion occurs when the camera itself has been moving about while the picture was being taken4 ,thus a road is made to shoot upwards over the screen while our hero is riding madly toward us1 or a parlor slides drunkenly to one side while some fair lady marches toward a door1 or a stairway becomes a waterfall which she swims upstairs4 ,the real motion1 of course1 contains the dramatic interest1 but the false motion forces itself upon us by its novelty or unexpectedness2 it becomes difficult for us to see much with ease1 and the result is ugliness4 ,a particularly annoying device of recent vogue is the sub-title insert which is decorated with symbolical motions4 ,it forces the spectator to read words and look at motions at the same time and upon the same spot of the screen4 ,the ,metro interpretation of the 8,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse10 beautiful in its photographed scenes1 was spoiled by much ugliness of that kind4 ,in one sub-title we must look at the ,beast snorting and chopping his long jaws1 while several lines of type are spread over his horrible movements4 ,in others we see water flowing from the bottom of the screen toward the top1 or we see a pin-wheel of sparks1 to represent telegraphic messages going around the world1 or we see a squirrel in his wheel-cage1 to represent something or other1 and in each of these cases we must also read words in glaring type blazed on top of the moving symbols4 ,oppositions and conflicts baffle and bewilder the eye and mind1 but concurrent co-operating motions please them4 ,it is easy1 for example1 to look at the shower of fire from a sky rocket1 because the lines move in similar directions and remain comparatively near together1 each one1 as it were1 helping the others1 so that what we see in one part of the motion is a key to the rest of the motion4 ,there is a similar unity and rhythmical balance in the motion of a flock of birds1 a school of fish1 or a group of dancers1 the billows of the sea1 or the feathery fall of snowflakes4 ,the production of harmonious motions in a photoplay might seem to us spectators to be merely a matter of spying with a camera and catching views of harmonious actions and settings4 ,but the problem is not so simple4 ,for the movements within any given scene may be perfectly orchestrated with respect to each other1 and yet may clash with every one of the movements in the following scene4 ,if in one picture our eyes and minds have adjusted themselves to the delicate threading of snow-flakes1 falling like a softly changing tapestry1 they can only be shocked by a sudden jump to the vigorous curling of a sea wave breaking on the beach4 ,and in our natural desire to appreciate both subjects at once we are disappointed to find that each has spoiled the other4 ,delicacy looks at power and thinks it violence2 power looks at delicacy and thinks it weakness4 ,it is a visual effect such as one would get from a drawing where the hair lines of the finest pen and thinnest ink were crossed by the coarse marks of a blunt piece of charcoal4 ,so sharp a contrast might have a certain dramatic1 stirring effect1 like the use of swear words in a prayer2 the very hurt might bring a certain thrill4 ,an original and ingenious man1 ,mr4 ,griffith1 for instance1 may choose to show us a close-up of a little girl smiling in wistful innocence1 her pretty curls quivering in the light breeze1 contrasted suddenly with a reeking flood of soldiers pouring into a city street4 ,striking8 ,yes1 exactly4 ,the device is so striking that ,mr4 ,griffith himself has learned to use it with restraint4 ,because once upon a time he composed a photoplay called 8,intolerance10 which was so full of striking contrasts that it failed4 ,there were only a few thousand people in the world who could stand the strain of looking at it4 ,thus as we analyze the optical aspects of a motion picture we are amazed at the number of things that may conspire to hurt our eyes1 and we sympathize more than ever with the sincere cinema composer4 ,he1 the new hope of the movies1 feels the need of other equipment than a line of talk and a megaphone4 ,he no longer applies for a position in a studio on the strength of his record as an actor1 as a stage director1 as a city editor1 as a college cheer leader1 or as a drill sergeant in the army4 ,he has begun to think in pictorial composition and not in words4 ,he is never without his sketching pad and piece of charcoal1 because1 forsooth1 his business is picture making4 ,he makes hundreds of sketches by day1 of shapes1 and lines1 and tones1 and he goes over them again and changes them by night4 ,his scenario contains almost as many drawings as words4 ,he knows before he says 8,good morning0 to his queens and cut-throats just what places and spaces their figures will occupy during the pictorial climaxes1 as well as during the movements to1 and away from1 those climaxes4 ,he sits among miles of films which he cuts1 joins1 runs through his projecting machine1 and cuts and joins again4 ,he knows that pictorial beauty does not come to the screen merely because the camera itself is a wonderful instrument4 ,he knows1 what so many critics are beginning to discover1 that 8the photography0 may be excellent in a film1 while its pictorial composition is atrocious4 ,he knows first and last and always that1 unless he makes his photoplay fundamentally pleasing to the eyes of the spectator1 he can never give it the magic power of graphic art4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,pictorial ,,force ,,in ,,fixed ,,patterns ,frequently while a director is rehearsing a photoplay scene he will sing out the command1 8,hold it60 indicating thereby that the player has struck an attitude1 or the players have woven themselves into a pattern1 which is so expressive and beautiful that it deserves to be held for several seconds4 ,what the camera then records will be shown on the screen as a striking pictorial moment1 and1 while it lasts1 will appear as fixed as a painting4 ,but it is a peculiar psychological fact that such pictorial moments seem to occur in every movement1 whether the actors have paused or not1 the spectator seeing and remembering these arrested moments as though they were fixed pictures4 ,this peculiar fact1 that we remember fixed moments among continuous movements1 has been discussed at some length in ,chapter ,,iii of 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making10 and will1 therefore1 not be dwelt upon here4 ,however1 a single example may illustrate what we mean4 ,suppose we watch a diver stepping out upon a high springboard and diving into a pool4 ,the whole feat is1 of course1 a movement without pause from beginning to end2 yet our eyes will somehow arrest one moment as the most interesting1 the most pictorial4 ,it may be the moment when the diver is about midway between the springboard and the water1 a moment when the body seems to float strangely upon the air4 ,we are not unaware of the other phases of the dive1 yet this particular moment impresses us2 to it we apply our fine appraisal of form4 ,similarly in a motion picture theater we unconsciously select moments from the action before us4 ,these fleeting moments which fix themselves1 so to speak1 demand practically the same work 7or shall we call it play87 from our eyes and minds as the momentarily fixed pictures which the director sometimes demands4 ,at such times the whole pattern on the screen becomes as static as a painting1 and its power or weakness1 its beauty or lack of beauty1 may be appreciated much as one would appreciate a design in a painting4 ,a painting enchants the beholder1 not only by its color1 but also by its lines and pattern4 ,the peculiar power which resides in the arrangement of lines and masses has been studied by art critics for hundreds of years1 and many of the principles which they have discovered might well be recalled by us in judging those moments of a motion picture which may be viewed as fixed designs4 ,and what we learn by making such applications will help us greatly toward a better understanding of the beauty of pictorial motions on the screen4 ,by what visual processes do we grasp the meaning of a picture8 ,what happens when we first look at the picture8 ,and what happens as we continue looking8 ,the answers1 as nearly as can be ascertained1 are as follows4 ,when we face a picture our eyes first glance at some spot or region which is more attractive than all others1 and then proceed to explore the whole picture1 ranging over all of its parts1 and returning again to the center of attraction4 ,in certain compositions this whole tour of inspection may be accomplished in one trip1 and may be repeated at will1 while in other compositions the inspection may require various side trips away from the center of interest to the outlying districts and back again4 ,of course1 we are not aware that our eyes are doing all these things when we are at the movies1 but that is what happens1 just the same4 ,these visual processes take place in an exceedingly short time1 usually only a fraction of a second1 but they are real physical processes1 nevertheless1 subject to the laws of physical comfort and fatigue1 and capable of being tested by the ordinary laws of physical efficiency4 ,perhaps the first test1 in this hectic age of ours1 is speed4 ,the quicker we can see and interpret a thing after we begin looking at it1 the more satisfied we are4 ,another test is ease1 or freedom from fatigue4 ,the less energy we expend in looking1 the more pleased we are4 ,hence1 if the several parts of a picture can be quickly and easily seen and related to each other1 the picture as a whole may be considered beautiful1 providing it satisfies certain other demands1 which will be analyzed later on4 ,now suppose that we are at the movies and that some pictorial moment from the flowing action is arrested in our minds4 ,if we are critical and feel like analyzing the effect of that arrested moment we may well ask such questions as the following3 ,what portion of that picture did we look at first1 and why8 ,was that the spot which the cinema composer desired us to see first8 ,if not1 how did he happen to mislead us and waste our time8 ,where did our glances wander as we continued looking at the picture8 ,did they follow the lines which the cinema composer had mapped out8 ,if not1 what is wrong with his plan8 ,what part of the picture remains longest in memory8 ,does it coincide with the dramatic emphasis intended by the composer8 ,if not1 what caused the wrong accent8 ,was the picture as a whole really beautiful to the eyes8 ,if not1 what made it displeasing8 ,beginning with the first question1 we may say that the attracting power of any portion of a picture depends upon many circumstances and conditions4 ,for example1 a patch of white on an area of dark will attract the eye1 because it is natural for the eye to seek light in preference to dark4 ,hence1 in the 8still0 from 8,audrey0 on page #de we see the woman first2 then we see the tree trunks1 the reflections in the water1 and the person half hidden in the bushes to the left4 ,it is also natural for the eye to catch and follow the longest line in a composition4 ,therefore the trunk of the fallen tree in this picture helps to lead the eye to the woman4 ,it is1 furthermore1 natural for the eye to follow two or more lines to a point where they meet4 ,therefore this picture would have given more emphasis to the woman if she had been placed near the root of the tree trunk1 where many lines converge4 ,the spectator in the theater should be enabled to see the central interest at the very first instant of projection4 ,hence when the picture is being taken1 all lines of indication1 gesture1 draperies1 etc41 should be set1 before the camera begins 8shooting10 and these lines should connect up with the paths of previously moving objects1 so that the spectator's eyes may sweep at once to the central interest4 ,the need of this may be illustrated by a horrible example4 ,let us turn to the 8still0 on page #ee4 ,it is a safe bet that every one who looks at this picture will first see a long diagonal pole1 one of the supports of the swing1 because that is the longest1 most striking line of the picture4 ,the poles leaning together and the converging chains1 though of no dramatic importance whatsoever1 attract immediate attention to themselves1 and also carry the eye to the two standing girls2 which is clearly a mistake in composition1 for the real interest evidently lies in the facial expressions of the man and woman1 who are conversing with each other4 ,students of pictorial design have discovered that1 of all converging lines in a drawing1 those which meet at right angles usually attract the eyes most strongly4 ,now if we look again at the 8still0 under discussion we will observe that there are many square corners in its composition1 but that none of these angles coincide with any interest deserving of pictorial emphasis4 ,two of the strongest accents are at the square corners where the long pole and the brick curbing meet4 ,yet there is certainly no very exciting interest in that region4 ,hence our eyes wander thither in vain4 ,let us speculate for a moment on what would happen to this composition if we remove the diagonal poles1 chains1 etc41 and turn the swing into a seat4 ,the figures1 even as they stand1 would then form a not unpleasing rhythm1 and the line of heads1 with expressions helping to give direction1 would lead to the heroine4 ,illustration3 ,this 8still0 illustrates misplaced emphasis and several other defects in pictorial composition which characterized the general run of movies a few years ago4 ,see page #ed4 ,illustration3 ,a specimen of bad composition1 from an old film4 ,the window is emphasized by its curious shape1 by its central position1 by its strong contrasts of black and white1 and by the woman's gesture2 yet this window has no dramatic significance whatsoever in the scene4 ,see page #ee4 ,a glaring example of wrong emphasis caused by the attraction of a right-angled shape is to be seen in a 8still0 from 8,other ,men's ,wives10 on opposite page1 where the window1 toward which the woman unconsciously points her wand1 irresistibly attracts the attention of the spectator4 ,is it not evident from even a cursory analysis of these 8stills0 that1 though the directors may have given some thought to the poses and groupings of the performers1 they have failed to realize that every other visible thing within scope of the camera must also be harmonized with the figures in order to keep the dramatic emphasis where it belongs8 ,keeping in mind what we have just said about the visual accents of right angles we turn to a 8still0 from the 8,spell of the ,yukon10 facing page #bh4 ,the window catches our eyes before anything else in the picture1 both because of its square corners and because of its sharp contrasts of black and white4 ,though this distraction may be only for a brief moment1 it is enough to keep our attention for that moment away from the man and boy1 set in fine atmosphere4 ,it is only common sense to aim at making the visual interest of a picture coincide with the dramatic interest4 ,and this can be done by controlling such means of attraction as we have just mentioned4 ,when we look at the painting entitled 8,the ,shepherdess10 facing page #ba1 our glance falls immediately upon the shepherdess1 because the almost vertical line of her body forms a cross with the horizontal line of the sheep's backs4 ,yet the design is so subtle that1 unless we stop to analyze1 we do not notice how the painter achieves his emphasis4 ,we do not notice that the front of the woman's body is really a continuation of the left edge of a tree which extends to the top of the frame1 that her profile is the continuation of a line of foliage from another tree1 that her staff makes right angles with her throat and with the back of her head1 that the rhythmical contours of a sheep flow into her left hand and arm1 and that a shadow from the lower center of the picture leads to her feet4 ,if a painter establishes his emphasis so carefully in a picture which the beholder may regard for hours at a time1 it would seem all the more urgent for a cinema composer to study out the correct emphasis for a pictorial moment which the spectator must grasp in only a second or two4 ,it is extremely important1 for the simple reason that1 if the director does not deliberately draw the attention of the spectator to the dramatic interest in the picture1 it is most likely that accident will emphasize some other part1 as we have seen in the examples already discussed2 and then1 before the spectator has time to reason himself away from the false emphasis to the true interest1 the action will go on to some other scene1 and a part of the real message will be lost4 ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,spell of the ,yukon4 ,there are too many distracting shapes in the left end of this picture4 ,mask over the cabin1 the sleigh1 and the two dogs farthest to the left1 and the remaining part of the picture becomes a pleasing composition of line1 shape1 and tone4 ,see page #ef4 ,let us illustrate this again by turning to another 8still0 from 8,the ,spell of the ,yukon10 facing page #eg4 ,the thing which attracts first and longest is the strange object in the upper left-hand corner4 ,on the screen our eyes would wander away to the dogs and the man1 but they would wander back again to that strange shape1 because it is a law of visual attention that the strangest and most unfamiliar shape attracts most strongly4 ,we would be curious about that shape1 and by the time we had decided that it was an ,alaskan sled1 the picture would fade out and we would have missed the message1 namely the affectionate companionship of the man and his dogs4 ,if the sled had been more completely shown1 or viewed from a different angle1 or placed in a more natural position immediately behind a team of dogs1 it would not have seemed strange and distracting4 ,this composition could be greatly improved by simply eliminating the left third of it4 ,if you cover up the sled and the two dogs nearest it with a sheet of paper you will see that what remains is a fairly pleasing arrangement1 with considerably more emphasis on the man and the theme of his affection for the dogs1 with a better pattern and more rhythmical lines4 ,if the director had simplified his composition as we have suggested he might have eliminated the wrong emphasis and secured the right emphasis in one stroke4 ,the dark figure of the man framed roughly in white and gray would have attracted attention by its tonal isolation4 ,emphasis by isolation involves simplicity and economy1 and for that very reason1 perhaps1 this device is so often neglected by less experienced directors4 ,they breathe the poisonous air of extravagance and thrash their arms in the heretical belief that multiplicity is power4 ,compare1 for instance1 the 8still0 of 8,polly of the ,circus10 facing page #gi1 with 8,the ,banquet of the ,officers of ,st4 ,andrew10 by ,frans ,hals1 facing page #gi1 and you get at once the distinct impression that ,hals's picture depicts a larger crowd than the 8still40 ,but you will be astonished to find that the painting actually contains but twelve men1 while the 8still0 contains seventeen men1 one woman1 and one horse4 ,in the painting every head is isolated by hat1 ruff1 costume1 or panel1 and seems to have plenty of room to move freely without bumping4 ,our eyes can study the contours and values of those heads without colliding with other interests4 ,and the fact that each head is treated almost as though it were a separate portrait might be called a trick of design which makes us overestimate the number in the group1 thus getting the impression of a throng4 ,surely this is good economy4 ,compare it with the extravagant composition of the circus crowd4 ,there you see heads and bodies huddled together in a meaningless jumble4 ,no interest is significantly framed1 no two interests are properly spaced4 ,the director may have swelled the wage roll1 but he has shrivelled the art product4 ,perhaps it is not necessary to go further in support of our contention that certain visual values and devices of arrangement can be used1 separately or in combination1 to control the glances of spectators1 and that1 unless these means are properly used1 pictorial impressiveness cannot be obtained4 ,we have discussed the uses of a bright patch on a generally dark ground1 long converging lines1 crosses1 sharp contrasts of tone and color1 unfamiliar shapes1 and isolation of subject4 ,scores of other principles of design1 well known to painters1 might be used to emphasize a screen picture during that moment of the action when all movement seems to have stopped4 ,of course1 when the movement is actually or apparently resumed1 emphasis will be controlled according to the laws by which motion appeals to the eye4 ,but that is a subject for another chapter4 ,to continue our analysis of fixed design1 let us examine the methods whereby various pictorial elements may be fused into a unity4 ,every writer knows that a sentence is really a train of words which1 though actually standing still on the paper1 can carry the reader's mind swiftly across the page4 ,by various literary devices the reader's interest is caught and carried from emphasis to emphasis1 and by various devices the reader's thoughts may be organized into a complete unity4 ,so1 too1 the lines and shapes of a picture1 however still they may stand for the moment on the screen have the power to carry the spectator's eyes from interest to interest2 and they may1 if properly designed1 guide his attention through the picture in such a way as to gather all of its parts into a complete unity4 ,when the eyes are caught by something in a picture1 they do not at first rest there1 but proceed1 as we have said1 on a tour of inspection of the whole area within the frame of that picture1 after which they return again to the first visual interest4 ,in making this tour the eyes seek1 or at least1 follow a pattern4 ,let us test these statements by turning to the 8still0 facing page #fa4 ,you cannot see every point of the picture at once4 ,therefore your eyes range over it4 ,perhaps1 now that we call your attention to it1 you can feel your eyes moving as they follow the outlines of the white mass which is produced by the girl's figure and dress4 ,to make sure that you feel these movements1 just look quickly from her head to her foot1 to her right hand1 to her head again1 etc4 ,now you realize that the white mass is contained in a distinct triangle4 ,that triangle is the pattern of the picture4 ,whether you like it or not makes no difference2 the triangular path must be followed by your eyes4 ,this little exercise shows that the eyes1 unlike the lens of a camera1 cannot see every part of a picture at once1 but must range over it from point to point1 repeating the tour again and again as long as the picture is in view4 ,but1 if we cannot see head1 hand1 and foot at once1 it is evident that we must remember the head while we are observing the hand1 that we must remember both the head and the hand while we are observing the foot1 etc41 else the whole picture could never be built up in our minds4 ,it is also evident that the smoother the path1 the more easily and quickly can the tour of inspection be made4 ,the eye needs paths1 finger-posts1 and bridges to carry it from one part of a picture to another1 a need which painters discovered ages ago1 and responded to by uniting the lines of their drawings into some sort of image or design4 ,thus the old masters often constructed their paintings on the design of a circle1 a rectangle1 a triangle1 a diamond1 a right-angled cross1 an ,x shape1 an ,s curve1 or some other equally simple pattern1 finding by experience that this practice always helped the beholder to grasp the picture as a unity4 ,but they were real magicians1 those medieval masters1 and as such knew how to conceal their designs4 ,their technique1 which the probing critic lays bare1 is neither seen nor suspected by the average beholder who stands worshipful before their paintings4 ,in fact1 the technique of graphic design can be effective only when it works subconsciously in the spectator's mind4 ,furthermore1 those old masters knew how to achieve many results through simple means4 ,they knew how to produce unity1 emphasis1 balance1 and rhythm by the skillful manipulation of even a single device4 ,illustration3 ,a ,triangle4 ,the fundamental pattern in a picture should not be obtrusive1 as in this too obviously triangular shape4 ,compare this 8still0 with the illustration facing page #gf4 ,see also pages #ei1 #gb and #gf4 ,by contrast many motion picture directors of to-day are mere bunglers4 ,for example1 in the 8still0 portrait which we have just studied there is unity and a definite1 though heavy1 equilibrium1 but there is no rhythm1 and the emphasis is sadly misplaced4 ,the pose of the woman and her relation to the rug and the background admittedly make a unity4 ,our eyes ranging over the triangle1 can easily grasp all that is important in the picture and leave out the rest2 but the triangular design is severe and makes a wrong emphasis4 ,in the first place1 the design is too obviously a triangle4 ,we think of it as a mathematical figure1 and thus waste part of the attention which should be directed upon the woman herself4 ,and1 in the second place1 the accent is at the wrong corner and on the wrong side of the triangle4 ,the base of the triangle is accented by containing the longest line in the composition1 the line being further emphasized by its straightness and by the sharp contrast between black and white which it marks4 ,this emphasis is1 of course1 wrong1 for we are certainly not interested in the pattern of this rug4 ,there is also no reason why our attention should be called to the woman's foot1 or to the adjacent corner of the white panel in the rug1 yet our glance is attracted to that region by the strange zigzag line described by the slipper and that white corner4 ,these accents are wrong at first glance1 and they remain wrong as long as the picture lasts1 because every time we repeat the tour of inspection our eyes rest a moment on these false interests4 ,to show that these mistakes lie entirely in the treatment1 and not in the device of the triangle1 we need only turn to the painting of 8,mme4 ,lebrun and ,her ,daughter10 facing page #gf4 ,here is a composition distinctly triangular in design1 yet one may have admired this picture hundreds of times without observing that fact4 ,here is unity1 without obviousness or severity4 ,our eyes leap to the apex of the triangle1 and there find the chief interest1 the head of the mother4 ,and1 as we continue gazing1 our attention still favors the mother1 because the white areas of her shoulder1 arm1 and robe attract the eye more strongly than the other portions of the picture4 ,here1 too1 is graceful balance and a flowing rhythm in every line4 ,if we consider merely the dramatic action of the subjects1 as the motion picture directors so often do1 we observe that the poses in ,mme4 ,lebrun's painting are natural and easy1 that the gesture is graceful and telling1 and we realize how completely and impressively the technique of design1 the craft of composition1 expresses the message of the painter4 ,a part of ,mme4 ,lebrun's technique consisted in eliminating the setting1 because in this particular case she found it easier to express her meaning without describing environment4 ,setting may often well be eliminated in the movies1 too1 as in 8,moon-,gold10 discussed below2 but usually the physical environment of action1 as has been stated rather exhaustively in ,chapter ,,viii of 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making10 can be dramatized more vividly in the movies than in any other narrative art4 ,and it is an interesting problem of design to weave places into a definite unity with persons1 things1 and action4 ,let us see how this problem has been met in the cabin scene of 8,the ,spell of the ,yukon10 facing page #bh1 which1 in spite of the too conspicuous window1 already spoken of1 has a rather successful pictorial arrangement4 ,for the sake of experiment1 this 8still0 may be analyzed by making a simple drawing1 as in the sketch facing page #bh4 ,we see that the design consists essentially of an oval shape surrounded by rectangles4 ,the rectangles may be seen in the lines of the window1 the bunk1 the table1 etc4 ,the oval1 which includes all of the dramatic action1 may be traced from the boy's head1 down the boy's arm to the man's right knee and leg1 up the man's left hand1 arm1 and shoulder to his head1 and thence across to the boy's head again4 ,in the center of this oval is the hand holding a pipe and making a telling gesture in the story4 ,this oval design1 taken by itself1 is an excellent composition4 ,the lines furnish easy paths for the eye1 and bind the boy and man together into a dramatic unity4 ,there is1 to be sure1 only an imaginary line between the faces of the man and the boy1 but that imaginary line is nevertheless as vivid as any visible thing in the picture4 ,in fact1 the break in the visible part of the oval serves to arrest our attention upon the faces for a moment every time our glance swings through the oval pattern4 ,leading toward this oval are the straight lines of the bunk and the table1 thus serving to give unity and force4 ,but the lines of the window make an isolated pattern which1 instead of leading one's eye toward the dramatic focus1 does just the opposite4 ,the design1 as a whole1 therefore1 is imperfect4 ,and1 though we see much in the picture1 we do not see it entirely with ease4 ,if we turn to 8,derby ,day10 facing this page1 a drawing by the ,english artist1 ,thomas ,rowlandson1 we shall find a more interesting design and a surer control of accents4 ,here the basic theme is a long line4 ,by 8line0 in this case we mean1 not merely a single stroke of the pencil1 but any succession of lines1 shapes1 or even spots1 so arranged that they make a track for the eye to follow4 ,in 8,derby ,day0 the long swinging line of the road is the basis of the design4 ,yet this line is not quite identical with the wheel tracks4 ,it begins1 in fact1 with the feet of the donkey at the lower right-hand corner of the frame1 and follows through the dog1 the baskets under the wagon1 the hub of the wheel1 then over the heads of the group1 through the hubs of the third wagon1 then with a slight downward drop it swings along the edge of the field and the hedge1 and finally leads through the horses and wagons1 out at the left end of the picture4 ,illustration3 ,derby ,day1 a drawing by ,thomas ,rowlandson1 showing the kind of composition which could be effectively used in photoplays4 ,see page #fd4 ,illustration3 ,analysis of the fundamental design in ,derby ,day 7above74 ,see page #fd4 ,upon this line the whole design is built1 and rather cleverly1 too1 for our attention is controlled by the subtle ordination of accents4 ,at the right end of the line is the most unusual and striking shape in the picture1 namely1 the curved figure described by the wagon-cover and the wheel4 ,such a strange shape1 as we have pointed out earlier in this chapter1 has a strong attraction for the eye1 and in this picture marks emphasis ,number ,one4 ,emphasis ,number ,two occurs near the middle of the road at the turn1 where four or more lines meet to form a cross4 ,these lines are produced by the basic line already described1 by the conspicuous tree1 and by the hedge which runs up to it from the left side of the bottom frame4 ,here again are illustrated visual laws already discussed4 ,the third emphasis in this picture is where the road runs out on the left1 our eyes being drawn in that direction by the familiar device of converging lines4 ,observe that the mass of trees in the background forms a distinct wedge with the point toward the left1 that the wagon train itself tapers sharply1 that the three trees along the road are successively smaller toward the left1 and that the field on that side of the road tapers somewhat in the same direction4 ,the combined effect of these converging lines and tapering shapes carries our vision along the road so insistently that we follow it in imagination beyond the frame4 ,thus by the magic of pictorial design our vision is caught and so controlled that a single glance1 sweeping the picture in the direction ordained by the artist1 gives us a definite feeling of movement4 ,no matter who looks1 or how often1 he will see the accents in the order we have named--covered wagon1 turn of the road1 far end of the road--and will thus get the main story of the picture in the shortest time1 the simplest terms1 and with the right emphasis4 ,if this picture were to be thrown upon the screen for only a second we are confident that every spectator would instantly get the primary meaning1 7#a7 wagon loads of merry-makers 7#b7 are swinging 7#c7 up the road4 ,there are minor interests1 too1 such as the comic figures and actions of the characters1 the prancing of dogs and horses1 the rustic cottage1 the tops of trees1 clouds1 etc42 but these are kept subsidiary in the design and yet1 as they emerge one by one1 they are found to be in complete harmony with the main theme1 the movement of merry-makers along a country road4 ,of course1 if a scene like this were filmed and thrown upon the screen1 the wagon train would actually be moving1 and we would perceive the motion1 rather than infer it or feel it1 as we do from the fixed design of the drawing4 ,yet1 if the cinema director were indifferent as to where he placed his accents1 and trusted to chance for his pictorial pattern1 we would surely not perceive that motion in its full significance4 ,now1 if lines1 shapes and tonal values in a certain arrangement can clarify and emphasize the message of a picture1 it is obvious that in some other arrangement they could obscure and minimize that message4 ,for example1 if 8,derby ,day0 were filmed1 and the composition were left to accident or to the bungling of some director ignorant of the laws of design1 it is quite probable that he would 8feature0 the 8picturesque0 cottage1 or perhaps a 8cunning0 dog1 a 8scenic0 tree1 the 8patriotic pull0 of the flag1 or the 8side-splitting0 corpulency of a woman4 ,no spectator would then see or feel the dominant idea of this subject1 which is the joy of going away on the open road4 ,right here it is a pleasure to state for the benefit of any reader who may not have seen 8,the ,covered ,wagon10 that ,james ,cruze1 the director of that photoplay1 did not bungle his composition4 ,always the historic wagon train of the pioneers strikes the dominant note of the scene1 seeming to compose itself spontaneously into a pictorial pattern which accents the dramatic meaning4 ,this is true even when there is no physical movement4 ,in the arroyo scene1 for example1 facing page #ic1 the wagons1 drawn up into formation for a camp1 harmonize sternly with the savage-looking cliffs1 and their zigzag arrangement somehow suggests the sharp action of the fight with the ,indians which fate holds in store for this very place4 ,enough has now been said to illustrate how design in a picture can control our attention during the pauses and arrested moments on the screen1 and by so doing can relieve the eyes of unnecessary1 wasteful work and give unity and emphasis to the message of the picture4 ,but still other powers reside in design4 ,while it hastens our grasp of meanings1 and even accentuates those meanings1 it can affect the mind in other ways that are still more important4 ,and if we delve deeper into these ways we shall come out with a clearer vision of the artistic possibilities of the movies4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,rhythm ,,and ,,repose ,,in ,,fixed ,,design ,directness1 ease1 emphasis1 unity--these are the things which we have just demanded of cinema composition1 the pictorial form which contains1 and at the same time reveals1 the story of a photoplay4 ,but we demand something more4 ,we do not get complete sthetic pleasure from any composition which merely contains and reveals something else4 ,the vessel1 while serving to convey its treasure1 should have a charm of its own4 ,in poetry1 for example1 we are not satisfied with the language which merely expresses the poetic content in clear and forceful style4 ,we crave poetic language1 too1 words and sentences that sound like music and that by their very form appeal to our fancy4 ,in fact most people who have a highly developed taste for pictorial art1 consider that beauty of treatment is more important than beauty of subject4 ,their emotions are stirred by something in the arrangement of the lines1 masses1 tones1 and colors1 something that serves other purposes than those of clearness1 coherence1 and emphasis4 ,what that something is1 has always been a great question to students of sthetics4 ,mr4 ,clive ,bell1 for example1 suggests that the essential beauty of art lies in 8significant form40 ,but you have to read through his very interesting book entitled 8,art0 to get some notion of what he means by that term4 ,miss ,ethel ,d4 ,puffer1 in her book 8,the ,psychology of ,beauty10 has developed the very illuminating theory that the effect of beauty on the human mind is both to stimulate and give repose4 ,and we shall adopt her theory for a while as a basis for a brief discussion of rhythm and balance in cinematic forms4 ,the terms 8stimulation and repose10 are1 of course1 contrary4 ,the feelings which they describe are in conflict4 ,yet this inner conflict between stimulation and repose always takes place when a person is faced with great beauty of art or nature4 ,any one of us can testify to that from experience4 ,when listening to music1 when reading a poem1 when watching a play1 when gazing at a temple1 at a statue1 or a painting1 we have felt something strangely stirring and at the same time soothing1 something both kindling and cooling1 an inspiration to do great deeds1 and at the same time a desire to rest for the while in satisfied contemplation4 ,applying this theory to pictorial composition on the screen1 we may say that the quality of balance in line1 pattern1 and tone suggests repose1 while pulsating rhythm stimulates us to activity4 ,this application at least has the merit of giving us something definite to discuss4 ,looking at the mechanical aspects of balance in a picture we shall see that it can easily be analyzed4 ,there is the balance of quantity which may be seen by comparing the right half of the picture with the left half1 or the upper half with the lower half4 ,balance of quantity is often connected with symmetry in the fundamental pattern1 as in the figure of the triangle4 ,further1 there is balance through depth1 the foreground weighing against the background4 ,another kind of balance is that of echoing motifs1 a sort of fulfillment of the eye's expectations4 ,there is also a balance of interests1 which is quite different from the balance of quantity1 because a small quantity of one thing may have greater weight of interest than a large quantity of something else4 ,and there is the balance of contrasts1 such as light against shadow1 or straight lines against curved lines4 ,how balance in all of these forms may be obtained in cinema composition will be discussed in the first half of this chapter4 ,one of the simplest tests for balance in a static picture is to draw a vertical line through the center of the picture1 and then to estimate the weight1 so to speak1 of the two halves of the composition thus formed4 ,if we try the experiment with the 8still0 from the photoplay 8,maria ,rosa10 facing page #ga1 we see at once that the left half is too heavy4 ,besides containing by far the greater dramatic interest1 it contains too many objects1 shapes1 and lines to attract the eye4 ,illustration3 ,from ,maria ,rosa4 ,an interesting composition1 but thrown out of balance by too much weight in the left half4 ,see page #gj4 ,now if this 8still0 were a student's painting which fell under the eye of the master1 he might suggest various ways of 8saving0 it4 ,for example1 some of the bric-a-brac might be 8painted out0 from the dressing table1 the lower lines of the mirror might be softened1 and the door reflected in the mirror might be painted out1 while some similar interest might be painted in at the right of the picture4 ,or if this 8still0 were an amateur print for your kodak album1 you might improve the picture considerably by trimming off the right end as far as the woman's skirt2 that is1 about one-fifth of the entire width4 ,you can estimate the value of that improvement right now by shutting off that part of the 8still0 with a sheet of paper or any convenient thing that may be used as a mask4 ,another picture may be formed by shutting off the left third1 just including the reflection of the woman in the mirror4 ,what then remains is a composition in beautiful balance1 which1 incidentally1 appeals more strongly to the imagination than the 8still0 taken as a whole4 ,but neither trimming nor repainting nor retouching can be employed to alter a bad grouping that has been recorded on a film4 ,we sympathize1 therefore1 with the conscientious cinema composer who has made a mistake in composition1 for he is forced either to 8shoot0 the scene again or to clip it out entirely from the film4 ,another test for balance of quantity is to draw a horizontal line through the center of the composition and weigh the visual values in the upper and lower halves thus formed4 ,in the case of horizontal divisions1 however1 we have accustomed ourselves to expect greater weight at the bottom1 because that is the natural arrangement of material things about us4 ,keeping this fact in mind let us analyze the 8still0 from 8,audrey10 facing page #de4 ,a glance shows us that the composition is top-heavy1 for almost everything of interest lies above the center line4 ,but turn the picture upside down1 and look upon it as though it were a pattern meant to be viewed in that position2 you feel immediately that the distribution of weights is more pleasing4 ,now hold it as if the right end were the bottom1 and the composition takes on a heavy balance1 with a commonplace symmetry of four long1 rising and spreading lines4 ,this is so because the right half1 which is really too heavy when the picture is viewed in the position intended by the director1 seems to be a weight in place when considered as the bottom of a pattern4 ,yet we may find beauty in this 8still10 if we only have the patience to corner it4 ,cover up three-quarters of the composition1 that is1 all of the left half1 and all of the lower half2 then the remaining quarter will contain a pleasant composition1 and a delightful appeal to the imagination4 ,there is in that upper right-hand quarter1 both balance and rhythm1 both repose and stimulation4 ,the heroine's gestures carry our attention to the left1 in the direction she is going2 but her glances1 and the attracting power of the converging trees1 carry our attention to the right4 ,and in the course of this easy playing to and fro our fancy swings out beyond the frame into realms of our own imagination4 ,but there is still another test for pictorial equilibrium4 ,besides the balance of one side against the other and of the top against the bottom1 a picture should preserve a balance between the foreground and the background4 ,this assumes that the picture really suggests the dimension of depth1 which is usually the case4 ,interesting exceptions1 however1 may appear occasionally1 as in the 8still0 facing page #fa1 and the painting facing page #gf4 ,one may even find entire photoplays with scenes done in two dimensions only4 ,for example1 8,moon-,gold10 a ,will ,bradley production1 released in #aiba1 presents a story of ,pierrot1 ,columbine1 and ,harlequin in a series of scenes in a single plane4 ,there is no background except blackness1 and there is no foreground at all4 ,the pictures are as flat as a poster4 ,such elimination of setting may have artistic merit1 especially in stories of familiar or nave themes1 but in more involved stories it is desirable to include the whole setting of the action1 not only because of the dramatic power of environment1 but also because of the pictorial wealth which may thus be added4 ,to test this third balance of a picture you need only imagine a curtain of glass dropped so as to separate equally the interests near the spectator from those farther away4 ,such a plane is1 in fact1 usually imagined by a painter when he lays out his design4 ,though he does not cut his ground mechanically into two equal areas1 he usually does distribute his subjects so that the spectator needs not feel that the foreground is only a long waste to be crossed1 or that the background is but an empty region which lies beyond everything of interest4 ,the word 8depth0 in connection with the screen has doubtless made our readers think of the stereoscopic motion picture as produced by the ,teleview and other companies4 ,such pictures are truly remarkable in their mechanical power of showing physical depth through a scene4 ,they show you the images clearly separated1 some near and some far away1 so that you feel as if you could really walk in and out among them4 ,to be able to produce such an illusion is something that any inventor may well be proud of2 and yet it is doubtful that the stereoscopic picture will bring about any improvement in the artistic composition of the motion picture4 ,most of us can recall the 8stereoscope and views0 which we used to find on the center tables of our country aunts4 ,how well we remember the mystifying illusion of depth which was created4 ,how well we remember also that there was the same depth in the reeking stockyards of ,kansas ,city as in the cathedral aisle of ,rheims6 ,that illustrates the shortcoming of purely mechanical things in the service of art4 ,the stereoscopic machinery cannot in itself create beauty4 ,it cannot automatically so select trees or distribute people over a landscape that balance and rhythm1 unity and emphasis will appear in the finished picture4 ,unfortunately1 for the uninspired artist1 the mechanician cannot help him4 ,it may be asked whether stereoscopic pictures may not be utilized to get sculptural effects upon the screen4 ,the answer is that if a piece of sculpture had to be viewed through a single peep-hole and under an unchanging light it would not really have a sculptural appeal4 ,the characteristic appeal of sculpture is due largely to the fact that it is possible for the beholder to shift his gaze at will from one side of the statue to the other4 ,he even walks around the statue1 thus getting ever new aspects of the subject until he has completed the circle of inspection4 ,and this shifting view is governed entirely by his own interest and choice4 ,the sculptor has deliberately shaped his marble so that the many aspects will be interesting variations of the same theme4 ,that many-sidedness of sculpture is one of its distinctive qualities as art4 ,but when you look at a stereoscopic motion picture it is absolutely impossible for you to 8see around0 the objects any farther than the camera has done1 no matter how much you shift your position4 ,the other sides of all the objects and figures might as well be missing4 ,your point of view is fixed absolutely in the stereoscopic picture1 just as it is in the ordinary 8flat0 picture4 ,but perhaps there are other ways in which the ,teleview and similar inventions can provide new opportunities for the cinema artist4 ,that remains to be shown by experimentation1 and1 of course1 such experimentation is welcome and should be encouraged4 ,however1 for all purposes of pictorial art a sufficient illusion of depth can be produced in the 8flat0 picture4 ,this can be done by the simplest instruments and means of picture making1 even by the use of a lead pencil and a piece of paper4 ,there are only two secrets of perspective4 ,one is to render parallel lines1 that is1 lines which are actually parallel in the subject1 so that they converge in the distance and1 if continued1 would meet at a 8vanishing point40 ,the other is to render objects with increasing dimness as they occupy positions at increasing distances away from us4 ,one might suppose that in a photograph these problems of perspective would take care of themselves4 ,but they do not1 as may be seen by turning to the 8still0 of the conservatory scene1 facing page #ajj4 ,there we find a jumble of stuff apparently all in the same vertical plane4 ,why does the standing woman wear a palm leaf in her hair8 ,why does the man wear the top of a doorway upon his head8 ,and why does the seated woman bury her head in the ferns8 ,they do not actually1 of course1 carry on thus hilariously2 but some one has carelessly coaxed the background into the foreground by making remote objects intensely distinct1 instead of subduing them into the soft values of distance4 ,but we have dwelt so long on the subject of balance in design that we fear the reader may think we have over-emphasized the point4 ,no one quality in pictorial composition should be out of balance with the others4 ,thus1 too sharp an emphasis may violate balance1 and too perfect a balance may violate rhythm4 ,after all1 the kind of balance we desire in pictorial design is that which is sufficient1 but no more4 ,we do not1 as a rule1 enjoy the mathematical figure of the equilateral triangle1 standing heavily on its base1 because it is balanced beyond the need of any living thing4 ,it suggests the dead repose of the pyramids of ,egypt1 the tombs of her forgotten kings4 ,such a severe design is utterly unsuitable1 therefore1 in the portrait of a lithe young lady clad in silks and tulle1 as illustrated in the 8still0 facing page #fa4 ,it is flat and hard1 and the eye following forever its monotonous outlines misses the variety of rhythm4 ,yet a triangle1 you say1 serves the purpose of unity and emphasis4 ,alter it then by making it narrower1 with a less obvious base1 and by swinging a live rhythm into its sides1 as in the painting of 8,mme4 ,lebrun and ,her ,daughter10 facing this page4 ,but this brings us to a discussion of the mysterious quality of rhythm4 ,rhythm is entirely too evasive for a tight definition1 but perhaps we can learn much by saying things about it4 ,illustration3 ,mme4 ,le,brun and ,her ,daughter1 a painting by ,mme4 ,vige-,lebrun4 ,a good figure composition on the basis of a triangle4 ,compare with the 8still0 shown facing page #fa4 ,see also pages #fb and #gf4 ,rhythm in music may be partially described as a peculiar alternating movement1 with an alternation between sounds of different pitch1 quality1 and quantity2 between different sound groups1 and between sound and silence4 ,the rhythm of visible motion is of a somewhat similar nature1 as we shall see in ,chapter ,,viii4 ,but a sense of alternating movement may be produced by things which are not themselves in motion4 ,we can1 therefore1 find rhythm in fixed lines1 shapes1 tones1 colors1 and textures4 ,this we shall call rhythm of fixed design4 ,the peculiar thing about the element of alternation in rhythm which distinguishes it from mere repetition1 is that it is not regular1 like the swinging of a pendulum1 but contains numerous variations from regularity4 ,but1 while the symmetry of rhythm is only partial1 so also the variety is limited4 ,it is the combined effect of these two factors which makes rhythm delightful4 ,repetition or symmetry in a line or a pattern is pleasurable because1 as explained in ,chapter ,,iii1 it enables us to see much with ease4 ,but1 at the same time1 subtle or even bold variations are appealing because they relieve us of monotony1 stimulate our interest1 and lead our eyes in search of further variations4 ,a familiar rhythm of line is that of the reverse curve1 which ,hogarth called 8the line of beauty40 ,this line is beautifully used in the painting 8,daylight and ,lamplight10 facing page #ci4 ,observe the effect of alternation with variety in the lines which bound the urn1 the woman's figure1 and the various shadows and lights in the background4 ,your eye sweeps over those paths without effort1 and you get a sense of movement1 as though you yourself were drawing these lines with a brush or crayon4 ,analyze the composition and you will see how richly the lines are woven together4 ,compare all the small curves with each other1 compare all the larger curves1 all the short straight lines1 all the longer straight lines1 etc41 and you will discover an amazing amount of alternation and repetition1 with an equally amazing amount of deviation from regularity4 ,imagine that the painting which we have just analyzed is an accented moment in a motion picture1 and you must imagine another similar design a few seconds earlier in the action and still another one a few seconds later1 as the woman walks gracefully through the room4 ,in fact1 there would be a whole series of similar designs during the brief time that the woman's figure and the urn are in decorative contact4 ,the instant of action which the painter has chosen to fix on canvas might well be the same instant which you would select as the pictorial climax in this motion picture4 ,this climax1 accented perhaps with a pause1 accented also by the pictorial approach and departure1 is something which you would long remember as a rhythmical moment in the photoplay4 ,in the picture which we have just described the rhythm is found chiefly in the continuity and richness of line and in a certain active balancing of similar with dissimilar lines4 ,the design is simple1 almost plain4 ,it is a single pattern which does not recur again within the frame4 ,quite different in type is the composition of a group picture such as 8,the ,banquet of the ,officers of ,st4 ,andrew10 facing page #gi1 where the rhythm is in the flow of patterns rather than in the flow of lines4 ,take a hat1 for example1 as the decorative theme and observe how definitely1 yet how subtly1 that theme is four times varied4 ,note further how the curves of the hats are echoed1 always with variety1 in the ruffs4 ,illustration3 ,from ,polly of the ,circus4 ,compare this 8still0 with ,banquet of the ,officers of ,st4 ,andrew 7below7 and you get at once the distinct impression that the painting depicts a larger crowd than the 8still40 ,as a matter of fact1 the painter has used only twelve men to produce his effect1 while the motion picture director has employed seventeen men1 a woman1 and a horse4 ,this difference illustrates the practical utility of pictorial design4 ,see page #eg4 ,illustration3 ,banquet of the ,officers of ,st4 ,andrew1 a painting by ,frans ,hals4 ,see above and page #gh4 ,but so many curves would make the picture too rich in quality were it not for the skillful introduction of straight lines to make1 as it were1 a series of alternating notes4 ,you observe immediately the long straight lines of the windows1 of the two flags1 and of the table4 ,but you do not at first observe that there are several dozen shorter straight lines1 and that1 curiously enough1 they are nearly all parallel to each other4 ,take as a key the sash of the first seated officer1 counting from the left1 and you will find a surprising number of similarities to this motif throughout the composition1 all the way from the shadows on the window casing in the upper left hand corner to the edge of the table in the lower right hand corner4 ,yet1 because these similar straight lines are so frequently alternated with varying curves1 we get from the picture a stirring sense of a swinging movement4 ,here1 again1 is an arrested moment of action which might conceivably have come out of a motion picture4 ,what the arrangement of the twelve men might have been at other moments of the scene we do not know4 ,perhaps they were all sitting when the scene opened2 perhaps they had all arisen before it closed2 but for this one instant1 at least1 they have resolved themselves into an interesting design of simple patterns in a rhythmical series4 ,another source of rhythm in a fixed picture may be the tonal gradations4 ,in a painting there would be a play of colors from hue to hue and from tint to shade4 ,in ordinary photography there may be a similar play from deep black to intense white through all the intervening values4 ,it is all a question of lighting and choice of subjects for the light to fall upon4 ,the painter has an advantage over the photographer because he does not have to record light and shadow exactly as they are on the subject4 ,he can soften his shadows or paint them out completely4 ,he can alter his tones and values at will1 even after the painting is practically finished4 ,as an offset to this the cinema composer has1 of course1 the power of presenting movement1 fugues and passages of light and shadow4 ,and1 by the use of the newest apparatus for lighting1 and by careful attention to the color values and textures of sets1 costumes1 etc41 he can also produce many of the rhythmical effects of gradation in fixed tones which we are accustomed to look for in painting4 ,as time goes on we shall more and more often find pictorial moments on the screen which exhibit as fine a rhythm of fixed tones and masses as1 for example1 ,van ,dyck's 8,portrait of ,charles ,i10 facing page #afc4 ,if you draw a straight line across this picture in almost any direction1 it will mark a great variety of graded values1 a lovely shifting of light and shadow1 with no sharp contrasts except those which serve to attract the spectator's attention to the head of the king4 ,there is perfect harmony of composition here4 ,the tones are in a rhythmical design1 yet it is a rhythm which keeps the emphasis on the focal interest and preserves the balance throughout the painting4 ,two or three men1 a horse1 and a bit of landscape is no uncommon subject in photoplays4 ,we have reason1 therefore1 to expect that from long practice all directors will learn how to treat it pictorially1 and with ever new variety of beauty4 ,the general field of composition in fixed design has now been surveyed4 ,we have tried to show that a good pictorial composition1 even from a commercial point of view1 is one which provides instant emphasis on the focal interest2 which unites this focal interest with the other parts of the picture by means of a certain arrangement1 or pattern2 which keeps all of its values in a reposeful balance1 and which pulsates with a vital rhythm4 ,these four qualities--emphasis1 unity1 balance1 and rhythm--are necessary in what might be called the mechanics of beauty1 the technique of design4 ,we admit1 cheerfully1 that the beauty of a given masterpiece cannot be explained by pointing out an observance of certain fundamental laws of design1 for an uninspired artist might obey all these laws without ever achieving beauty1 just as a machinist might obey all the laws of mechanics without ever inventing a machine4 ,but we insist that an observance of pictorial laws is a first condition that must be fulfilled by the artist before the mysterious quality of beauty will arise in his work4 ,the accented moment in a pictorial movement1 which we have studied from so many angles1 is1 of course1 not fixed on the screen for any great length of time1 never for more than a few seconds1 though it may remain fixed in memory for years4 ,nor is it a separate thing upon the screen4 ,it rises from an earlier moment and flows into a later one4 ,the rapid succession of momentarily fixed pictures on the screen is1 in fact1 what gives the illusion of motion4 ,yet it would not1 therefore1 be correct to say that the motion picture as a whole can be made beautiful by making each separate exposure in itself a beautiful composition4 ,the successive pictures must play1 one into the next1 in a stream of composition which contains new delights for the eye1 and which1 alas1 contains new dangers for the ignorant or careless maker of pictures4 ,what these delights and dangers are we shall see in the following chapters4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,motions ,,in ,a ,,picture ,pictorial motion is thousands of years older than the motion picture4 ,it is as old as the oldest art of all1 the dance4 ,before man had learned how to weave his own fancies into plots1 or how to make drawings of things that he saw1 he had doubtless often feasted his eyes upon the rhythmic beauty created by dancers4 ,their art was the composition of motions4 ,we can well imagine how they began by exhibiting bodily postures1 gestures1 and mimicry2 how they proceeded to add other movements1 such as the fluttering of garments1 the brandishing of weapons1 the waving of flaring torches1 and how they1 in time1 made their composition more involved by swinging themselves into swaying groups1 circling and threading fanciful patterns4 ,as a form of art the dance has been preserved through the ages in an apparently unbroken history4 ,and it has had various off-shoots besides2 for religious and secular processions1 pantomime1 and even drama1 have had their beginnings in the dance4 ,pictorial motion was to be seen two thousand years ago in the ,roman triumphs and processions1 whose gaudiest features survive in the familiar circus parade of today4 ,and the circus itself is in a sense the pictorial motion of animals and men4 ,in the presentation of drama1 too1 pictorial motion has always played a vital part4 ,when we look back over the history of the theater we see that the managers were never satisfied with the mere physical exhibition of actors and dancers1 but began very early to add other motions to their performance4 ,a large variety of motions was added by bringing animals upon the scenes4 ,fire was put into the service of show4 ,we know that its flame and flicker1 borne in torches or beating upon the witches' caldron1 was not uncommon on ,shakespeare's stage4 ,water in the form of leaping cascades and playing fountains was used at least two hundred years ago to make the scene more pictorial4 ,more recently1 wind has been produced artificially in order to give motion to draperies1 flags1 or foliage4 ,all this amounts to something far more than an attempt to bring nature upon the stage4 ,it is the creation of new beauty4 ,the kind of beauty which professional entertainers have for thousands of years spun together from various motions into patterns simple or subtle1 is the beauty of art1 for it comes from human personality expressing itself in forms and combinations never found as such in nature4 ,now1 if these showmen are really artists1 at least in intent1 we may well ask how they have combined their motions so as to produce the pleasing effects which they desired4 ,have they worked hit-or-miss and achieved beauty only by accident1 or have they intentionally or instinctively obeyed certain laws of the human eye and mind8 ,how does the director of a motion picture make sure that pleasing motion will appear upon the screen8 ,does he alter1 or select1 his subjects8 ,does he choose his point of view8 ,does he patiently wait for the right moment8 ,or must beauty come by accident1 as music might come from a cat's running over the keyboard of a piano8 ,there must be laws of pictorial motion1 just as there are laws of color1 design1 modelling1 architectural construction1 all of which appeal to the eye without visible motion4 ,and1 since the motion picture can capture and combine and reproduce a greater variety of moving things than was ever before possible in the history of art1 it seems particularly important that we make earnest efforts to find out under what laws these manifold motions may be organized into art4 ,in studying the movies one might easily come to the conclusion that some directors aim only to make motions life-like4 ,their whole creed seems to be that a heart-broken woman should move her shoulders and chest as though she really were heart-broken1 that a goat should act exactly like a goat1 and that a windmill should behave itself exactly like a windmill4 ,now1 it may be very desirable1 as far as it goes1 that an emotion be 8registered0 fitly4 ,but to aim at fitting expression alone is to aim at naturalness alone4 ,and this is not enough1 because there may be natural ugliness1 and because even the beauty of nature is essentially different from the beauty of art4 ,shakespeare's plays are not admired simply because they reveal human character truthfully4 ,rembrandt's paintings are not preserved in museums merely because they are truthful representations of ,dutchmen4 ,the ,venus of ,milo would not have a room to herself in the ,louvre if the statue were nothing more than a life-like figure of a woman partly dressed4 ,in drama1 poetry1 fiction1 painting1 sculpture1 and music1 it has never been considered that appropriateness1 naturalness1 or truthfulness was in itself sufficient to distinguish the work as art4 ,and it surely cannot be so in the movies4 ,it certainly has not been so in the earlier arts of motion4 ,the dance as a form of expression is beautiful1 but it is so far from natural that if the average voter started out to express his joy or grief1 or love or defiance1 the way a dancer does on the stage1 he would be given a free ride to the psychopathic ward4 ,the stage pantomime is charming1 but if you behaved in the presence of your true love the way ,pierrot and ,columbine behave1 he or she1 as the case may be1 would probably decide that you were too much of a clown ever to become a responsible parent4 ,the circus1 too1 though not properly to be classed as a form of art1 combines and presents a vast number of interesting motions which you never expect to see outside the big tent4 ,dancers1 pantomime actors1 circus masters and performers1 all clearly strive to collect our money by showing us the kind of motions which nature herself does not show4 ,but do not become alarmed4 ,we do not propose to establish a school of unnatural acting in the movies4 ,let the women and men and greyhounds and weeping willows and brooks be as natural as they can be1 like themselves and not like each other4 ,natural1 yes1 providing they be not natural in an ugly way4 ,if a brook is running in one direction as naturally as it can1 and a greyhound is running in the opposite direction as naturally as he can1 the combination of their contrary movements may not be pleasing in a motion picture4 ,art is art1 not because it reflects some actual bit of nature1 but because it is endowed with some beauty made by man4 ,what other properties pictorial motion should have1 besides correct representation of action has been partly told in ,chapter ,,iii1 where the demands of ease and economy of vision were made a condition concomitant with beauty4 ,we may further apply the same tests which have been applied to fixed design4 ,but1 in order to get a firm grasp of our subject let us first reduce pictorial motions to their simplest forms4 ,the simplest motion of all is the moving spot1 especially when it is entirely unrelated to a setting or background2 that is1 the kind of moving spot which the spectator may see without at the same time seeing any other thing1 either fixed or moving4 ,a familiar example in nature is the dark dot of a bird flying high above us in a cloudless sky4 ,an example from the screen is the effect of a ball of fire shot from a ,roman candle through darkness1 as in the battle scenes of ,griffith's 8,birth of a ,nation40 ,but even so simple a moving thing as a spot has two properties which are very important to the composer of motions4 ,the moving spot1 like all other motions1 has direction and velocity4 ,the buzzard soaring slowly in large circles affects us in one way1 while the hawk swooping downward sharply1 or the crow flying in a straight line1 or the bat fluttering crazily in the air1 affects us in quite a different way4 ,when direction and velocity are controlled1 even a single moving spot may describe beautiful motion4 ,witness an airplane maneuvering high in the sky1 or a torch waved gracefully in the darkness4 ,beauty springs from control2 ugliness follows lack of control4 ,but control is no easy thing in the movies1 for it is rare indeed that a director has only a single moving point to manage4 ,almost always1 he has the problem of relative direction and relative speed4 ,moving things must be related to other moving things1 and also to fixed things4 ,even if the picture consists only of a torch waved against a black background1 we have the problem of relating that motion to the four fixed lines of the frame of the screen4 ,but can we expect a motion picture director to stop and think of so small a matter as a ball thrown from one hand to another1 to ask himself whether such an action is beautifully related1 in direction and velocity1 to everything else in the picture1 fixed or moving8 ,yes1 we can expect him to do so until he becomes artist enough to think of these matters without stopping4 ,he should think about pictorial composition until he can obey its laws without thought4 ,let him remember that even a flock of geese can compose themselves so appealingly in the sky and a herd of cows can wind so gracefully down a hillside that a tender girl and a tough hobo will gaze alike upon them in open-mouthed admiration4 ,the geese in the sky and the cows on the hillside are only a lot of moving spots1 until they arrange1 or compose1 themselves4 ,they may then illustrate the second type of moving object1 that of the moving line4 ,a line may1 for example1 move along its own length in a way which pleases the eyes4 ,such motions we see in the slender waterfall1 in the narrow stream1 in such inanimate things as the long belting in a factory1 or the glowing line of a shooting star1 and in the files of geese1 or cattle1 or marching men4 ,a line may move in other directions besides that of its own length4 ,it may swing stiffly from one end1 as in the case of a pendulum or the rays from a searchlight4 ,it may wave like a streamer in the breeze4 ,it may move sidewise1 as in the long lines of surf that roll up on the beach4 ,it may move in countless other manners1 as in the handling of canes1 swords1 spears1 golf clubs1 polo mallets1 whips1 etc4 ,now1 of course1 the director ordinarily thinks of a weapon as a weapon1 and not as a moving line4 ,he studies the characteristic action of an officer drawing his sword or of a ,hottentot hurling his spear and tries to reproduce them faithfully so that no small boy in the audience may be able to pick out flaws4 ,this is well1 so far as it goes4 ,a painter would study these characteristic actions1 too1 and would suggest them with equal faithfulness4 ,but he would do something more4 ,he would place every object so carefully in his picture that its line harmonized with the four lines of the frame and with all of the other lines1 spots1 and pictorial values in his work4 ,now we are beginning to guess how pictorial motions must be composed2 but first let us see what other kinds of motion there are4 ,if we take another look at the geese in the sky we may find that they have composed themselves into the form of a 8,v0 or a 8,y0 floating strangely beneath the clouds4 ,this illustrates the third type of motion1 the moving pattern4 ,we distinguish between a moving pattern and a moving spot or line1 because a pattern relates its separate elements to each other4 ,this relation may or may not change as the pattern moves4 ,thus the ,v-shaped pattern formed by the flying geese may become sharper or flatter1 or one side may be stretched out longer than the other1 as the flight continues4 ,all fixed pictures are patterns which do not change in form while we look at them1 and the pictorial principles therein involved have been thoroughly discussed in the preceding chapters4 ,but if the director wants a pattern to move to the right or left1 up or down1 away from him or toward him1 or to change its character gradually1 then a new problem of composition arises1 and the solution of this new problem is both inviting and perplexing4 ,it is inviting because there are so many patterns which gain beauty from motion or change4 ,a fixed circle is not so appealing to the eye1 for example1 as a rolling hoop4 ,a wheel standing still is not so fascinating as one that rotates1 like the wheel of a wind mill1 or one that rolls1 like the wheel of a carriage4 ,thus also the pattern formed by the rectangular shapes of a train standing still does not please the eye so much as the harmonious change in that same pattern when the train swings by us and winds away into the distance4 ,the patterns which may be compared with mathematical figures1 such as circles1 squares1 triangles1 diamond shapes1 etc41 are not the only ones4 ,we are simply mentioning them first to make our analysis clear4 ,every group of two or more visible things1 and nearly every visible thing in itself1 must of necessity be looked upon as a pattern1 either pleasing or displeasing to the eye4 ,therefore every motion picture that has been1 or can be1 thrown upon the screen describes a pattern1 fixed1 moving1 or changing4 ,if the direction and rate of these motions and changes can be controlled1 there is hope for beauty on the screen2 if they cannot be controlled1 there is no help but accident4 ,a peculiar type of visible motion is that which we have elsewhere called 8moving texture40 ,examples in nature are the changing texture of falling snow1 the stately coiling of clouds1 and the majestic weaving of ice floes in a river4 ,in the movies the effect of moving texture is produced whenever the elements of the subject are so many and so small that we view them rather as a surface than as a design or pattern4 ,it may be seen1 not only in subjects from nature1 but also in such things as a mob of people or a closely packed herd of cattle viewed from a high position4 ,mr4 ,griffith has a good eye and taste for the composition of moving textures1 and has furnished interesting examples in nearly all of his larger productions4 ,now let us see how far we have gone4 ,we have defined four different types of pictorial motion1 namely1 the moving spot1 the moving line1 the moving pattern1 and the moving texture4 ,they may appear singly or grouped4 ,for example1 in a picture of the old-fashioned water wheel we have a combination of the moving line of the stream with the moving pattern of the wheel4 ,and in a picture of a small motor boat1 seen from afar1 speeding over a lake the composition contains a moving spot1 the changing pattern of the wake1 and the changing texture of the water4 ,if we add to this picture a long train on the bank1 trailing a ribbon of smoke1 an airplane in the sky1 and a sailing yacht on the lake1 we have a subject which is difficult indeed to analyze1 and infinitely more difficult to compose into pictorial beauty4 ,yet those are the very kinds of motion which a motion picture director must compose in every scene that he 8shoots40 ,but we have not yet completed our analysis of the nature of pictorial motion4 ,it has still another property1 which we shall call 8changing tonal value40 ,changing tonal value depends upon changes in the amount and kind of light which falls upon the subject1 and upon changes in the surface of the subject itself4 ,for example1 the shadow of a cloud passing over a landscape gives a slightly different hue to every grove or meadow1 to every rock or road4 ,to watch these values come and go is one of the delights of the nature lover4 ,nature's supreme example of the beauty of changing values may be seen in a sunset playing with delicate splendor on sea and sky4 ,and if this beauty defies the skill of painters it is because they have no means of representing the subtle changes which run through any particular hue as the moments pass by4 ,the beauty of a sunset may long1 perhaps forever1 elude the cinematograph1 but this machine can produce tonal changes in black and white at the will of the operator by the familiar trick of 8fading in0 and 8fading out40 ,this camera trick is of great service for dramatic effects1 such as the dissolving of one picture into another2 but it has a greater power1 which has not always been appreciated and taken advantage of by directors1 the power of producing for the eye a pictorial rhythm of tonal intensities4 ,this effect is somewhat like the 8crescendo0 and 8diminuendo0 in music4 ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,covered ,wagon4 ,distinctive rhythm of moving lines1 interesting changes in pictorial pattern1 and harmonious play of light and shade are skillfully used in this photoplay to intensify its dramatic meaning4 ,see pages #i1 #ff and #adj4 ,when we consider that changing tonal value may be combined with changing direction1 as well as with changing velocity1 of moving spots1 moving lines1 moving patterns1 and moving textures1 we realize more keenly the problems of the cinema composer4 ,his medium is at once extremely complex1 extremely flexible1 and extremely delicate4 ,but we have not yet revealed all of the strange qualities of the motion picture4 ,a unique power of the screen1 which can never be utilized by any other graphic art1 is that which gives motion to things that are themselves absolutely at rest and immovable4 ,even the pyramids of ,egypt can be invested with apparent motion1 so that their sharp lines flow constantly into new patterns4 ,it can be done by simply moving the camera itself while the film is being exposed4 ,the appeal of apparent motion in natural setting is familiar to any one who has ever gazed dreamily from the window of a railroad car or from the deck of a yacht sailing among islands4 ,apparent motion on the screen makes a similar appeal1 which can be enhanced by changing distance and point of view and by artistic combination with real motions in the picture4 ,still other fresh means of pleasing the eye may be found in the altering of natural motions1 as by the retarding action of the slow-motion camera1 which can make a horse float in the air like a real ,pegasus2 or by the cinematographic acceleration of motion which can out-rival an ,indian conjuror in making a tree rise1 blossom1 and bear fruit while you are watching4 ,another peculiar type of pictorial motion1 which has never before existed1 and does not come into being until it is projected upon the screen1 is the magic motion of the 8animated cartoons40 ,the camera-man sees no such marvelous motions4 ,he faces only a stack of drawings4 ,the artist who makes the drawings does not see the motions except in his own imagination4 ,but the spectator in the theater is delighted to see the strangely bewitched men and beasts1 birds and trees1 rocks and streams1 weapons and machines1 all behaving in impossible ways that no maker of fairy tales ever dreamed of4 ,here is a new field of pictorial composition1 with distant boundaries and fabulous wealth4 ,those who exploit it will be able to teach many a valuable lesson to the director who merely takes photographs of actors in motion4 ,nearly all of these motions might be found in a single 8shot10 that is1 in a single section of film4 ,but when these sections of film are joined together to form the finished photoplay they produce still another kind of motion1 a constant shifting from scene to scene4 ,whether this succession is to be a series of collisions or a harmonious flow1 depends upon those who cut and join the films4 ,there is finally the total movement which is the product of all of these motions working together4 ,a scientist can show you in his laboratory that when a cord vibrates in one way it gives forth a particular note1 and that when the same cord vibrates in another way it gives forth a different note4 ,he can also show you that a single cord can vibrate in several different ways at the same time4 ,the tones and overtones thus produced constitute the peculiar timbre1 or quality1 of a musical note4 ,thus1 too1 in a motion picture the ensemble of all the kinds1 directions1 and velocities of motion constitutes the particular cinematic quality of that particular picture play4 ,whether that resultant quality shall be like a symphony or like the cries of a mad-house1 depends on the knowledge1 the skill1 and the inspiration of the cinema composer4 ,having named the principal motions in a picture we come now to the question of how those motions should be composed4 ,when a musical composer sits down before his piano he knows that he may strike single notes in succession1 giving a simple melody1 or several notes at the same moment1 producing a chord1 or he may play a melody with one hand and a different melody with the other1 or he may play a melody with one hand and a succession of chords with the other1 or he may use both hands in playing two successions of chords4 ,before he is through with his composition he will probably have done all of those things4 ,it is much the same with the cinema composer4 ,before he has finished even a single scene he will probably have produced all of the different types of motions in varying directions1 with varying velocities1 and varying intensities4 ,how may he know whether his work is good or bad8 ,what are the proofs of beauty in the composition of pictorial motion8 ,a practical proof is dramatic utility4 ,the motions of a photoplay are in the service of the story4 ,they should perform that work well1 without waste of time and energy4 ,an sthetic proof is their power to stimulate our fancy and to sway our feeling4 ,pictorial motions should play for us1 until by the illusion of art we can play with them4 ,another proof is reposefulness4 ,for at the very moment when we are stimulated by art we desire to rest in satisfied contemplation4 ,how pictorial motions may produce beauty on the screen by being at work1 at play1 and at rest will be told in the following chapters4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,pictorial ,,motions ,,at ,,work ,all the movement which you see on the screen may be enjoyed1 we have said1 as something which appears beautiful to your eye1 regardless of its meaning to your mind4 ,but if that movement1 beautiful in itself1 also carries to your mind some significance1 if it serves the dramatic plot in some positive way1 then the picture will be so much the richer4 ,acting1 of course1 is visible movement that delineates character and advances plot4 ,it is pictorial motion at work4 ,and acting1 curiously enough1 is not limited to people and animals4 ,in a sense there may be acting also by things1 by wagons or trees or brooks or waves or water-falls or fountains or flames or smoke or clouds or wind-blown garments4 ,the motions of these things also constitute a kind of work in the service of the photoplay4 ,one might say that the artistic efficiency of a motion picture may be partly tested in the same way as the practical value of a machine4 ,in either case motions are no good unless they help to perform some work4 8,lost motions0 are a waste1 and resisting motions are a hindrance4 ,the best mechanical combination of motions1 then1 is that which results in the most work with the least expenditure of energy4 ,doubtless every one will agree with us that if1 while a picture is showing1 any great work is necessary to 8get the story across10 that work should be done by the picture and not by the spectators4 ,they want the story to be clear1 and they want it to be impressive4 ,in other words1 they want beautiful and significant material presented with the fullest emphasis4 ,emphasis results when the attention of the spectator is caught and held by the primary interest in the picture1 instead of the secondary interest4 ,in paintings1 or in 8still0 pictures1 or in those parts of moving pictures which are held or remembered as fixed moments1 a great number of devices may be used separately or together to control the attention of the spectator so that the main interest gets its full emphasis4 ,pictorial motions on the screen may also be so well organized that they will catch and control the spectator's attention1 and will reveal the dynamic vitality of the pictorial content4 ,the simplest principle of accent by motion is so obvious that we are almost ashamed to name it4 ,it is this1 that if in the whole picture everything remains at rest except one thing which moves1 that thing will attract our attention4 ,photoplays are full of mistakes which arise through the violation of this simple law4 ,in many a scene our attention is drawn from the stalwart hero to a candle on the mantlepiece merely because its flame happens to flicker2 or from the heroine's sweet face to a common bush merely because its leaves happen to quiver in the breeze2 or from the villain's steady pistol to a dog's tail merely because the dog happens to wag it4 ,it is no excuse to say that such motions are natural1 or that they give local color4 ,for1 though a moving trifle may help to give the correct atmosphere1 it may also at the same time rob the heroine of the attention which is rightly due her4 ,for example1 in 8,the ,love ,light10 which was conceived and directed by ,frances ,marion1 there is the kitchen of the little ,italian home where ,angela 7,mary ,pickford7 sits down to muse for a while4 ,she occupies the right side of the picture while at the left is the fire-place with a brisk fire4 ,the fanciful playing of the flames and smoke of that fire catch our attention immediately4 ,we guess that this fire-place is not important in the story1 and we turn our glances upon the heroine1 but we cannot keep them there because the fire is too interesting4 ,when the spectator's reason tries to make him do one thing and his natural inclination tempts him to do the opposite1 there is confusion and waste of mental energy2 and during that hesitation of mind the opportunity for being impressed by the main interest of the play passes by4 ,that rule may sound like a commonplace1 but it is not nearly so commonplace as the violation of it in the movies4 ,if the director must have a fire in the fire-place1 and if ,angela is more important than that fire1 then1 of course1 her motions should be made more interesting than its motions4 ,it should always be remembered that the strangest1 least familiar of two motions will attract our attention away from the other4 ,the fire is strange1 while ,angela is familiar4 ,in the preceding scenes she has walked1 run1 romped1 laughed1 cried1 talked1 and made faces2 she has1 in short1 performed so many different kinds of motions that there is almost nothing unexpected left for her to do in order to take our eyes away from the fire4 ,she merely sits for a long time unnoticed4 ,presently1 however1 after the fire has lost its novelty for us1 she arises1 grasps a frying pan1 and1 using it as a mirror1 begins to primp4 ,then at last we look at her4 ,a more striking case of misplaced emphasis may be found in the photoplay 8,sherlock ,holmes10 directed by ,albert ,parker4 ,the part of the great detective was played by no less a person than ,john ,barrymore1 yet in the very scene where he makes his first appearance he is totally eclipsed by a calico cow4 ,in this scene1 represented by the 8still0 opposite this page1 we see a beautifully patterned cow swinging into the idyllic setting of a side street in ,cambridge1 following a rhythmic path from the background with its dim towers of the university1 past the honeysuckle-clad walls of 8,ye ,cheshire ,cheese10 and out into the shadows of a picturesque tree4 ,this cow holds our attention by her photographic contrasts of black and white1 and because she and her attendant are the only moving things within the whole scope of the camera4 ,this inscrutable cow gets the spotlight while the great ,sherlock is neglected where he reclines drowsily in the shade4 ,here was really the most pictorial scene of the whole photoplay1 and the annoying thing was that the cow never again showed hoof or horn4 ,why was she ever let in8 ,no suspicion of murder1 theft1 or other deviltry was ever cast upon her4 ,she neither shielded nor shamed any one4 ,she did not help to solve any problem4 ,there was no further allusion to cattle1 dairies1 or cheese4 ,there was not even a glass of milk in the rest of the play4 ,illustration3 ,a typical bad movie composition from an old film4 ,but the pictorial mistakes here illustrated may be seen in some of the most recent productions4 ,intelligent criticism by spectators would soon make such careless directing intolerable4 ,see page #ge4 ,illustration3 ,from ,sherlock ,holmes4 ,an example of wrong emphasis4 ,the cow attracts attention by her strong marking1 the central position1 and because she is the only moving thing in the picture4 ,but the cow should not have been dragged in at all1 much less accented4 ,see page #ajj4 ,perhaps the innocent cow was an accident4 ,perhaps the director did not know1 or had forgotten1 that the whitest patch in a picture attracts the eye1 that an irregular shape1 such as the marking of a ,holstein cow1 attracts more attention than the familiar patterning of walls1 windows1 tree trunks1 etc41 that a moving object in a scene where everything else is still attracts and holds attention1 and that a humble cow emphasized by all these cinematographic means makes more of a hit than the most highly paid actor dozing in the shade4 ,but the strangeness or novelty of a motion may emphasize it1 even though other motions going on at the same time are larger and stronger4 ,in support of this statement the author offers a personal experience which came in the nature of a surprise when first seeing ,niagara ,falls4 ,one would think that if a person who had never seen this sight were placed suddenly before it1 he would gaze spellbound at the awful rush of water1 and that no other motion could possibly distract him4 ,but the author's attention was first attracted to something else which impressed him more deeply1 something which moved silently1 very slowly and very delicately4 ,that strangely attractive thing was the cloud of spray that rose steadily from the bottom of the fall1 floating gently upward past the brink and vanishing continually in the sky4 ,its peculiar appeal lay in its strangeness1 not in its strength4 ,the reader can doubtless recall similar cases where strangeness exerted an overpowering appeal4 ,at best that strangeness is much more than the satisfaction of curiosity4 ,it is a type of beauty which comes as a relief from the common1 familiar facts of every-day life4 ,the combination of strangeness and beauty has a powerful charm1 and he is an ideal director who can emphasize dramatic significance with that charm4 ,violence1 at least1 is not a virtue in the movies1 as so many directors seem to believe4 ,indeed1 slowness and slightness may sometimes be more impressive than speed and volume4 ,this is often demonstrated on the stage of the spoken drama1 when1 for example1 the leading lady who speaks slowly and in low tones holds our interest better than her attendants who chatter in high pitch4 ,the beauty of her speech is emphasized by its contrast with the ugliness of the others4 ,so in the photoplay there may be more power in a single slight lowering of the eyes or in the firm clenching of a fist than in a storm of waving arms and heaving chests4 ,what has just been said refers to motions in a fixed setting1 which operate either against or in spite of1 each other2 but two or more motions in a picture may work as a team1 and may thus control our attention better than if they were operating singly4 ,first we observe that if a single object is moving along in a continuous direction it will pull our attention along in that direction1 may1 indeed1 send our attention on ahead of the object4 ,thus if an actor swings his hand dramatically in the direction of a door he may carry our glance beyond his hand to the door itself4 ,this law of vision works so surely that it can always be depended upon by a magician1 a highly specialized kind of actor1 when he wishes to divert the attention of his audience from some part of the stage or of his own person where a trick is being prepared4 ,it is not true1 as is popularly supposed1 that we are deceived because 8the hand is faster than the eye02 it is really because the eye is faster than the hand4 ,in other words1 our attention outstrips the moving object4 ,in the movies this law controls our attention to traveling persons1 vehicles1 and things4 ,if horsemen are represented as riding away they should be photographed with their backs toward us and with the distance between us and them increasing4 ,then1 since our eyes travel beyond the riders1 we get a stronger impression that the men are really riding far away4 ,on the other hand1 if the horsemen are coming home1 the direction of movement should naturally be toward us4 ,this seems clear enough2 yet directors frequently prevent us from feeling the dramatic intent and force of travel1 by 8shooting0 the moving subject from various angles in succession4 ,even ,mr4 ,griffith has been guilty of this sort of carelessness4 ,in 8,the ,idol ,dancer10 for example1 we have a scene 7a7 in which a party of ,south ,sea island villagers are paddling away in a large canoe2 correctly enough they are moving away from the camera4 ,the next scene 7b7 shows some one raising an alarm in the village by beating a drum1 which1 as we have been informed1 can be heard twenty miles away4 ,it is a call to the canoe party to return4 ,the scene which is then flashed on 7c7 is a close-up of the canoe coming toward the camera4 ,the men are paddling vigorously4 ,we think1 of course1 that they have already heard the alarm and are now returning4 ,but no6 ,presently they stop paddling and listen4 ,they hear the drum4 ,the next picture 7d71 a 8long shot10 shows the canoe being maneuvered around1 and the succeeding pictures all show the men paddling toward the camera4 ,now it is perfectly logical for us to infer that the canoe is already homeward bound1 when we see it coming toward us in scene 8c0 immediately after the drum has sounded the alarm1 and we can therefore only resent being caught in error and virtually told1 two scenes later1 8,this time we won't fool you1 now the canoe1 as you see1 is really turning about40 ,if one moving object can send our thoughts ahead to the goal of its travel1 two or more objects moving toward the same point can send our thoughts there with greatly increased force4 ,thus a picture of two ships shown approaching each other on converging courses will surely make us think of that region of the sea where they are likely to come close aboard each other4 ,if there is an enemy submarine at that point and if the two vessels are destroyers1 the suspense and emphasis is complete4 ,a similar law of attention may be seen at work in cases where lines move along their length to a junction4 ,suppose we take as a setting a western landscape in which two swiftly flowing streams meet and form the figure of a 8,y40 ,suppose now that we desire to place an ,indian camp in this setting so carefully that it will attract attention as soon as the picture is flashed on the screen4 ,we must place it at the junction of the two streams1 because the eyes of the spectators will naturally be drawn to that point4 ,now suppose that a long white road crosses the main stream just below the place where the tributaries meet4 ,the position would be emphasized more than ever because the road would virtually form two fixed lines leading toward the bridge2 and fixed lines1 as we saw in ,chapter ,,iv1 also have the power of directing our attention to the point where a crossing is made4 ,then let us suppose that the ,indians build a fire1 from which the smoke rises in a tall1 thin column4 ,that would constitute another line of motion4 ,but would it emphasize or weaken the center of interest8 ,it would1 as a matter of fact1 still hold our attention on the camp because of the curious law that1 no matter in what directions lines may move1 it is the point which they have in common that attracts our attention4 ,thus if we assume a landscape where there is only a single stream1 with a camp at the upper end1 and with smoke rising from a fire1 we would still have emphasis on the camp1 in spite of the fact that the two lines of motion are directed away from it4 ,the same curious power over our attention may be exercised by moving spots4 ,if we see1 for example1 two ships sailing away on diverging courses1 we immediately suppose that the ships are sailing out of the same port1 and1 even though we cannot see any sign of that port1 our minds will search for it4 ,so also in those electric advertisements where lines of fire1 sprayed from a central source1 rise and curve over into the various letters of a word1 the emphasis is rather on the point where the lines originate than on any single letter or on the word as a whole4 ,electric signs1 by the way1 are surprisingly often examples of what not to do with motion if one desires to catch the eye and to strike deep into the mind and emotions of the observer4 ,the most common mistake1 perhaps1 is the sign consisting of a word in steady light surrounded by a flashing border in which a stream of fire flows continuously from dusk till dawn4 ,our eyes chase madly around with this motion and have no chance to rest upon the word for which the advertiser is wasting his money4 ,but1 to return to the question of how motions running away from each other can throw the spectator's attention to the point where they originate1 we can think of no more perfect example in nature than the effect which is produced by throwing a pebble into a pool4 ,ripples form themselves immediately into expanding rings which seem to pursue each other steadily away from a common center4 ,yet1 despite the outward motion of these rings our eyes constantly seek the point from which they so mysteriously arise4 ,that this is true every reader has experienced for himself4 ,here then we have discovered a fascinating paradox of motion1 namely1 that a thing may sometimes be caught by running away from it4 ,this ought to be good news to many a movie director4 ,but let us see what other means there are of emphasizing a theme or some other feature of significant beauty in a photoplay4 ,one method is repetition4 ,but what is the effect of repetition8 ,is it monotony or emphasis8 ,does it dull our senses or sharpen them8 ,there can be no doubt that the steady repetition of the sea waves breaking on the beach1 or of rain drops dripping on our roofs1 or of leaves rustling in the forest1 or of flames leaping in our fire-places can send us into the forgetfulness of sleep4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the periodic repetition of a movement in a dance1 or of a motif in music1 or of a refrain in poetry can drive that movement1 that motif1 or that refrain so deeply into our souls that we never forget it4 ,we refer1 of course1 to the higher forms of dancing1 music1 and poetry2 for in the lower forms1 such as the dancing of savages1 the grinding of hand organs1 and the 8sing-song0 of uninspired recitations the too frequent repetition soon results in monotony4 ,in the movies of to-day there is1 we are glad to observe1 very little bad repetition except that of close-ups1 and even they are now more and more eliminated by directors4 ,but there is also very little good repetition in the cause of artistic emphasis4 ,the tendency is rather a touch and run4 ,seventy settings are used where seventeen would give us a stronger sense of environment4 ,we read more publicity 8dope0 about a woman who can do a hundred 8stunts0 in five reels than about one who can strike a single enthralling pose1 and can return to it again and again until it becomes as unforgettable as a masterpiece of sculpture4 ,the photoplay needs repetition1 especially because of the fact that any pictorial motion or moment must by its very nature vanish while we look4 ,hence1 unless all other circumstances are especially favorable for emphasis1 such a motion or moment may vanish from our minds as well as from the screen4 ,to fix these fleeting values is a problem1 but it can be solved without the danger of monotony if each repetition is provided with a variety of approach1 or if each repetition is made under a variety of circumstances4 ,this is the method in music4 ,a particular series of notes is struck and serves for a theme2 then the melody wanders off into a maze of harmony and returns to the theme1 only to wander off again into a new harmony and to return from a new direction to the same theme4 ,after a while this musical theme1 thus repeated with a variety of approach1 penetrates our souls and remains imbedded there long after the performance has ceased4 ,the same method is often employed to give emphasis to a particular movement or pose in sthetic dancing4 ,to show how repetition with variety of approach may operate on the screen let us remake in imagination some scenes from ,griffith's 8,broken ,blossoms10 a photoplay which was adapted from ,thomas ,burke's short story 8,the ,chink and the ,child40 ,the wistful heroine1 called simply ,the ,girl1 played charmingly by ,lillian ,gish1 is shown in the wretched hovel of her father1 8,battling0 ,burrows1 a prize-fighter4 ,we see her against a background of fading and broken walls1 a bare table1 a couple of chairs1 a cot1 and a stove4 ,if she sits down1 stands up1 lies down1 or walks across the room1 she moves1 of course1 through a changing pattern of motion against fixed lines4 ,and she ends each movement in a different fixed design4 ,now let us suppose that the most pictorial of all these arrested moments is the one which is struck when she pauses before an old mirror to gaze sadly at her own pathetic image1 and that during this moment we see1 not only the best arrangement of lines1 patterns1 and tones1 and the best phase of all her bodily movements1 but also the most emotional expression of her tragic situation as the slave of her brutal father4 ,wouldn't it be a pity if this pictorial moment were to occur once only during the play8 ,how much more impressive it would be if she paused often before this mirror1 always striking the same dramatic note4 ,such a pause would be quite natural immediately after she enters the room or when she is about to go out1 or during her weary shuffling between the stove and the table while serving supper1 or after she has arisen from a spell of crying on the cot and tries to shape her tear-stained face into a smile4 ,in all of these cases there would be variety and yet emphasis1 always the same tonal harmony between her blond hair and the faded wall1 always the same resemblance between the lines of her ragged dress and those of the old furniture1 always the same binding of her frail figure into the hard pattern of her surroundings1 as though she were but a thing to be kicked about and broken1--all this shown again and again until the full dramatic force and beauty of the pictorial moment is impressed upon the spectator4 ,this kind of repetition can be done much more effectively and with less danger of monotony in the photoplay than in the stage play1 because much of the action which intervenes between the repetitions can be eliminated and other scenes can be cut in without breaking the continuity of visible motion1 while on the stage no bridging of time or shifting of scene is feasible without dropping the curtain4 ,one device which is unique on the screen is the repetition of the same 8shot0 by simply cutting into the film numerous prints from a single negative4 ,a well-remembered case was the 8,out-of-the-cradle endlessly-rocking0 theme of ,griffith's 8,intolerance10 a picture of a young woman rocking a cradle1 which was repeated at frequent intervals throughout the story4 ,the picture remained the same1 but the context was ever new2 and1 if the repetition was not impressive to the spectators1 the fault was not in the device itself1 but rather in the fact that there really was no very clear connection between the cradle-rocking and intolerance4 ,whenever we speak of emphasis in art we are naturally concerned about emphasizing that which is vital in the theme or story4 ,we do not1 for example1 emphasize a man's suspenders in a portrait where the main theme is grief4 ,nor need we1 for that matter1 emphasize tears2 for a man might show as much grief with his shoulders as with a wet handkerchief4 ,in other words1 if the theme is grief we should emphasize grief itself rather than any particular gesture of grief4 ,similarly if in a romantic story the main theme is dashing sword play1 it is swordsmanship which should be stressed1 and not the sword itself1 unless1 of course1 that sword happens to have some magic property4 ,therefore it is bad art in 8,the ,mark of ,zorro10 a ,douglas ,fairbanks play1 to repeat with every sub-title a conventional sketch of a sword4 ,it is bad1 not only because the hero's sword needs no emphasis1 but because a mere decorative drawing of a sword cannot reinforce the significance of the real sword which the hero so gallantly wields4 ,there is a recurring note1 however1 in this play which can be commended4 ,it is the 8,z0 shaped mark or wound which ,zorro makes with his sword4 ,we see it first as an old scar on the cheek of a man whom ,zorro has reprimanded4 ,then we see ,zorro himself trace the mark on a bulletin board from which he tears down a notice4 ,then we see him cut the dreaded 8,z0 upon the neck of an antagonist4 ,and1 finally1 we see him1 some days later1 fix his weird mark squarely on the brow of his old enemy4 ,and in every case except the first we observe the quick zigzag motion of the avenging sword4 ,here the emphasis lies in the repetition of a pictorial element with some variety of shape and movement and under a variety of circumstances4 ,the 8mark0 of ,zorro becomes a sharp symbol which inscribes ever anew upon our minds the character of the hero1 his dashing pursuit and lightning retribution4 ,emphasis by repetition in the photoplay may further be achieved in ways which we shall not take the time to discuss4 ,thus an especially significant setting may be repeated in various lights and in combination with various actions2 or some particular action1 such as a dramatic dance1 may be repeated in a variety of settings4 ,a sure means of emphasis is contrast4 ,we have already shown how this principle works in cases where a moving thing is contrasted with other things which are at rest4 ,yet the contrast in such cases works only in one direction4 ,that is to say1 the contrast throws the attention on the motion1 but it does not at the same time draw any attention to the fixed objects4 ,it will be interesting now to illustrate a sort of double-acting contrast which may produce great emphasis in pictures4 ,in the well-known case where a tall man stands beside a short one on a stage the difference between them is emphasized by the contrast in their statures2 and when we meet them off the stage we are surprised to discover that one is not so tall1 and the other not so short1 as we had been led to believe4 ,in a photograph1 for a similar reason1 if a very black tone is placed sharply along a very white one1 each tone will make the other seem more intense4 ,and if a painter desires to emphasize a color1 say red1 in his painting he does not need to do so by spreading more paint over the first coat4 ,red may be accented by placing green beside it4 ,in fact1 each of these two colors can accent the other by contrast4 ,similarly when two motions occur together the contrast between them may be double-acting4 ,when you are setting your watch1 for example1 the minute-hand seems to run faster1 and the hour-hand more slowly1 than is actually true1 because of the contrast in their rates of speed4 ,this simple law might well be applied in the movies when emphasis of motion is required4 ,we would thus get the effect of speed upon the mind without the annoyance of speed for the eye4 ,one does not have to be a critic to realize that there is entirely too much speed on the screen4 ,some of this dizzy swiftness is due to imperfect projection or to the worn-out condition of the film2 witness the flicker and the 8rain0 of specks and lines4 ,much of it is due also to the fact that the projection is 8speeded up0 to a faster rate than that of the actual performance before the camera4 ,but there is also a lamentable straining for effect by many directors who believe that an unnaturally fast tempo gives life and sparkle to the action4 ,perhaps some of these directors have not been able to forget a lesson learned during their stage experience4 ,in the spoken drama it has long been a tradition that actors must speak more rapidly1 and must pick up their cues more promptly1 than people do in real life1 in order that the play may not seem to drag4 ,but we know that the motion picture is in danger of racing rather than dragging4 ,and racing1 as we have said1 hurts the eyes4 ,the principle of contrast can relieve the eye of a part of its work without imposing any additional task upon the mind4 ,thus some crazy ,don ,quixote may seem to cut and thrust with greater agility than the fighting which we actually see1 provided his action is contrasted with the restful poking of his ham-fed servant1 ,sancho ,panza4 ,and thus a railroad train which really was running at a moderate speed1 might seem to dash by on the screen1 if it were contrasted with the ambling gait of a farmer's team driven in the same direction along the tracks4 ,a kind of emphasis which we may classify as contrast is that which occurs when movement is suddenly arrested4 ,the unexpected stop not only makes the previous motion seem faster than it really was1 but it also fixes attention more alertly on the thing which has just stopped moving4 ,when you bump against a chair in the darkness you are always astonished to find that you were dashing along instead of merely walking slowly4 ,but the shock has deceived you1 for you really were walking slowly4 ,if you are out hunting and your setter stops in his tracks1 your eye is immediately upon him1 and will remain so fixed until he or something else makes the next move4 ,the same principle works on the screen4 ,if an actor1 or an animal1 or a thing is in motion and then unexpectedly pauses1 the effect of the pause is to attract immediate attention1 as well as to make the previous motion seem to have been faster than it actually was4 ,sometimes this law may operate to distract our attention from the dramatic interest4 ,if1 for example1 an outdoor scene has been 8shot0 on a squally day1 and the wind has abruptly died down for a few moments during the climax of the scene1 the effect on the screen will be to attract our attention instantly to the leaves which have stopped fluttering1 or the garments which have stopped flapping4 ,we will observe the sudden change in the weather and forget the state of the story4 ,with this argument we ourselves shall pause1 in order to summarize the principal ways in which pictorial motions1 working singly or together1 can produce the greatest impression on the spectator with the least expenditure of his mental energy4 ,here is the list3 ,a thing in motion is normally more emphatic than anything at rest in the same picture4 ,of two motions the one which is the more surprising or fanciful gets the chief attention4 ,slowness or slightness may sometimes by contrast be more emphatic than great speed or volume4 ,a moving spot or a line flowing along its own length has a tendency to carry attention along with1 or even ahead of1 itself in the direction of movement4 ,two or more movements along well-marked lines1 whether converging or diverging1 focus attention on the point which these lines have in common4 ,lines moving in circles away from a common center hold attention on that center4 ,repetition can work for emphasis without monotony1 provided it be a repetition with variety of circumstances4 ,contrast between two simultaneous motions or between a motion and an abrupt rest may be double-acting1 that is1 may emphasize in both directions4 ,our discussion of motions at work in a picture has not been exhaustive4 ,the list might easily be made three times as long as it is4 ,but it is long enough to illustrate the evil which motions may do if they are turned wild on the screen1 and the good which they may work if they are harnessed by a director who understands these fundamental principles of pictorial composition4 ,however1 all work and no play would make any picture dull1 but that is a subject for another chapter4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,pictorial ,,motions ,,at ,,play ,the average matter-of-fact man thinks that artists concern themselves only with copying their subjects1 and that their success as artists consists in copying correctly4 ,he is satisfied with a painted portrait of his wife1 provided it is a 8speaking likeness10 and he craves no other magic of design and color4 ,such a man praises a photoplay if it presents a 8rattling good story10 and expects no thrill from the cinema composer's conjuring with shifting patterns and evanescent tones4 ,at least he would say something to that effect if you argued the matter with him4 ,but he would be mistaken in his self-analysis1 for even a prosaic person really enjoys the decorative rhythmical quality in a picture1 though he may not be conscious of doing so4 ,and every spectator can get the richest beauty from the screen only when the pictorial motions play as well as they work4 ,what is the difference between play and work8 ,we know that when our work most resembles play it is most enjoyable4 ,and we know1 too1 that play1 even when it has not been professionalized1 often comes very near being work4 ,the playing of children1 as that of grown-ups1 is often very highly organized and pursued with a great deal of effort and earnestness4 ,play1 however1 may be characterized by spontaneity and variety4 ,it is not forced1 like work1 which aims for some definite practical result2 and it does not have the rigidity and uniformity which in work sometimes develops into dullness4 ,if the emphasizing of dramatic expression may be called the work of pictorial motions1 then the spontaneity and variety which accompanies this work may be called the play of pictorial motions4 ,and that play is essentially the same as rhythm4 ,we think immediately of two of the elder arts in which rhythm is all important--dancing and music4 ,music leads us to the thought of song1 and poetry1 and oratory1 arts which also are dependent on rhythm4 ,dancing suggests sculpture1 and sculpture suggests painting1 arts which would have little beauty without the quality of rhythm4 ,even architecture must have it4 ,from art we turn to nature1 and we see the poignant beauty of rhythm in cloud and wave1 in tree and flower1 in brook and mountain1 in bird and beast4 ,the motion picture1 which is the mirror of nature1 and at the same time the tablet upon which all of the elder arts may write their laws1 must bring to us the inheritance and reflection of rhythm4 ,this quality has already been discussed in connection with the laws of the eye1 in ,chapter ,,iii1 and in connection with static composition1 in ,chapter ,v4 ,we come now to the pictorial problem of weaving the individual and combined motions of a photoplay into a totality of rhythm4 ,first1 let us consider the case of a single moving spot4 ,suppose that we have before us a barren hillside of ,mexico1 an expanse of light gray on the screen4 ,down that hillside a horseman is to come1 dark against the gray4 ,if he rides in a single straight line1 directly toward the camera or obliquely down the hill1 his movement will not be pleasing to the eye1 nor will it seem natural4 ,but if he moves in a waving line1 a series of reverse curves freely made1 the effect on the eye of the spectator will be somewhat like that of the 8line of beauty0 discussed in ,chapter ,v4 ,an important difference1 however1 between a fixed line and one traced by a moving object is that the latter disappears as soon as it is drawn4 ,it may linger in our memories1 to be sure1 yet our eyes can trace that line only once1 and only in the direction taken by the moving object4 ,that is1 our physical eye cannot range back and forth over the vanished path1 as it can over a fixed line4 ,and a still greater difference is that the moving object has a rhythm of velocity as well as a rhythm of direction4 ,velocity and direction of movement arise and exist together1 and consequently their relation to each other may produce a new rhythm4 ,the horse1 varying his pace according to the nature of the ground1 may gallop along the level stretches1 and may pick his way cautiously down the steep declines4 ,there is natural harmony in rapid motion over a long smooth line1 and slow motion over a short jagged one4 ,a simple case like this may help us to answer the question1 ,when is the relation between velocity and direction harmonious8 ,but we have still the fundamental questions1 ,when is a change of direction rhythmical8 ,and1 when is a change of velocity rhythmical8 ,we cannot promise to give direct and definite answers to these questions2 but1 recalling our discussion in ,chapter ,v concerning rhythm in fixed design1 let us say that cinematic rhythm is a peculiar alternation of phases or properties of pictorial motion which gives the spectator a vivid sense of movement performed with ease and variety4 ,now it may seem a vain task to analyze or try to define so delicate a thing as rhythm1 because all of us can be carried away by rhythm without saddling it with a formula4 ,yet analysis will serve a useful purpose if it can help the director to avoid motions which are not rhythmical and if it can help the thoughtful spectator to fix the blame for the jumble of unrhythmical motions which he now so often sees on the screen4 ,suppose we make a few tests upon the horseman coming down the hillside4 ,if he moves in a perfectly straight line at a perfectly steady pace1 the action will seem to be a forced1 hard effort exerted without variety4 ,no rhythm will be there4 ,but if he moves1 even without change of pace1 along a path of flowing curves1 we will sense a rhythm of direction1 providing the horse seems to follow the winding path freely and without undue effort4 ,if1 without change of direction1 the horse frequently alters his gait from a gallop to a walk and back to a gallop again in equal periods of time1 say half a minute each1 it will be apparent that ease and variety are utterly absent from the movement4 ,and even if the horse follows a winding path and changes gait at such regular intervals the rhythm in direction will be neutralized by the lack of rhythm in velocity4 ,if1 however1 there is a progression of varying directions1 varying gaits1 and varying durations of time which appear to be spontaneously and easily performed1 a progression1 moreover1 in which both the similarities and the differences of the various phases can instantly be perceived by the spectator1 he will immediately experience the emotion of rhythmical movement4 ,the above example illustrates how a single spot can move rhythmically over the area of a picture4 ,a moving line1 say a column of soldiers on the march1 may have still more rhythm4 ,we get a hint of this from the 8still10 facing page #acc4 ,it represents a scene from the ,metro production of ,ibanez's 8,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse10 which was directed by ,rex ,ingram4 ,we see there that the soldiers describe a path of alternate curves1 instead of the straight lines and square corners which a less imaginative director would have ordered4 ,mr4 ,ingram has further heightened the rhythm by placing gaps here and there in the main column1 and by introducing a secondary movement in the detachment which turns off from the road just before reaching the village4 ,these movements are truly pictorial in composition2 yet their meaning is none the less military and dramatic4 ,in the scene just described the various motions are similar1 and the handling of them is therefore comparatively easy4 ,but it is very difficult to make a rhythmical combination of motions which differ widely in character4 ,in 8,the ,dumb ,girl of ,portici10 for instance1 we are shown ,pavlowa dancing on the beach1 while the stately waves and pounding surf of the ocean fill most of the area of the screen4 ,but there is no rhythm in the combined movements of that picture4 ,the dancer without the sea1 or the sea without the dancer1 might have been perfectly rhythmical4 ,but when we try to view them together in this photoplay we get only the strong clash between their movements1 and we feel no pleasure when shifting our gaze from one to the other4 ,perhaps the picture might have been a success if the dancer's ground had been a bank sufficiently high to mask the severe effect of the surf1 yet permitting a view of the incoming waves1 and if the stately variety in the movement of the sea had been taken as a key to a sympathetic movement of the dancer4 ,we might then get a harmonious1 alternating flow of the two movements1 our eyes might play easily from one to the other1 and the total pictorial effect might arouse the emotion of rhythm4 ,in a similar way any of the movements of nature1 such as the effect of wind on cloud1 or tree1 or field of grain2 the fall or flow of water2 the flight of bird or characteristic movement of beast1 movements which1 once admitted to the scene1 cannot easily be controlled1 might be taken as keys in which to play those movements which can be controlled4 ,some practical-minded person may suggest that instead of worrying about the composition of 8unnecessary0 motions1 it would be better to omit them4 ,but such a person overlooks the natural human desire for richness in art4 ,we are so constituted that we crave lively emotional activity4 ,we love rich variety1 and at the same time we enjoy our ease4 ,when we listen to the music of a pianist we are not satisfied if he plays with only one finger1 even though he might thus play the melody correctly1 because the melody alone is not rich enough4 ,we want that melody against all its background of music4 ,we want those musical sounds so beautifully related to each other that their harmony may arouse our feelings without unduly straining our attention4 ,a splendid example of secondary motion may be seen in the light draperies of a dancer4 ,even in the elementary movement of a few leaps across the stage we see the delicate rhythm of a scarf which is at first retarded by the air1 then follows the dancer gracefully1 and at last gently overtakes her4 ,between the movements of body and scarf there is a charming play4 ,they are pleasantly similar1 yet they are pleasantly different4 ,and there is a distinct feeling of progression in the various phases of this similarity and this difference4 ,as spectators we catch this progression without any effort of the intellect and are instantly swept into its rhythm4 ,it would be easy for the director1 of course1 if the story which he is about to film always called for action as graceful as that of a dance4 ,but unfortunately his scenario often demands the connecting of actions which1 pictorially considered1 are totally unrelated to each other4 ,yet if the director cares to seek the principles of beauty he will find many ways of harmonizing elements that are seemingly in conflict4 ,one way is simply to impose on each of the discordant elements a new value which they may assume in common without losing their own distinctive characters4 ,suppose1 for instance1 that we must show a society lady1 with all her soft refinement1 on a visit to a foundry1 with all its sweating roughness4 ,one may fear that there must be something repellent between her stately gentility and the bending backs of workmen2 between her kid-gloved gestures and the flow of molten metal4 ,yet we can blend the whole scene into a single rhythm by suffusing all its elements with the warm glow of the furnace and by playing over them all the same movement of quivering light and shadow4 ,this vibrant1 welding beauty which lady and laborer and machine may have in common1 while still retaining their individual dramatic significance1 will thus give the touch of art to a motion picture which might otherwise be merely a crude photographic record of an incident in a story4 ,another way of bringing two conflicting motions into a rhythmical relation is to place between them a third motion which1 by being somewhat like either of the other two1 bridges the gap and thus transforms a sense of fixed opposition into a sense of moving variety4 ,it would be somewhat of a shock1 for instance1 to shift our view instantly from the rippling flow of a narrow stream to the wheels and levers of a mill4 ,but there would undoubtedly be a sense of continuity1 and perhaps of rhythm1 in shifting from a general view of the stream to a view of the water-wheel over which it flows1 and thence to the wheels of the machinery inside the mill4 ,this method of interposing a harmonizer might be useful also in carrying over the rhythm of motion into the rhythm of fixed forms4 ,thus if we were to throw upon the screen a picture of the gently rolling sea1 sharply followed by a view of the sweeping horizon of the hills1 it is most probable that the two kinds of rhythm would not unite to draw a single emotional response from the spectator4 ,he would feel only the contrast4 ,but if the view of the sea were followed by a view of a field of grain1 whose wind-driven billows resembled the waves of the sea and whose rolling ground resembled the sweep of the hills1 then the rhythm of the quiet hills themselves might easily seem to be one with the rhythm of the restless sea4 ,as we study the subject of visual rhythm we are led to compare it again and again with auditive rhythm1 which is best exemplified in music4 ,thus it is easy to see how a given motion in a picture might be considered the melody while all the other motions serve as accompaniment1 and how characteristic motions might be played against each other like counterpoint in music4 ,it is easy to see how a whole succession of scenes might be considered a single rhythmical totality1 like a 8movement0 in a musical composition4 ,and it is certain that any director who thought of cinema composition in that sense would never permit the slovenly joining which is so familiar in photoplays4 ,he would not then allow the shift from one scene to another to be essentially a clash of unrelated motions4 ,he would assure himself rather that the characteristic types of motion in one scene1 their directions1 velocities1 and patterns1 played into corresponding factors of the next scene1 until the entire succession became a symphony of motion4,d ,d ,for a further comparison between music and pictorial motions see ,chapter ,,iv of 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making40 ,it is an interesting fact that movement in a photoplay may come from other things besides motions4 ,one would get a sense of movement1 for example1 even if every scene in a photoplay were itself a fixed picture held for a few seconds on the screen4 ,the various durations of these pictures might be in a rhythmical series4 ,the same might be said of their dominant tones1 and of their characteristic patterns and textures4 ,would the time-lengths #c1 #d1 #b1 #g1 #e1 be a good succession8 ,or would #c1 #g1 #d1 #e1 #b be better8 ,which would make a better succession of figures8 ,a circle1 a triangle1 and a cross8 ,or a cross1 a square1 and a circle8 ,questions like these are not trivial2 neither are they over-refined4 ,they and their answers should appear in the catechism of every cinema composer4 ,speaking of durations of scenes reminds us that in music it is often the silences between the notes which vary in length while the notes themselves are uniform4 ,this would be true in the case of a simple melody played on the piano4 ,the intervals between notes can be observed by tapping out the 8time0 of the piece on a single key of the piano1 or on a tin pan1 for that matter2 and the rhythm of time thus represented would alone enable a listener to identify any popular piece of music4 ,at present there are no rests on the screen1 no blank periods between the scenes4 ,there are1 to be sure1 moments of relaxation when scenes are being 8faded out10 and these 8fades10 like the dying away of musical sounds1 have genuine rhythmical movement4 ,but there is not on the screen any alternation between stimulus and non-stimulus1 as there is in music1 and as there is also in the performance of a stage play4 ,the motion picture1 therefore1 lacks that source of rhythm which exists in musical rests or in the dramatic pauses of stage dialogue4 ,whether intervals of non-stimulus could be successfully introduced on the screen can be learned only by experiment4 ,any director who is really in earnest about developing the motion picture as art should make such an experiment4 ,if he investigates the results of scientific tests in psychological laboratories he will learn that under certain conditions the normal spectator unconsciously creates rhythm in what he sees4 ,it has been shown1 for example1 that a person looking at a small light which is flashed on and off at intervals has a tendency to make rhythmic groupings of those flashes1 by overestimating or underestimating the lengths of the intervals4 ,in other words1 if you give the beholder's imagination a chance to function1 it will indulge in rhythmic play4 ,we believe that if a cinema composer could thus produce rhythm by illusion1 as well as by actual presentation1 his achievement would be epoch-making in the movies4 ,movement1 movement through rich variety1 movement accomplished with the utmost ease--that is the essence of what we have chosen to call the play of pictorial motions4 ,that play1 as we have seen in the illustrations given1 involves every kind of pictorial motion1 whether of spot1 or line1 or pattern1 or texture1 or tone2 and every property or phase1 whether of direction1 or rate1 or duration2 and every circumstance1 whether in relation to other motions near or remote1 simultaneous1 or successive1 or in relation to fixed elements of the picture4 ,any two or three of these things may be treated as a separate problem1 but it is in the orchestration of all of them together that the director may achieve the dominant1 distinctive rhythm of his photoplay4 ,if he does not aspire to such achievement he is unworthy of his profession4 ,if he evades his problems because they are difficult he is robbing his trust4 ,if he declares that the world that loves movies does not crave beauty on the screen1 he is bearing false witness4 ,if he believes that the beauty of a photoplay lies wholly in the emotional appeal of the performer and in the dramatic action of the plot1 he is stone blind to art4 ,so far as the motions in a picture present the actions and reactions of the dramatic characters clearly and emphatically1 they do faithful work2 but this work becomes play when it is relieved of its hardness and dullness1 and is animated with a spontaneity and variety that catches up the spectator into a swinging movement of attention4 ,and those motions which are both work and play are basic in the beauty of cinematic art4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,pictorial ,,motions ,,at ,,rest ,that a moving thing may sometimes seem to be at rest is well known by any one who has ever spun a top4 ,the top spins itself to sleep4 ,we gaze upon it in a peculiar spell of restfulness1 which is broken only when the top wakes up and begins to wabble4 ,now one trouble with the movies is that they often wabble when they ought to spin4 ,the motions in the picture too often lack a center of balance1 a point of rest4 ,all of us have been annoyed by excessive motions1 jumbling1 clashing1 on the screen4 ,but many of us have also1 in lucky moments1 been delighted by sudden harmonies on the screen1 when the pictorial motions1 without slowing up in the least1 were conjured into a strange vital repose4 ,and afterward1 when we recalled the enthrallment of such moments1 we became optimists about the future of cinema art4 ,surely this is one of the characteristic appealing things about a motion picture1 that it can show us motions doing the work of pictorial expression1 indulging in rhythmic play1 and yet suggesting a dynamic repose4 ,thus the youngest art can give us in a new way that 8stimulation and repose0 which1 psychologists say1 is the function of all arts4 ,the painter who can suggest movement by means of fixed lines1 masses1 and colors is no more of a magician than the cinema composer who can make moving things suggest rest4 ,let me propose the following as working theories to explain the effect of reposefulness in organized pictorial motions3 ,first1 that the separate motions are balanced against each other2 ,second1 that the significant motions are kept near to a center of rest within the frame of the picture1 are sometimes even limited to an exceedingly small area of the screen2 and1 ,third1 that every significant motion is harmonized in kind1 direction1 and tempo with everything else in the picture4 ,the balancing of pictorial motions does not imply that they must be paired off in exact equals4 ,certainly we do not insist that a dramatic scene be so composed that when1 for example1 a person rises from a chair in one part of a room1 some other person sits down in a chair in the opposite part of the room4 ,such an effect would be highly mechanical1 like the teetering of a see-saw2 and it is not possible for a spectator to get a thrill of beauty while his attention is being held down to mechanics4 ,we mean rather to apply the same reasoning to pictorial motions which we have in ,chapter ,v applied to fixed lines1 shapes1 and tones4 ,in short1 we want to see the values of pictorial motions so well distributed over the screen1 and so related to each other1 that they give the impression of being in perfect equilibrium4 ,suppose we imagine a cinema scene which contains a waterfall in the left half1 and nothing in the right half except a dark1 uninteresting side of a cliff4 ,that composition would be out of balance4 ,and if a band of ,indians entered the scene from the left and did a war dance directly in front of the waterfall1 that would throw the composition still more out of balance4 ,or if1 at the opening of the scene1 the ,indians appeared dancing in front of the bare cliff1 and then gradually moved over to a place in front of the waterfall1 this cluttering of motions would certainly unbalance the picture4 ,such cluttering is common on the screen because of the many movie directors who either are afraid of simplicity1 or lack the skill which is necessary to make complexity appear simple4 ,in the scene just mentioned the safest course would be to leave out the waterfall1 however much of a natural wonder it may be1 and to let the bare cliff serve as the entire background for the ,indian dance4 ,but if this cannot be done because of the peculiar demands of the plot1 then the picture might be balanced by introducing some additional motion in the right half1 say a column of smoke rising from a camp fire4 ,thus even the careful addition of a new element would tend to bring unity and restfulness into the arrangement of parts4 ,just visualize that composition1 the whitish water falling on one side1 and the light gray smoke rising on the other1 and you will feel a peculiar restful balance which could never be obtained by a mechanical pairing of two waterfalls or two columns of smoke4 ,as critics searching for beauty on the screen1 we might even carry our demand for pictorial balance still farther4 ,in some other picture we might demand that there be motions in the upper part of the composition to balance those in the lower part4 ,to be sure1 we would hardly look for such balance in a stage play1 or in an ordinary cinema scene where the camera 8shoots0 in a level line1 because in ordinary every-day life we see more motion near the bottom of our view than anywhere in the upper levels4 ,besides it is natural that weights should be kept low2 any object is more likely to be in equilibrium when its center of gravity is low4 ,but when we are shown a motion picture which has been made with the camera pointing downward1 so that a level thing1 like a plain or the surface of the sea1 appears standing on end1 then we like to see the points of interest so distributed that the various parts of the screen seem to be proportionally filled4 ,thus in a motion picture of a lake taken from a high cliff we are not pleased to see moving objects1 boats1 swans1 etc41 only in that area of the picture which comes near the lower edge of the frame4 ,we realize instantly that the objects are not actually above or below each other in the air4 ,and we forget1 therefore1 that the screen is really in a vertical plane and think of it rather as we would of a map lying before us4 ,in fact1 if there are swans in the near part of the lake view1 then the distant surface of the lake will not appear to sink back into its proper level unless it bears some balancing weight and value1 say1 two or three small boats under sail4 ,however1 even the best of balancing in a separate scene cannot insure a balance between that scene and the next one4 ,directors are often tempted to make shots from odd angles1 straight up or straight down1 and to scatter them through a film1 showing1 for example1 a skyscraper lying down1 or a city street standing on end4 ,but the resulting series of scenes does not make a composition pleasing to the eye4 ,it gives the effect of wabbling4 ,even if these oblique views show no moving things whatsoever1 their combined effect is the opposite of restfulness4 ,returning now to the subject of balance in separate scenes1 we may consider depth1 the third dimension of a cinema subject4 ,this dimension is usually far greater than either the height or the breadth of that space which the camera measures off for us4 ,and it is interesting to see what problems the cinema composer has in relating motions in the third dimension to those in the other dimensions of the picture4 ,he often finds it hard1 for instance1 to compensate in the background for the movements in the foreground1 without destroying the dramatic emphasis4 ,the usual trouble in the movies is that1 when the dramatic interest is in the foreground1 the motions in the background nevertheless draw so much of our attention to that region that the picture becomes too heavy in the rear2 while1 on the other hand1 if the dramatic interest is in the background1 the motions in the foreground nevertheless become so heavy that the front of the picture falls into our faces4 ,these are common faults2 yet they may be avoided by foresight and ingenuity4 ,in the 8,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse10 ,rex ,ingram reveals a sure sense of proportion in his control of the marching soldiers4 ,if you turn to the 8still0 of a village scene from this photoplay1 facing page #acc1 you will get a suggestion of the equilibrium which is obtained for a time1 at least1 between the motions in various regions of the picture4 ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse4 ,the arrangement in this scene has interesting balance between the right and left halves of the picture1 as well as between the foreground and the background1 and there is a vigorous rhythm in the moving columns of soldiers4 ,see pages #abj and #acb4 ,let us say that the foreground of that scene extends from the camera to the cavalryman1 that the middle ground is that area which is occupied by the buildings1 and that the background is all the region which lies beyond the ruined tower4 ,this picture has many distances1 and yet they fuse together into a single composition4 ,equilibrium is maintained by the fact that the scattering figures near the fountain weigh against the marching soldiers to the left in the foreground1 while the two sides find a center of balance in the quiet horseman and the three persons to whom he is talking4 ,in the middle ground the same care has been shown1 for the soldiers first swing to their left1 past the tower1 and then execute a balancing movement to their right4 ,in the background there is a balance between those forces which are executing a 8column right0 and those which are proceeding down into the village street4 ,and if we take the background of the picture as against the foreground1 we shall find a balancing point in the narrowest part of the street4 ,no undue attention is attracted to either side of this point1 but the whole sweep of interest from front to back1 or from back to front1 is continuous and even4 ,there is plenty of military movement here amid evidences of terrific bombardment1 and yet1 because of the artistic composition of the picture1 we get from it all a momentary sense of repose1 as though war itself were at rest4 ,several details in this 8still0 are worth noting4 ,for example1 the comparatively few figures in the right side of the foreground are given additional weight by the whiteness of costume1 as against the gray of the soldiers4 ,another interesting thing is the balance between the line described by the leading company of soldiers and the line of tree tops on the wooded hill1 which begins near the upper right hand corner and extends to the castle4 ,this relation can be clearly seen by holding the 8still0 upside down4 ,the reader must keep in mind1 of course1 that in a 8still0 the arrested motion has not the same weight as the actual motion on the screen1 and consequently the fixed things get more than their share of weight4 ,therefore in this 8still0 from 8,the ,four ,horsemen0 the jagged holes in the buildings attract more attention than they do on the screen1 where the movement of the soldiers and civilians brings the whole composition into balance4 ,when the whole picture is deep1 as in the example just discussed1 it offends us if some of the moving objects come near the camera1 because this produces two pictures within a single frame1 namely1 a close-up and a long shot4 ,the effect is as bad as that of listening to an orchestra so placed that some of the instruments are five feet away from our ears while the others are seventy-five feet away4 ,in either case there comes a sense of violence instead of restfulness4 ,the close-up superposed on the long shot is a common fault in photoplays4 ,but we are often annoyed by the opposite fault also1 that of jumbling two sets of actions which are going on in adjoining areas1 one just beyond the other4 ,in such a case the director should contrive to make the vertical planes seem farther apart than they really are2 and it can easily be done without cleaving the picture in two4 ,to prove this let us imagine a cabaret scene containing prominent persons of the play sitting at tables near the camera1 and a number of couples dancing on a floor farther away4 ,in such an arrangement it is probable that the diners have more dramatic value than the dancers2 yet the dancing figures are likely to distract attention from those seated at the tables1 and thus throw the picture out of balance4 ,mr4 ,ingram in 8,the ,four ,horsemen0 had this very problem1 and he solved it in a very simple and convincing way4 ,he allowed a thick haze of cigarette smoke to envelop the dancers till they seemed dim and distant4 ,or1 rather1 he used the smoke as a transparent curtain which separates the diners from the action in the background4 ,thus balance was restored and the spectator could follow the action in the foreground without a sense of disturbance4 ,a separation of planes somewhat similar to this was skilfully effected by ,allan ,dwan in 8,sahara40 ,one of the settings is a luxurious tent in the desert4 ,the front of this tent had a wide opening over which hung a veil of mosquito netting4 ,viewed from within the tent1 this veil became a soft background against which the figures moved1 while at the same time it served as a thick atmosphere to give dimness and distance to the figures which were just outside the tent4 ,by this device1 which is as natural and unobtrusive as the smoke screen described above1 ,mr4 ,dwan1 besides providing a peculiar pictorial quality of gradated tones1 kept two sets of figures separate and yet combined them in rich restfulness4 ,when a director is composing a scene in which there is a single moving element with a very short path of motion and no strong fixed interests to counter-balance it1 he should remember that an object tends to shift the weight of interest somewhat in advance of its own movement4 ,therefore1 a picture will seem to be in better balance if a movement begins near one edge and ends near the center1 than if it begins at the center of the picture and passes out at one side4 ,this observation regarding the shifting of balance during pictorial action raises the question whether it is a practical possibility to keep the composition of a cinema scene steadily in equilibrium for minute after minute4 ,since the fixed accents do not change their positions and the moving accents do1 one might suppose that the scene must sooner or later fall out of balance4 ,but this is not necessarily so4 ,it is true that if1 for example1 there is a group of fixed accents in the left half of the picture1 and a single figure starts from the center and passes out of the scene at the right1 it would tend1 first1 to over-balance the right side of the picture1 and then suddenly to leave it without weight4 ,but this tendency may be counter-acted by swinging the camera slightly to the left without stopping the exposure4 ,such an expedient would shift all of the fixed accents together1 though at the cost of introducing a momentary false motion4 ,the ingenious director may find other means by which to compensate for the changes which must of necessity come about in a cinematic composition4 ,however1 when it is not possible to have good proportion and balance at more than one moment of a changing scene1 that moment should be at the pictorial climax1 the crucial point of that scene1 the instant when the spectator is to receive the strongest impression1 the greatest stimulation and yet the most perfect repose4 ,equilibrium is reposeful because it is characteristic of a thing at rest4 ,to say that another characteristic of a thing at rest is that it stays where it is1 may sound like an ,irish bull2 but we say it1 nevertheless1 in order to make another point in our argument that pictorial motions may sometimes be in dynamic repose4 ,it is quite possible for a pictorial motion to give a sharp impression of power1 weight1 and velocity1 and yet stay practically where it first appears on the screen4 ,an express train1 for example1 may be shown in a 8long shot0 starting several hundred yards away from the camera and continuing for miles into the distance1 and yet the actual moving image on the screen might cover an area less than two feet square1 and might1 from beginning to end of the scene1 never come near the frame of the picture4 ,thus the train1 without losing any of its impressive character1 would provide a reposeful motion for the eye to gaze upon4 ,surely such an effect would be better than to show the train as a close-up on a track at right angles to our line of sight1 with the locomotive crashing in through the frame at the left of the picture and crashing out through the frame at the right4 ,the reposeful quality of restricted movement on the screen is due partly to the fact that the flicker and the eye movement is thus reduced1 as we have said in ,chapter ,,iii4 ,in the case just described it is due also to the contrast between the slight movement which we actually look at and the large movement which we really perceive and feel4 ,we look at inches and perceive miles4 ,thus we see very much with extreme ease4 ,we have remarked in preceding chapters that every picture has four lines1 those of the frame1 which the composer must always consider4 ,he could1 it is true1 soften the sharp boundaries of the picture by using some masking device with the camera1 but this is not usually done4 ,the four corners of the frame are always strongly emphasized1 because of the crossing of lines at right angles4 ,to lead another strong line into one of the corners would surely result in undue emphasis and lack of balance1 because of the power of converging lines4 ,it is almost as bad to lead a strong line squarely into the frame between the corners1 because such a meeting creates two more right angles to attract attention4 ,of course1 there may be certain lines in a composition1 such as the line of the horizon1 which cannot stop short of the frame4 ,in such a case it is well to have some other strong accent not far from the center of the picture in order to keep the attention of the beholder within the frame4 ,what is true of the relation between fixed lines is also true of the relation between paths of motion and fixed lines4 ,it is rather annoying to watch a continuous movement continually being cut off by the frame2 and it is especially annoying when one sees that such a composition might have been avoided4 ,in a waterfall1 for example1 the points of greatest interest are the curving top and the foaming bottom1 and we like to see both at the same time and wholly within the frame4 ,a motion shown entirely surrounded by things at rest is reposeful on the screen as well as in nature4 ,like a fixed object it stays where it is4 ,there are certain pictorial motions1 however1 such as the falling of snow1 which must always either begin or continue outside of the frame4 ,but even when we view such a motion on the screen or in nature we get a feeling of repose1 because our eyes do not perform any following movement2 we do not1 in watching a snow storm through a window1 pick out certain flakes and follow them from a height until they strike the ground2 but rather we keep our line of sight steady upon a certain spot while the changing texture slips by4 ,one can get the same effect by looking down from a tall building into a crowded street4 ,the individuals are no longer thought of as separate moving objects1 because they weave themselves into a broad band of moving and changing texture4 ,here we get the feeling of restfulness1 of motion in repose1 in contrast to the feeling of restless motion when we ourselves become part of that crowd4 ,a delightful picture in 8,barbary ,sheep10 directed by ,maurice ,tourneur1 is the view of a flock of sheep moving slowly along from left to right4 ,the animals are so crowded together that the mass as a whole has a textural quality4 ,and yet it is not fixed texture1 like that of cloth1 because some of the sheep move faster and then again more slowly than the others1 and thus1 as in the case of the snow flakes1 or the crowd in the street1 give us a vital stimulus of change within the texture itself4 ,a somewhat similar sense of rest comes from watching those motions which arise and vanish within some given area of the screen4 ,a cloud of cigarette smoke which floats and coils for a few moments and then fades into nothing1 bubbles which rise in a pool and break into faint ripples that finally die on the glassy surface1 the blazing and dimming of tones through the photographic device of the 8fade-out0 and the 8fade-in0--all changes of this type we sense vividly as movements1 and yet as movements in delightful repose4 ,at the beginning of this chapter we mentioned the spinning top as an example of motion that had the appearance of being at rest4 ,to a certain extent all circular movement presents that appearance and may be very pleasing on the screen1 providing it does not conflict with our desire for fitness and is not allowed to become monotonous4 ,a fly wheel whirling may look like a disk at rest1 but it is monotonous and entirely without artistic stimulation4 ,the action within the ring of a circus presents a more stimulating show1 and yet it is not quite satisfying as an artistic composition of motion1 because we cannot help feeling that it is not natural1 that it is unfit for a horse to turn forever within a forty-foot ring4 ,in the sthetic dance1 on the other hand1 a circling movement can always be of satisfying beauty1 full of graceful vitality and yet delightfully reposeful1 too1 because it never flies away from its axis fixed within our area of vision4 ,now1 we cannot recommend that the players of a film story should always be shown running around in circles4 ,and yet their separate actions1 gestures and bodily movements in general1 may often be so composed that they progress in a circular path1 each movement tracing an arc of a circle which nowhere touches the frame of the picture4 ,such circularity of motions would give unity1 balance1 and repose4 ,a good example of circularity may be seen in 8,the ,covered ,wagon0 when the wagon train1 just before coming to a halt1 divides and swings into two large arcs of a circle1 which slowly contract as the wagons turn inward toward a common center4 ,another interesting example of circular balance may be seen in 8,one ,arabian ,night10 a ,german photoplay directed by ,ernst ,lubitsch4 ,the scene is a court yard1 viewed from on high4 ,looking down we see eight or ten servants running inward from all sides to a focal place1 where they pile up cushions for the hero and heroine4 ,then they turn and run outwards to get more cushions4 ,in a few moments they return1 and finally they seat themselves in a circle about the central figures4 ,here is a charming combination of pictorial motion with a natural dramatic by-play1 delighting the eye and lingering long as a pleasant motor image in memory4 ,when we analyze this part of the picture we discover that the principle of balancing motions has been applied perfectly4 ,to begin with1 the design is kept in balance because the men enter at the same time from opposite directions and approach the center at equal speed4 ,thus1 while they are separate figures moving over symmetrically arranged courses1 they also form a circle which gradually contracts about a fixed center4 ,this inward movement of the men is itself balanced by the corresponding outward movement when they go to get more cushions1 which is in turn balanced when they come back4 ,finally this pattern of a circle contracting1 expanding1 and contracting again1 harmonizes perfectly with the fixed circle which is formed when the men seat themselves4 ,there is a further pleasing continuity in the composition when a woman enters the scene and dances over a circular path just within the ring formed by the servants4 ,to the so-called practical business man1 whose artistic experience consists chiefly in drawing dollar signs1 it may sound like sheer folly for us spectators to ask a director to spend valuable time in refining the art of pictorial motions by some of the methods above suggested4 ,the money magnate may not realize that even a slight improvement1 a delicate touch1 may be as important in a picture as in the motor of his touring car4 ,yet he does know1 of course1 that in the world of industry the superiority of one article over another may lie in a secret known only to the maker1 a secret perhaps never even suspected by the man who sells the article4 ,we should be sorry indeed to lose credit with the man who can draw dollar signs1 because we need his co-operation1 and we hope1 therefore1 that he will not long remain blind to the fact that in art the superiority of one article over another may lie in a concealed design so skilfully wrought that neither the spectator nor the man who traffics in the spectator's pleasure may suspect its presence4 ,balanced motions and motions that are limited in area are valuable on the screen1 we have said1 because they can stimulate the spectator while giving him the satisfaction of repose4 ,we come now to a third characteristic of motions that appear to be at rest1 the fact that they are in perfect adjustment with everything else around them4 ,perfect adjustment means that all of the moving elements of a pictorial composition are at peace with the fixed elements1 as well as with each other4 ,it means harmony1 the supreme quality of every art4 ,no other art1 not even music1 contains so great a number of varied parts as the motion picture4 ,to fuse all of these parts into a single harmonious whole requires knowledge and skill and happy inspiration1 yet fusion must take place in the cinema composition itself in order that the spectator may be spared the annoyance of trying to unify in his own mind the ill-adjusted factors on the screen4 ,the pleasing effect of motions in harmony can be illustrated by something with which we are all familiar from childhood1 the display of sky rockets4 ,the spray of stars1 flaming up1 burning bright lines in the sky1 and fading out again into the darkness of night1 exhibits a perfect harmony of kinds1 directions1 and rates of motions1 as well as of changes in brightness4 ,we have explained in ,chapter ,,iii that things moving in similar directions are more pleasing than those crossing in opposite directions because they are easier for the eye to follow4 ,and it is1 of course1 true that whatever hurts the eyes will probably not seem beautiful4 ,but a picture must please our emotions as well as our eyes4 ,we must feel that it is good1 that it is in order1 that it obeys some law of harmony4 ,in the case of the sky rocket we do feel that there is unity and not discord1 rest and not warfare4 ,though we may not stop to analyze the matter1 we feel that at any one moment all of the burning elements are in perfect agreement1 obeying the same law of motion4 ,now let us recall some familiar movie subjects1 and test them for harmony4 ,a common picture is that of a horse and an automobile racing side by side4 ,here there is similarity of direction1 but there is no similarity of motion4 ,the car glides2 the horse bounds4 ,the changing pattern which the horse describes with legs and neck and back and tail finds no parallel in the moving panel of the car4 ,besides1 we feel that there is antagonism between the two4 ,they hate each other4 ,their histories and destinies are different4 ,they are not in harmony4 ,a much better subject is a huntsman galloping over the countryside with a dog at the horse's heels4 ,every action of the one animal is somewhat like every corresponding action of the other animal4 ,one might even say that the horse is a large kind of dog1 while the dog is a small kind of horse4 ,and1 as they cross the fields in loyalty to the same master1 their motions harmonize4 ,there would be unity of a similar kind in a picture of an automobile and a railroad train racing on parallel roads4 ,although they are two separate machines1 their motions fuse into one thing1 which we call a race4 ,if the roads are not perfectly parallel but swing slowly away from and toward each other again1 we get a pleasing rhythm of motions1 yet1 because the directions and speeds are similar1 the unity still remains4 ,but if we imagine the train dashing by a farmstead where a ,dutch windmill sweeps its large arms slowly around1 we would feel again a lack of unity between the two kinds of motions4 ,the impression upon our minds would be confused2 it would not be a single impression1 because the moving objects show two different kinds of patterns1 with rates of speed that are not sufficiently alike to be grasped as a unity4 ,a better picture would be that of an old ,dutch mill on the bank of a river whose sluggish waters flow wearily by4 ,perhaps even an old steamboat with a large paddle wheel might be so introduced that the revolutions and patterns of the two wheels would be similar1 while the forward thrusts of the boat and the current would also be similar1 all four movements blending together into a single harmony1 like the music of four different instruments in an orchestra4 ,the orchestration of motions is1 in fact1 the proper work of the cinema composer4 ,if he cannot control the objects which move before him1 he is in as bad a way as the director of an orchestra who cannot make the musicians do his bidding4 ,we can sympathize with the movie director1 because some of the things he wants to bring into a picture are not so easily controlled as musicians4 ,one can talk to a fiddler1 but one cannot waste time talking to a brook or to a ,dutch windmill4 ,however1 if a windmill will not behave itself1 it can be dismissed no less promptly than a fiddler4 ,the average photoplay seen in the theaters to-day could undoubtedly be improved by retaking it with at least half of the material omitted from every scene4 ,the simplicity thus obtained would help to give a more unified effect1 would be less of a strain on the eyes1 and would require less effort of the mind4 ,but simplicity is worshiped by only a few of our best directors4 ,the average director who is asked to film a scene of a country girl in a barnyard1 a scene in which simplicity itself should predominate1 will produce a conglomeration of chickens fluttering1 ducks waddling1 calves frisking1 a dog trotting back and forth1 wagging his tail and snapping his jaws1 gooseberry bushes shaking in the wind 7always the wind71 a brook rippling over pebbles1 and1 somewhere in the center of the excitement1 the girl herself1 scattering corn from her basket while her skirts flap fiercely about her knees4 ,from such a picture the spectator goes out into the comparative quiet of crowded ,broadway with a sigh of relief1 thankful that he does not have to live amid the nerve-wracking scenes of a farm4 ,when we insist that the motions in a picture should be in harmony with each other because of the pictorial restfulness which thus results1 we do not forget that motions should also be in harmony with the meaning1 the dramatic action1 which the scene contains4 ,some red-blooded reader of this book might possibly have the notion that artistic composition of a picture will rob it of its strength4 ,please may we ask such a person to read carefully ,chapters ,,ii1 ,,iv1 and ,,vii of this book8 ,we have maintained there that good pictorial composition can make any movie 8punch0 harder than ever4 ,let us illustrate that argument again4 ,suppose we 8shoot0 two brawny men in a fist fight4 ,the motions of the men should have unity1 even though their souls might lack it4 ,it sounds like a contradiction1 but the methods of the men fighting should harmonize in motion4 ,if they do not1 we cannot enjoy the fight4 ,what would you think of a fist fight in which one man had the motions of a windmill1 and the other had the motions of a chicken8 ,many movie directors have had stage experience1 either as actors or directors1 and are instinctively able to harmonize the dramatic pantomime of actors or actresses1 whenever this pantomime takes place in the midst of perfectly quiet surroundings1 as is usual in the setting of the theater stage4 ,but as soon as these directors take their troupe out 8on location0 they encounter difficulties1 because the wind nearly always blows costumes1 bushes and trees into motion1 because there are nearly always animals or moving vehicles on the scene1 and because the 8location0 is more likely than not to include such things as fountains1 waterfalls1 or sea beaches4 ,they find therefore1 that the movement of the actors during any one moment of the picture is likely to be discounted by the gamboling of a lamb or the breaking of a sea wave during the next minute4 ,the sea and surf possess a perfectly rhythmical motion which one may watch for hours without becoming weary4 ,and the effect of that motion may well be heightened by composing it with other moving objects so that the various motions taken together will harmonize in directions1 shapes1 and velocities4 ,such composition was very well done in the climactic scenes of 8,the ,love ,light10 the ,mary ,pickford play directed by ,frances ,marion1 who also wrote the story4 ,views of the sea breaking on the shore are shown time and again throughout the play1 but the most impressive scenes are near the end where a sailing party lose control of their sloop in a storm and are shipwrecked on the shoals4 ,here the principal moving objects partake of the movements of the sea and therefore harmonize with it in tempo4 ,the vessel rises and falls with the waves4 ,the people above and below decks sway and lurch with the same motion4 ,the water which breaks through the hatches and trickles down the companionway describes the same shapes and flows with the same rate as the water which breaks over and trickles down the rocks4 ,the total effect is a single impression of motion in which the separate parts parallel and reinforce each other4 ,and this total impression is sustained through many scenes1 even though the position of the camera is often shifted and the subject is viewed from many angles4 ,this cinematic climax is a good example for readers to keep in mind when they set out through the movie theaters in search of cases where the motion of nature has been successfully harmonized with those of other motions demanded by the action of the story4 ,one of the ugliest of pictorial conflicts occurs when false motion and real motion are projected together upon the screen4 ,who has not been annoyed by the typical 8follow0 picture in which a lady is shown ascending a flight of stairs1 while the stairs themselves 7because the camera has been swept upward during the exposure7 flow swiftly downward across the screen8 ,the 8follow0 or 8panoram0 picture of moving things is usually bad because it falsifies real motion and gives the appearance of ugly motion to things which actually are at rest4 ,an atrocious picture of a horse race1 exhibited not very long ago1 had been taken by carrying the camera on a motor car which had been kept abreast though not steadily abreast1 of the horses4 ,the result was that the grand stand1 guard rails1 and all fixed objects flew crazily from left to right1 and that1 because of the irregular swinging of the camera1 the horses sometimes seemed to drop back together1 even though they had clearly not slackened their speed4 ,we have been discussing in the above paragraphs the harmony of pictorial motions which occur together at a given moment4 ,they may have a harmony like that of musical notes struck in a chord4 ,but pictorial motions come in a procession as well as abreast1 and these successive motions may have a harmony like that which runs through a melody in music4 ,in a stage play it is not difficult to organize simultaneous or successive actions so that the total action will produce a single effect1 because all the movements of human performers are naturally very much of the same style4 ,the gestures and postures of a performer in any given action are very likely to be followed by similar gestures and postures at frequent intervals during the play4 ,stage directors have developed their traditions of unity and harmony through centuries of theatrical history4 ,they have learned to preserve1 not only the 8key0 of the action1 but the 8tempo0 as well4 ,if they strike a certain pace at the beginning of the act or play they will maintain that pace with practically no variation to the end4 ,it would be most desirable if unity of motion could be sustained throughout the entire length of a photoplay1 as in a stage play or in a musical composition4 ,there should be a real continuity of pictures1 as there is supposed to be 8continuity0 of actions described in a scenario4 ,but such continuity is hard to find on the screen4 ,in 8,the ,love ,light10 for instance1 the film which we have just discussed1 there is little unity of motion except in the climactic scenes4 ,the very action from which the title 8,the ,love ,light0 is derived1 is botched in composition4 ,the light is that of a lighthouse and the heroine manipulates it so as to throw a signal to her lover4 ,this action is shown in a series of cut-backs from a close-up of a girl in the lighthouse to a general view of the sea below and to a close-up of the hero4 ,but the lantern with its apparatus of prisms makes a cylindrical pattern which does not harmonize in shape with the long white pencil of the searchlight sweeping the sea4 ,nor does it harmonize in motion1 for the simple reason that the sweeping ray moves clock-wise1 in spite of the fact that the girl rotates the lantern counter-clock-wise4 ,two other discrepancies in these scenes may be noted4 ,one is that in the close-ups the lantern does not appear to be lighted1 and the other is that lighthouses do not1 as a rule1 send out light in pencil-like shape4 ,the scene above cited lacks pictorial unity1 in spite of the fact that the neighboring scenes are in perfect unity of dramatic meaning4 ,this illustrates the dangerous difference between saying things in words and saying them in pictures4 ,if we write1 for example1 8she swings the lantern around slowly1 etc410 no reader is likely to question whether the lantern is lighted or not1 or whether it is rotated in one direction or the opposite4 ,but the camera impolitely tells the whole truth4 ,and some truths are full of fight when they are brought face to face with each other4 ,the suddenness with which one scene leaps to the next on the screen is a factor which many directors and most scenario writers fail to reckon with4 ,in ,chapter ,,iii we have discussed at some length the effect which these sudden jumps have upon our eyes4 ,it remains now to see how the 8flash0 from one scene to another affects our minds4 ,in 8,barbary ,sheep10 directed by ,maurice ,tourneur1 there is bad joining which may be illustrated by naming a succession of three scenes4 ,they are3 7#a7 ,a picture of a mountain sheep some distance away on the edge of a cliff1 sharp against the sky1 an excellent target for a hunter4 7#b7 ,the hero out hunting4 ,he sees something1 aims his gun obliquely upward4 ,our eyes follow the line of the gun toward the upper left-hand corner of the frame4 7#c7 ,some society ladies in a room4 ,perhaps the reader can guess1 even from this incomplete description in words1 how sudden and complete was the shock of scene #c coming after the preparation of scene #b4 ,there was a complete violation of unity of meanings1 as well as of motions4 ,we cannot say who was to blame for this bad art1 whether it was the director1 or some one in the 8cutting room40 ,possibly some motion picture operator had mutilated the film in the theater4 ,the fact remains that this part of the picture as it reached the audience was badly composed4 ,the promise of one scene was not only ignored but ridiculed in the next scene4 ,an excellent illustration of how the promise made by a scene can be beautifully fulfilled for the eye by a following scene may be found in ,griffith's 8,the ,idol ,dancer40 ,incidentally the joining shows how false motion may be harmonized with real motion4 ,let the reader imagine himself looking at a motion picture screen4 ,the setting is a ,new ,england country road in winter4 ,into the picture from the lower right side of the frame comes a one-horse sleigh1 which1 as it glides along the road1 describes a curving motion over the screen1 first to the left and then upward to the right4 ,it then begins curving to the left again1 when the scene is suddenly cut4 ,the effect on our eyes at this moment is such that we expect a continuation of motion toward the left1 a completion of the swing4 ,and this is just what we get in the next picture1 which shows1 not the sleigh at all1 but the motion of the landscape gliding by1 from right to left1 as the sleigh-riders themselves might have seen it4 ,we feel a pleasure of the eye somewhat akin to the pleasure of our ears when a musician strikes a note which the melody has led us to expect4 ,griffith's touch of art in this joining is especially delightful because it is so subtle that any spectator1 though he would surely feel it1 would not observe it unless he were especially occupied in the analysis of motion on the screen4 ,sometimes two scenes may be joined in perfect harmony of motions and yet show a conflict of meanings4 ,in 8,the ,love ,light10 above mentioned1 we have one scene where the hero is about to take refuge in the cellar beneath the room occupied by the heroine4 ,he raises a trap door1 goes down the steps1 and1 as he descends slowly1 closes the door behind him4 ,this downward-swinging motion of the door is in our eyes when the scene is cut1 and the next instant we see the outer door of the house swinging open suddenly as the heroine rushes out into the yard4 ,the motions of the two doors are in perfect unity and balance1 but we are shocked nevertheless1 because1 since our minds and eyes were on the hero in the cellar1 we had expected another view of him beneath the trap door4 ,but there are worse compositions than this in the movie theaters4 ,sometimes whole plays are out of unity from beginning to end4 ,a notorious example was a photoplay called 8,the ,birth of a ,race10 which began with ,adam and ,eve and ended up with visions of the future1 touching as it ran such things as little ,moses and the ,daughter of ,pharaoh1 the slave drivers of ,egypt1 the exodus of ,israel1 the crucifixion of ,christ1 the three ships of ,columbus1 the signing of the ,declaration of ,independence1 ,lincoln and the ,emancipation ,proclamation1 the ,world ,war1 ,german spies1 steel works in the ,united ,states1 a strike of the workers1 etc41 etc4 ,all of these scenes were badly joined1 but the greatest shock of all came when the action jumped in a flash from ,christ and the two thieves writhing in crucifixion to the three ships of ,columbus heeling gracefully in a light breeze4 ,merely to hint at the contents of such a play is1 we hope1 sufficient criticism4 ,without harmony of subject matter there certainly can be no harmony of treatment4 ,and if the director of 8,the ,birth of a ,race0 offers as his defense that he did not write the story1 we can only retort that he should not have picturized it4 ,even when the subject matter is in continuous unity it requires a skillful1 painstaking1 sincere director to weave its various materials into a single harmony of impressiveness4 ,perhaps we have continued long enough the discussion of the many-sided nature and the artistic value of pictorial motions at rest4 ,let us simply add that the kind of rest we have in mind is never the rest of inaction1 of sleep1 or of death2 it is rather a dynamic repose4 ,just as the still portions of the motion picture may be active upon the spectator's mind1 so the motions may be reposeful while they are both at work and at play4 ,such harmony of pictorial motions on the screen is not too high an ideal for the lovers of the cinema4 ,the glimpses we get of that ideal now are enough to assure us that as time goes on more and more directors will be filled with inspiration and will achieve triumphant expression through their chosen art4 ,,chapter ,x ,,mastery ,,in ,,the ,,movies ,who is the legitimate master in movie making8 ,it is1 of course1 the director1 and he should take complete command over the plot action of the photoplay1 over the players and their accessories1 over the settings and those who make the settings1 over the camera men1 over the cutters1 joiners1 and title writers2 in short1 over all those who are co-workers in photoplay making4 ,if this mastery cannot be obtained2 if writers and players and scene painters will not agree to shed their royal purple for the badge of service2 if all those who co-operate in making a photoplay cannot see that the product must be judged by its total effect and not by mere details of performance1 then1 of course we shall never have art upon the screen4 ,but it is usually very difficult for the director to take and keep complete command4 ,among the first rebels against his authority is the writer of the story which is to be filmed4 ,it would be best1 of course1 if the director could originate his own plot1 as a painter conceives his idea for a painting1 or if he could1 at least1 prepare his own scenario as studiously as the painter makes his own preliminary sketches for a painting4 ,but1 under the present system1 these two tasks of movie making can only in exceptional cases be performed in detail by the same person4 ,the next best thing1 then1 is for the writer to limit himself to the bare subject matter of a picture1 that is1 the general action in which the characters are involved1 while the director takes the responsibility for the pictorial treatment of this subject matter4 ,now comes an interesting question4 ,which has the more artistic weight on the screen1 the treatment of the subject1 that is the presentation of the story pictorially1 or the subject as such regardless of its presentation8 ,the same question may be asked of any masterpiece of art2 is it distinctive because of the subject matter or because of what the artist has done to that subject matter8 ,in other words1 would the subject matter remain distinctive even if it were badly treated8 ,there are sometimes happenings in real life that can hold one's unwavering attention1 no matter how poorly presented in language or picture4 ,for example1 if a panic-stricken idiot were to rush to you and say1 8,it were quick1 oh1 explosion by ,wall ,street and lots of fellers shut up dead and ,j4 ,p4 ,morgan's windows all over bloody men every way10 you would be shocked--not amused--and you would not stop to consider the ridiculous language of the report4 ,and if by some strange coincidence a camera man had secured a motion picture of that explosion in ,wall ,street1 you would be curious to see that picture1 and would undoubtedly be impressed by it1 no matter how ineffective might be its photography or pictorial composition4 ,in fiction there may be certain chains of incidents1 such as the action of a detective story1 which might carry a strong dramatic appeal1 even though the language of the narrator were crude1 confused1 obscure1 weak1 and of no beauty appropriate to the thing expressed4 8,there may be10 we say2 but all self-respecting writers will agree with us that language-proof stories are extremely rare4 ,the story is usually impressive because of the telling1 and not in spite of it4 ,in the motion picture1 naturally1 the telling is not in words1 but in arrangements of lines and shapes1 of tones and textures1 of lights and shadows1 these values being either fixed or changing1 and exhibited simultaneously or in succession4 ,whatever arrangement the director makes comes directly to us in the theater4 ,barring accident we see it unchanged on the screen1 and1 as far as we are concerned1 it is the only treatment which the story has4 ,it is true1 of course1 that cinematographic treatment may be vaguely suggested by written or spoken words2 it may be more definitely suggested by drawings2 but it can never actually be given either by words or drawings4 ,even the director himself cannot know definitely1 in advance of the actual rehearsing and taking of the picture1 just what the composition will be4 ,he may plan in advance1 but he does not actually compose until the players are on the scene and the camera 8grinding40 ,during those moments are created the actual designs which become fixed permanently in the film4 ,turning from pictures for a moment1 let us consider the relation between plot and treatment in literary art4 ,it is interesting to study ,shakespeare's attitude toward the material which he borrowed for his plays4 ,glance through the introduction and notes of any school text1 and you will see that the plot which came to his hand ready-made was not held sacred4 ,he twisted it1 tore out pieces from it1 or spun it together with other plots similarly altered4 ,and even then the altered plot1 though an improvement over the raw material1 was not a masterpiece2 it was only a better framework for masterly treatment4 ,in the art of ,shakespeare it is the telling1 not the framework1 of the story that counts4 ,hence any play of his becomes a poor thing indeed if you take away from it the tone-color of his words1 the rhythm of his lines1 the imaginative appeal of his imagery1 the stimulating truth in his casual comment on character and deed4 ,when a play of ,shakespeare is filmed1 those literary values are lost2 it cannot in the nature of the motion picture be otherwise4 ,on the other hand1 the distinctive value and particular charm of a photoplay lies in its pictorial treatment1 in what the director does pictorially with the subject in hand4 ,and that distinctive value would in turn be lost if some one else attempted to transfer the picture to a literary medium4 ,in view of all this it is surely fair to say that if a writer and a picture-maker were to co-operate in producing a piece of literature1 the writer should be in command2 but when they co-operate in producing a picture the picture-maker should be in command4 ,now when the director is in command of the story1 what does he do with it8 ,he may permit the incidents to stand in their original order1 or he may change or omit or add4 ,but in any case he sweeps away the phrases1 sentences1 and paragraphs which describe the places of the action1 and erects instead real settings1 or selects suitable 8locations0 from already existing settings4 ,he marshals forth real human beings to perform the parts which are described in words4 ,he divides the action into limited periods of time1 and decides how to connect these periods visually so that the pictorial movement on the screen may be a flowing unity4 ,the director1 not the writer1 does this2 and1 if he were satisfied to do less1 he would be only partly a director4 ,his work is not the 8translation0 of literature into motion pictures2 it is a complete substitution of motion pictures for literature4 ,when we analyze pictorial composition on the screen we must proceed as we have done throughout this book4 ,we must look at it from the point of view of the spectator in the theater4 ,the spectator does not see the setting with one eye and the actors with the other1 he does not separate the respective movements of human beings1 animals1 trees1 water1 fire1 etc41 as they play before him1 and he does not disconnect any one scene from the scenes which precede or follow it4 ,to him everything on the screen is connected with everything else there4 ,the connection may be strong or weak1 bad or beautiful1 but it is nevertheless a connection4 ,this ought to be clear enough to any one who gives the matter any thought2 yet there are scene designers who appear to believe that their setting is a complete work of art quite independent of the actors1 for whom and with whom it ought to be composed1 and there are certainly any number of players who look upon themselves as stars that dwell apart4 ,we do not underestimate the individual power of the player as an interpreter of the deeds and emotions of dramatic characters4 ,pantomimic acting is one of the most personal of arts1 yet the acting in a photoplay is a somewhat smaller factor in the total result than acting in the stage pantomime2 and neither kind of acting can compare in importance with acting in the stage play1 where the magic of the actor's voice works its spell upon the audience4 ,in the photoplay the player1 whether at rest or in action1 is usually the emphatic part of the picture2 but he is only a part1 and the relation between that part and the other parts of the picture can best be established by the director4 ,if the player attempts to compose the picture in which he appears1 he is handicapped1 not only because he cannot see himself1 but also because he cannot see any other portion of the composition from the same point of view as the ultimate spectator who is temporarily represented by the director4 ,he is1 in fact1 in danger of spoiling his own pantomime1 of destroying his own power4 ,the frequent abuse of the close-up1 for example1 is often due to the mistaken idea that an actor's facial expression is the sole means of representing emotion4 ,to think that dramatic pantomime consists of making faces is just as foolish as to think that dancing is merely a matter of shaking the feet and legs4 ,it is really as important for a screen actress to be able to show grief with her elbows or knees as for a dancer to have rhythm in her neck4 ,the 8star0 actress1 therefore1 who insists on several facial close-ups per reel reveals a lack of capability in her own art1 as well as an over-developed appreciation of her own looks4 ,the further objection to the close-up is that it takes the player out of the picture4 ,for the moment all the setting1 all the other players are shut off from sight4 ,it is as though a painter1 while entertaining a group of friends with a view of a newly finished work1 were suddenly to cover the whole painting except a single spot1 and then to say1 8,now forget the rest of the picture1 and just look at this spot4 ,isn't it wonderful80 ,the player should1 of course1 always be in perfect union with the rest of the picture1 yet carrying as much emphasis as the story demands4 ,but even when the player wisely desires to remain in the picture1 he should not be allowed to determine his own position1 pose1 or movement there4 ,he is1 after all1 only a glorified model with which the artist works4 ,when an actress moves about in a room1 for example1 she cannot know that to the eye of the camera her nose seems to collide with the corner of the mantel-piece1 that her neck is pressed out of shape by a bad shadow1 that her gesture points out some gim-crack of no dramatic significance at the moment1 that her movement is throwing her out of balance with some other movement in the scene1 that her walking1 sitting1 or rising appears awkward1 in spite of the fact that it feels natural and rhythmical to her4 ,these and a thousand other accidents of composition can be avoided only by the player's instant obedience to an alert and masterful director who can stop or guide the moving factor in the picture as surely as a painter can stop or guide his brush4 ,when the action takes place out of doors1 or in an interior setting with considerable depth1 the player is still more ignorant of what the composition looks like to the eye of the camera4 ,whether the movement of a particular person will harmonize with a swaying willow tree and with the shadows playing over the ground1 can be discovered only by experiments viewed from the angle of the camera4 ,and even then1 after the action has been carefully planned through a succession of rehearsals1 it may have to be varied during the actual 8shooting40 ,a sudden change of wind or light or an unexpected movement of a dog or horse may bring in a new factor that must be instantly taken into account4 ,at the beginning and end of a scene the player should be especially pliable under the hands of the director1 because the latter alone knows what the cinematic connection is to be with the preceding and following scenes4 ,the lack of control in this pictorial continuity is often evident on the screen4 ,separate scenes become little dramas in themselves1 and the whole photoplay is then really a succession of acts1 with a structure always tending to fall apart1 instead of cohering firmly into a unity4 ,the peculiar difficulty in the movies is that the scenes are not taken in the same order as they are projected in the theater4 ,on the screen the scenes shift more quickly than the actors could pass from one setting to the next1 and yet the actual taking of those actions may have been weeks or even months apart4 ,this is so because it is more economical to let the particular setting1 and not the continuity of action1 determine the grouping of the 8shots40 ,thus1 for example1 the scenes numbered #i1 #bb1 #be1 #da1 #ih1 and #acc1 with a drawing-room as setting1 may all be taken on a single day1 while numbers #h1 #dj1 and #acd1 with a street as setting1 may be taken some other day4 ,and still another group of disconnected scenes may be taken a month later 8on location0 hundreds of miles away4 ,this may be a fine system of efficiency for the manufacturer1 but it often plays havoc with pictorial continuity4 ,when an actress goes directly from scene #ih to #acc1 for example1 she may be able to remember whether the latter scene is supposed to find her still single or already divorced1 but she cannot be allowed to determine her own positions1 pauses1 tempo and general nature of movement1 because that might spoil the transition from scene #acb1 which is not to be 8shot0 until several days later6 ,the farther we go into the study of the relation between the player and the rest of the motion picture1 the more we realize that this relation can best be established and controlled by the director1 and that the player is1 in a sense1 only a pigment with which the director paints4 8,but what of the movie fans80 you ask4 8,are they not more interested in the performer as a performer than in the play as a play1 or in the picture as a picture80 ,yes1 the audience is undoubtedly 8crazy about the star10 but that is largely because they have not been given anything else to be crazy about4 ,it is true that we all admire the distinction of individual performers in any kind of entertainment2 yet we would not approve of a football game1 for example1 in which the 8star0 half-back made so many brilliant plays that the rest of the eleven could not prevent the opposing team from piling up a winning score1 or of a baseball game which was lost because the batter with a world's record refused to make a 8sacrifice hit40 ,and1 besides1 a distinguished actor or actress may remain distinguished even after having submitted to the directing of the master cinema composer1 just as a figure in a painting may still be fascinating even though the painter has made it a thoroughly organic part of the whole composition4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,charles ,i1 a painting by ,van ,dyck4 ,the composition is characterized by rhythm of tone and line1 balance of design1 and skilful subordination of interests4 ,many of the principles that underlie good painting may be successfully applied in a motion picture4 ,see page #hj4 ,as the figure is really only a part of the motion picture so the setting is also only a part1 and neither the setting nor the figure should be considered sufficient unto itself4 ,one without the other is really incomplete2 together they can be organized into a unified picture4 ,this simple truth1 always recognized by painters1 has often been ignored1 both by stage directors and motion picture directors4 ,perhaps the explanation is to be found in the materials with which the three different composers work4 ,in a painting both the figure and the background are only paint1 only representations side by side on a flat surface1 and therefore easily admit of a perfect fusion of material4 ,but in the case of stage drama the situation is different4 ,the stage composition does not give us a similar natural blending of actor and background4 ,the actor is a real human being1 so near the spectators that some of them could touch him with their hands1 while the background is merely an artificial representation of a room1 a garden1 or a cliff4 ,the two elements of the stage picture refuse to mix1 and the average spectator seems quite content to take them separately4 ,in fact1 it is not unusual for the audience to 8give the scenery a hand0 long before a single figure has entered to complete the composition4 ,now the screen picture is entirely different from the stage picture1 because on the screen everything we see is photographic representation1 mere gradations of light and shadow1 just as everything on the canvas of a painting is paint4 ,in the motion picture without color the boundary line of a window or a table is described in exactly the same medium as the contour of an actor's face2 and the actor's complexion differs from the wall paper only in being lighter or darker4 ,it should be impossible1 therefore1 to consider that the photoplay setting is a complete1 independent picture1 and that the actors are separate visible things merely placed in front of the setting4 ,and if the movie director makes the mistake of not fusing actor and setting into a pictorial composition1 it is perhaps because he imagines the spectator with himself in the studio1 where the scene and action are like those of the stage1 instead of putting himself with the spectator before the screen4 ,but there are signs of awakening in the theater of the stage play4 ,more and more the influence of such ,european masters as ,max ,reinhardt and ,gordon ,craig is being felt4 ,according to their method of production the setting and the actors are interdependent and make a co-operative appeal to the eye of the audience4 ,the young designers in the ,united ,states are beginning to think of the dramatic picture as a whole1 rather than of the setting as a self-sufficient exhibition of their skill in painting4 ,mr4 ,lee ,simonson1 for example1 not long ago1 in commenting on his designs for the ,theater ,guild's production of 8,the ,faithful10 said that he purposely designed his sets so that they would seem top-heavy until the actors entered and filled in the comparatively empty zone near the bottom of the stage picture4 ,without the presence of the actor1 he declared1 one could never say that the set was good or bad2 one could only say that it was incomplete4 ,such reasoning would do a great deal of good in the movie studios1 from which a vast amount of silly publicity 8dope0 has come1 announcing that this or that photoplay was highly artistic because such-and-such a well-known painter had been engaged to design the interior settings4 ,one might as well say that a certain art student's mural decoration was good because a famous master had begun the work by painting a background for the figures1 or that a piece of music was beautiful because a master composer had written an accompaniment which somebody else had afterward combined with a melody4 ,in the cinema composition the director must1 of course1 have mastery over the places1 as well as over the persons of a film story4 ,he can then make the setting a live1 active part of the picture instead of merely a dead background2 he may truly dramatize it4,e ,a notable example of the perfect blending of dramatic theme1 actors1 and setting is the ,german photoplay 8,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari10 which was first shown to the ,american public in ,april1 #aiba4 ,this film1 produced by the ,decla ,company1 was directed by ,mr4 ,robert ,wien1 and the scenic designs were made by ,herman ,warm1 ,walter ,reiman1 and ,walter ,rork4 ,when the 8movie fan0 sees the beginning of this photoplay he is startled by the strange shapes of places4 ,houses and rooms are not laid out four-square1 but look as though they had been built by a cyclone and finished up by a thunderstorm4 ,windows are sick triangles1 floors are misbehaved surfaces and shadows are streaked with gleaming white4 ,streets writhe as though in distress and the skies are of the inky blackness that fills even strong men with foreboding4 ,the people are equally bizarre4 ,they resemble cartoons rather than fellow humans1 and their minds are strangely warped4 ,e ,the subject of dramatizing a setting is discussed at length in ,chapter ,,viii of 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making40 ,in the presence of all this the spectator feels that the screen has gone mad2 yet he does not leave the theater1 because his attention is chained and his emotions are beginning to surge with a peculiarly pleasing unrest4 ,he stays and stares at the remarkable fitness of these crazy people in crazy places2 for the story is1 in fact1 a madman's fantasy of crimes committed by a sleep-walker under the hypnotic control of a physician who is the head of an insane asylum4 ,when we examine this photoplay critically we discover1 not only that the settings are perfectly sympathetic with the action1 but that the various factors are skillfully organized into an excellent pictorial composition4 ,look1 for example1 at the 8still10 facing page #agi1 and you will observe the uncanny emphasis upon the dark sleep-walker who slinks along the wall and a moment later turns upward into the hallway on his evil errand to the bed-chamber of the heroine4 ,place that figure in an ordinary village alley and it will lose half its horror2 keep it out of this weird setting and the place will cry out for some one to come into it in pursuit of crime4 ,study the plan of the pictorial design and you will see that as soon as the man has emerged from the shadows in the background he becomes the strongest accent in an area of white4 ,the end of the alley from which he comes is accented by the jagged white shape above the shadows1 and the doorway through which he goes is similarly accented by irregular shapes4 ,these two accents keep the composition in balance1 and when our glance passes from one to the other the path of attention must cross the area of central interest4 ,there is rhythm in the composition1 too1 though one would scarcely realize it at first glance4 ,note the swinging curves in the white patch on the street and in the corresponding patch on the wall1 and note also how some of these curves harmonize with the lines of the actor's body and with his shadow upon the wall4 ,the 8still0 which we have just analyzed is typical of the cinema scenes throughout 8,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari40 ,whether the subject is the unscrupulous ,doctor in his office within the gates of the insane asylum1 or the unnatural sleep-walker cramped in his cabinet1 or the innocent girl asleep in a sea of white coverlets1 or the gawking villagers at the fake shows of the fair1 the two factors of person and place complete each other in a masterly composition4 ,but that composition as a whole was not made either by the actors or by the designers of settings2 they were happily helpful1 but the director was the master composer4 ,any one who sees 8,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari0 is likely to remark that the settings would not be of much value in any story except the one for which they were designed4 ,what a fine compliment to this photoplay as art6 ,perhaps some one long ago in the gray dawn of musical composition made a remark that the accompaniment in a certain piece of music could hardly serve for another melody than the one for which it was composed6 ,at any rate let us hope that in the future the lover of the films may not look in vain for weird stories in uncanny haunts1 for fairy tales in whimsical nooks1 for epic dramas in spacious domains1 for comedies in funny places2 and let us hope1 too1 that he will find the compositions so perfect that not a single setting would have any artistic value apart from its own story4 8,but what of nature80 says some one4 8,must the movie director have mastery over the works of the ,creator1 too80 ,indeed he must6 ,because if he is an artist he is a creator2 and if nature becomes a medium in his art1 then he must have mastery over that medium insofar as it enters the art4 ,hills have been levelled1 streams have been dried up1 and valleys have been filled with water1 all for the welfare or profit of man4 ,mastery of this kind costs money2 but are not the movie magnates noted for their fearlessness in signing checks8 ,wealthy men have been known to build landscapes for their own pleasure2 there is no very valid reason why they should not build landscapes for their own business1 especially when that business is an art4 ,the movie director of to-day wears out automobiles searching the country for 8locations0 that will do as natural backgrounds for screen stories2 and in this enthusiasm he is almost as amateurish as the kodak fiend who scours the country for good things to snap4 ,the movie director of some to-morrow will not look for natural backgrounds2 he will make them4 ,when an artist paints a picture of a natural subject he does not try to reproduce exactly the material things which he sees before him4 ,he rises far above the craft of the copyist into the divinity of creation4 ,his painting is always a personal variation of the natural theme4 ,if seven trees suit his composition better than the seventeen which he views1 he paints only seven1 and if there are only five in the grove1 he creates two more on his canvas4 ,if the waterfall is too high or too violent he reshapes it into the ideal one of his vision4 ,this he does1 not because nature is not beautiful in most of her aspects1 but because no single one of those aspects fits into the scheme of the new beauty which he as an artist is trying to create4 ,but the cinema composer does not work in so plastic a medium as paint4 ,the camera is only a recording machine1 working without the power of altering what it sees4 ,the subject must be altered by the director before the camera man begins 8shooting40 ,on a small scale this is perhaps already being done4 ,bushes1 for example1 may be cleared out from among the trees1 and possibly even a tree or two may be chopped down in order to facilitate the carrying on of certain dramatic actions4 ,we should like to see the ax wielded also in the cause of such things as simplicity1 or balance1 or rhythm in pictorial composition4 ,already bridges are being built especially for certain scenes in photoplays4 ,we should like to see the cinema engineers called upon also to put an extra bend in the creek1 or to make the waterfall only half as large1 or to shape the bank into a more graceful slope whenever any change of that sort might serve to organize the setting more harmoniously with the general design of the picture4 ,already grass has been mown to suit a director4 ,we should like to see grass grown especially for the director4 ,they already make sunshine and wind and rain for motion pictures4 ,we should like to see trees planted and tended for a dozen or fifty years1 if necessary1 in order to provide a more pictorial natural background for one or a dozen film stories4 ,in thus advocating a new art of cinema landscape gardening we do not mean to imply that nature untouched is not full of beauty4 ,we know well enough that the rhythm of line in the horizon of a rolling country1 or in the lights and shadows of trees massed in the distance is often a delight to the beholder4 ,but natural beauty of that sort is admissible to a cinema composition only when it is itself the dramatic theme of the story1 and can be emphasized by the introduction of human figures or other elements1 or when it can be subordinated to something else which is the dramatic theme4 ,if nature cannot be thus composed she may still be photographed by the maker of scenics1 travel pictures1 etc41 but she is of no practical value to the director of photoplays4 ,but there is perhaps a question brewing in some reader's mind4 8,would it not be ridiculously extravagant10 he asks1 8to construct a real landscape especially for a photoplay1 since you maintain that any particular setting1 if it is a proper part of a good composition1 will have little artistic value apart from the particular action for which it has been designed80 ,yes1 it would certainly be extravagant to spend ten years producing a natural setting which could be used only for two days of movie 8shooting40 ,but our theories really do not lead to any such conclusion4 ,first1 any landscape which has been designed especially for cinema composition1 can be 8shot0 from fifty or a hundred different points of view1 and yet can have separate artistic value from every angle4 ,and1 second1 any such landscape would alter itself periodically and gradually through seasons and years4 ,and1 third1 the cinema landscape engineer could make considerable alterations again and again without destroying the landscape4 ,thus1 even if only a single square mile of land were used1 it might well serve a film company for a number of years2 and meanwhile other landscapes would be in the making on other square miles of land4 ,however1 it is not the critic's business to enter into the ways and means of financing the production of art4 ,he only undertakes to express the refined taste of the thoughtful public1 the public which in the long run it will pay the producers to please4 ,we desire the director's mastery in the movies to extend also to that phase of pictorial composition which is known as the 8cutting and joining0 of scenes4 ,bad work in this department of photoplay making is something which cannot be counteracted by the most inspired pantomime1 by the most beautiful setting1 or by the most perfect composition in the separate scenes4 ,without careful cutting and joining the photoplay can never achieve that dynamic movement1 that rhythmical flow which is a characteristic and distinguishing quality of the motion picture as art4 ,it should be as important for the cinema composer to decide upon the progression and transformation of scenes as it is for the poet to arrange the order and transitions of his own verses and stanzas1 or for the musical composer to arrange the movement through the music which he writes4 ,some directors seem to forget that a piece of art can exert its power only through that final form which comes in direct contact with the appreciator4 ,and many of the others who desire to preserve their work intact must gnash their teeth at the thought that no matter how carefully they may cut and join a film1 it is likely to be marred before it reaches the projecting machine4 ,an example of the amazing lack of artistic co-operation in the movie world is furnished by the following press notice1 sent out from one of the largest moving picture theaters on ,broadway4 8,audiences who see a film projected on the screen at the ---- ,theater1 seldom take the details connected with its showing into consideration4 ,it is a well-known fact that a photoplay is seldom presented at the ---- in the form it is received from the manufacturer4 ,every foot of film is carefully perused and cuts are made1 either for complete elimination or for replacement in a more appropriate part of the story40 ,add to such deliberate desecration the havoc wrought by censors and by the eliminations caused by fire or breakage and you have a prospect of butchery which is bad enough to make any artist drop his work in despair4 ,there is no hope for him unless he can organize his photoplay so perfectly and make its definite final form so compellingly beautiful that even a dull mechanician in a projecting booth would recognize it as a sacred thing which must be kept intact as it came from the hands of the master4 ,but a photoplay is often robbed of pictorial continuity long before it reaches the exhibitor4 ,the 8title-writer10 who frequently combines his office with that of 8cutter10 is at best1 a dangerous collaborator on a photoplay4 ,words in the form of titles1 sub-titles1 dialogue1 comments1 etc41 are rarely in place on the screen4 ,if they are admitted for the purpose of telling or explaining a part of the story1 they come as a slur on the art of the motion picture1 and often as an insult to the intelligence of the spectator4,f ,nevertheless1 the producer finds words practically useful as stop-gaps1 padding1 and general support for an ill-directed play that would otherwise have to be scrapped4 ,and even the most prominent directors are inclined to lean heavily on words4 ,we are doomed1 therefore1 to endure the hybrid art of reading matter mixed with illustrations1 at least for many years to come4 ,but we insist that this mixture shall be no worse than the director makes it4 ,f ,words which appear as an organic part of the action1 such as writing1 print1 sign-boards1 etc41 do not come under the general category of 8cut-in titles40 ,for a discussion of the dramatic value of words on the screen see ,chapter ,,ix of 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making40 ,after a director has carefully composed a series of scenes so that the motions and patterns and textures and tones dissolve1 from one moment to the next1 in a rhythmical flow1 regardless of how the story may have shifted its setting1 we do not want some film doctor to come along and break that unity into pieces for the sake of a few jokes1 or near-jokes1 or for a few words of schoolroom wisdom or of sentimental gush4 ,we object1 not only to the content1 the denotation of such 8titles10 but also to their pictorial appearance4 ,that written words have pictorial appearance is a fact which most of us forgot as soon as we learned to read4 ,we realize that ,chinese characters or ,egyptian hieroglyphics are pictorial1 that they are drawings2 but we forget that the characters and arrangements of our own writing and printing are also drawings4 ,judged as pictures the words on the screen are usually too severely white for the background4 ,they fairly flash at you4 ,also the horizontal lines made by the tops and bottoms of the letters constitute a sort of grill-work which hardly ever blends pictorially with the pattern of the preceding or following scene4 ,as to the design of the letters themselves we find considerable variety on the screen1 often with no direct reference to the meaning of the words or to the picture where they are inserted4 ,thus the tendency to introduce y's and g's with magnificent sweeping tails1 or capital letters in fantastic curves1 while revealing a commendable impulse to make writing pictorial1 often leads to overemphasis1 or to a direct conflict with other pictorial values in the film4,g ,g ,a neat pictorial touch in the titles of the ,german play1 8,the ,golem10 is the suggestion of ,hebrew script in the shaping of the letters4 ,furthermore1 the eye-movement over reading matter should be considered with reference to the eye-movement over the adjoining pictures4 ,for example1 after the title has been shown long enough to allow the normal reader to get to the end of the text1 his eye may be at a point near the lower right corner or at the right side of the frame4 ,then if the following picture does not attract attention at this portion of the frame1 a slight shock is caused by the necessary jump to a remote point of attention4 ,a similar difficulty may arise in connecting a preceding picture with the beginning of the title4 ,many directors have endeavored to make the title sections of a film more pictorial by introducing decorative drawings or paintings around the words1 and even by introducing miniature motion pictures4 ,decorations in motion1 however1 are not to be recommended1 because they distract attention from the words of the title1 as has been illustrated in the discussion of 8,the ,four ,horsemen of the ,apocalypse10 on page #df1 and because they do not readily compose with those words to form a single picture4 ,it is1 in fact1 as inartistic to 8vision in0 motion pictures on the background of a title as to 8vision in0 words on the background of a motion picture4 ,in either case you really get two pictures within one frame4 ,fixed decorations around a title may fill a pictorial need in unifying the portions of the film which have been cut apart by the insert4 ,they may bridge the gap with a continuity of tone or line or shape1 and may by their meaning preserve the dramatic mood of the photoplay4 ,but here1 too1 caution must be observed lest the decorations draw attention away from the words or fail to compose well with the pictorial character of those words4 ,the problem of words on the screen does not seem very near a solution4 ,there will doubtless be a great deal of juggling with titles before some magician comes who can 8vanish0 them completely from the fabric of a photoplay4 ,already photoplays such as 8,the ,old ,swimmin' ,hole10 directed by ,joseph ,de ,grasse and 8,the ,journey's ,end10 directed by ,hugo ,ballin1 have been successfully produced without sub-titles4 ,some day1 we hope1 the wordless picture play will no longer be a novelty4 ,another factor1 which has already become troublesome1 is the reproduction of color in the motion picture4 ,if the director were a genuine colorist1 and if he could produce the exact tint or shade of hue which the particular composition needs1 and if this could be projected so that the spectator would really see what the director wanted him to see1 then the conditions would be ideal for mastery in color movies4 ,such conditions may some day come1 but they are not here now4 ,it is possible that the machinery of color photography will become so perfect that the spectator may be able to see on the screen the exact color values which were found in the subject photographed4 ,but that will be only a triumph of science4 ,it will be a scientific achievement of the same kind as the correct reproduction of colors in a lithograph or color-gravure of a painting4 ,but art lies in the production and arrangement1 not in the reproduction1 of colors4 ,an elementary study of painting must convince any one that the colors which the artist puts on the canvas are really only suggested by the model or subject1 and that his arrangement of them is inspired by an ideal personal conception1 rather than a desire to reproduce something with absolute accuracy4 ,therein lies creation and mastery4 ,hence1 there is no artistic advantage to a cinema composer in having machines which can make a green dress appear green1 and a red rose1 red1 on the screen1 unless that particular green and that particular red in that particular combination really add beauty to the picture4 ,the 8tinted0 scenes1 usually blue or orange1 which are so familiar in the movies1 are not color photographs1 since they are produced by immersing an ordinary black and white film in a bath of dye4 ,but from an artistic point of view they are better than color photographs4 ,in the first place1 the value of the tint can be controlled by the director1 or at least by the person who does the tinting4 ,and in the second place1 although the lights of the film take the strongest tint1 the shadows are also affected by it2 and the entire picture1 therefore1 gets a tonal unity which is never present in color photography4 ,however1 even 8tinted0 scenes should be used with caution1 because1 when they are cut into a film which is elsewhere black and white1 they break the unity of tonal flow1 and usually get far more emphasis than their meaning in the story demands4 ,the effect is almost as bad as that of the old family photograph which baby sister has improved by touching up a single figure with pretty water colors4 ,thus we have indicated the many departments and stages of development in a photoplay composition1 the many pictorial forces which should be controlled by a single hand4 ,that single hand holds the reins of many powers4 ,and1 if those powers cannot be so guided that they pull in the same direction1 with similar speeds1 and with balanced efforts1 then their combination is disastrous1 however elegant and blue-ribboned any individual power may be4 ,in the photoplay neither the plot action1 nor the acting1 nor the setting1 nor the cutting and joining1 nor the titles1 nor the coloring1 nor any other element can be allowed to pull in its own wild way4 ,and in any single section of the motion picture the fixed design and the movement1 the accentuation and the harmony1 the work and the play1 must be co-ordinated and all this technique must itself be subordinate to spontaneous enduring inspiration4 ,without such mastery no movie-maker can ever win to the far goal of art4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,mysterious ,,emotions ,,of ,,art ,the end of all aspiring mastery in the movies is to provide for every beholder the thrills of art4 ,these thrills are not like the emotions which are aroused by other experiences of life1 by sports1 for example1 or adventure1 or amusements1 or industry1 or war4 ,they are stirring experiences quite different from those of him who makes a 8home run0 or a 8touch-down10 or 8loops the loop0 in the air1 or sinks a submarine1 or has a play accepted1 or discovers a new way of evading some obnoxious law4 ,it is true that the dramatic content of a photoplay may sometimes seem so real that the beholder forgets where he is and responds with such natural feelings as fear and triumph1 love and hate1 pride1 selfish desire and hope2 but it is also true that the pictorial form of a photoplay1 that is1 the mere arrangement of the substance1 considered apart from its meaning1 can arouse strange1 pleasurable emotions which are peculiar to the enjoyment of art4 ,when we recall the masterpieces of painting which have thrilled us we must admit that much of their appeal came from other factors besides the content of the picture4 ,think of a portrait of some ,dutchman painted by ,rembrandt4 ,the painting stirs you as the ,dutchman himself in real life never could have stirred you4 ,you may be impressed by the likeness of the portrait1 by the engaging character of the person portrayed1 and by some significant truth expressed in that portrayal4 ,but that is not all4 ,you are also stirred by the colors in the painting1 by the peculiar arrangement of lines and shapes4 ,that emotion which you get from the form and medium itself1 rather than from the subject1 is a characteristic art-emotion4 ,illustration3 ,from ,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,a remarkable example of 8stylization0 in the movies1 showing how setting1 figure1 and action may be harmonized to express the dominant mood of the photoplay4 ,see pages #afe and #ahj4 ,we are not now speaking of such qualities as unity1 emphasis1 balance1 and rhythm4 ,they are indeed fundamental needs in pictorial composition1 and yet a photoplay may have all of those qualities without possessing any strong appeal as art4 ,a motion picture1 like a painting1 must possess other1 more subtle1 qualities if it is to make any lasting impression upon our souls4 ,what these mysterious qualities really are1 we do not presume to know4 ,at the same time we believe that a discussion of them will be stimulating and helpful both to 8movie fans0 and movie makers4 ,suppose we endeavor to isolate four of these mysterious qualities in art and call them poignancy1 appeal to the imagination1 exquisiteness1 and reserve4 ,any one who goes frequently to the movies must have felt more than once a certain poignancy1 a strange fascination in some pictorial arrangement1 in some curiously appealing movement on the screen4 ,perhaps such a feeling came when you saw a 8dissolve0 for the first time4 ,perhaps the slow dying away of a scene1 even while a new one was dawning before you1 gave a pang of pleasure never felt before1 not even in the magic blending of dreams4 ,a 8queer feeling0 you may have called it1 and you may have been less aware of it as the novelty wore off in later shows4 ,then it came again when you saw an accelerated motion picture which showed a plant growing from seed to blossom within a few minutes4 ,and still again you felt it when in some slow-motion picture you saw a horse floating through the air4 ,but time went on and the frequent repetition of these effects made their appeal less poignant4 ,in each case the thing that stirred you was due to a novelty of mechanics1 a trick of cinematography4 ,but you can get that emotion without waiting for a new mechanical invention4 ,it may come also from the pictorial composition1 from some peculiar patternings of things1 whether fixed or moving1 within the picture itself4 ,a striking illustration of this may be found in the ,german photoplay1 8,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari10 which has been described in the preceding chapter4 ,it contains at least two scenes in which extremely simple arrangements kindle strange flares of emotion4 ,one of these moments comes in the scene which is represented by the 8still0 shown opposite page #agi4 ,here we see ,cesare1 the hypnotized sleep-walker1 slinking along an alley of weird lights and shadows4 ,we know from earlier scenes that he is bent on committing some new crime4 ,his face is ghastly and his lanky frame is tightly clothed in black4 ,he emerges into a bright glare and stretches forth his arm in an unhuman gesture1 as though he were going to glide serpent-wise up the very side of the wall4 ,this movement makes a strange pattern and sends through us a flash of--shall we call it a sweet shudder or a horrible delight8--something poignant and unforgettable4 ,a similar experience of emotion comes to us a few minutes later in the same play when ,cesare carries off the heroine from her bedchamber4 ,this scene reveals a broad sea of billowy linen1 evidently a bed1 yet large enough for a whole bevy of heroines4 ,cesare appears outside a window1 which seems to crumble at his touch4 ,he enters the chamber and1 dagger in hand1 reaches out toward the head of the sleeping lady4 ,we gasp at her fate1 because we forget that this is only a play4 ,that gasp is an expression of pity1 a familiar emotion4 ,but a mysterious emotion is in store for us4 ,cesare is spellbound by the lady's beauty4 ,he drops his dagger4 ,then suddenly he gathers her up1 and1 holding her against the side of his body1 starts for the window4 ,as he does so a sudden striking pattern is produced by the movement4 ,in his haste ,cesare has caught up some of the bed linen along with his prey1 and this white expanse darts after him in a sudden inward-rushing movement from the remote corners of the bed4 ,instantly a strange sensation shoots through us4 ,this sharp emotion1 both painful and pleasing1 is not pity1 or hate1 or fear4 ,it does not relate itself to the villain's violence against an innocent1 defenseless girl4 ,it is merely a 8queer feeling0 caused by that striking motion-pattern of the snowy linen whisked unexpectedly from the bed4 ,to one who has been emotionally affected by such things as the 8dissolve0 and retarded motion and the peculiar effects in 8,dr4 ,caligari0 the above paragraphs may give some idea of what we mean by poignancy in composition4 ,it is a real quality tinged with an unreality that allies it with the effects which we experience in dreams4 ,any cinema composer who can strike this note of poignancy at least once in every photoplay that he produces may justly demand that his work be classed with the fine arts4 ,another elusive quality1 found all too seldom in the movies1 is the appeal to imagination4 ,such an appeal may come from things in real life or from that life which art reflects2 it may come also from the artist's medium and composition4 ,thus1 for example1 some people can imagine melodious sounds when they look at colors in a painting1 and nearly every one can imagine colors when listening to music4 ,the motion picture's appeal to the imagination has been treated at some length in ,chapter ,,vi of 8,the ,art of ,photoplay ,making10 and we shall1 therefore1 be brief about it here4 ,an illustration may be furnished by a sea-shell4 ,we hold it to our ears and hear a low musical sound which makes us imagine the surf of the sea1 sweetly vague4 ,a similar1 yet more subtle1 delight may come from a picture of some person doing the same thing4 ,such a picture is to be found in the ,fox film version of ,longfellow's 8,evangeline40 ,gabriel picks up a sea-shell and holds it to his ear4 ,instantly we imagine the sound which he hears4 ,we also imagine the sea which that imagined sound suggests4 ,and1 if we are particularly sensitive1 we may even try to imagine what ,gabriel imagines4 ,all this is delightful1 a genuine emotional response to the art of the screen4 ,but we are immediately insulted by an ugly anti-climax4 ,quick as a flash1 our fancies are killed by a cut-in picture of a stretch of real sea4 ,now we must look2 we may no longer imagine4 ,the above is a typical example of both imaginative and unimaginative treatment in a motion picture4 ,any reader can go to the movies and collect a hundred similar examples in a few evenings4 ,over and over again a director will lead us to the threshold of beautiful fancy1 only to slam the door of hard realism against our faces4 ,why is this8 ,is it because the director thinks that audiences are incapable of exercising and enjoying their imaginations8 ,or is it only because he wants to get more footage for the film8 ,as though it were not bad enough to spoil the pictorial beauty of cinema composition1 many directors proceed to spoil the charm of other arts1 too4 ,poetry1 for instance1 may weave her spells elsewhere1 but not upon the screen4 ,even the simplest poetic statement must be vulgarized by explanation4 8,movie fans0 are not considered intelligent enough to be trusted with the enjoyment of even such harmless imagery as 8,there is a tide in the affairs of men ,which taken at the turn leads on to fortune40 ,during all the three hundred years since those lines were written1 probably no illustrator of ,shakespeare's plays ever felt called upon to draw a picture of that tide1 and probably no actor ever strove to represent it on the stage by voice or gesture4 ,but in ,de ,mille's photoplay 8,male and ,female10 where the passage is quoted1 the lines on the screen must be accompanied by a photograph of surf1 which was evidently intended to represent the tide6 ,shakespeare's poetic image was thus killed by a single shot4 ,but it sometimes takes more ingenuity to destroy a charm4 ,take1 for instance1 this descriptive line from 8,evangeline03 8,when she had passed1 it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music40 ,those words are surely full of emotional1 imaginative appeal4 ,yes1 but not for the director of the ,fox 8,evangeline40 ,he inserts the line as a title1 then shows ,evangeline strolling over a forest path1 and then 8cuts in0 a close-up of hands playing across the strings of a gigantic harp6 ,there is nothing mysterious about the emotions of any moderately intelligent person who sees things like that on the screen4 8,movie stuff60 he groans1 and wonders 8how they have the nerve to get away with it40 ,we have a quarrel with the director1 not because he has failed to picturize the imagined sweetness of that silence which comes when exquisite music has ceased1 but because he has considered it necessary to picturize anything at all in support of the poet's words4 ,this brings us again to the question whether art should strive to present any beauty other than that of the subject represented4 ,was he a great artist who1 according to an old fable1 painted fruit so realistically that the birds came to peck at it8 ,and would ,michelangelo have been a better artist if he had given his marble statues the colors of real flesh1 or if he had made statues with flesh soft to the touch and capable of perspiring on a hot day8 ,we think not4 ,art may please through illusion1 but never by deception4 ,we get a peculiar emotional experience from imagining that ,michelangelo's 8,moses0 is alive with human grandeur1 but we should not like to be caught in a mob of idiots staring at some more realistically sculptural ,moses1 in the expectation that he was about to make a speech or perform a trick4 ,neither can we go into ecstasies over the fact that the fur mantle in some portrait is so skillfully painted that all the women want to stroke it4 ,the depressing thing about many movies is that they are to the ideal photoplay what the wax figure of a shop window is to sculpture4 ,instead of dancing lightly through a rich atmosphere of suggestion they are anchored heavily with bolts of dollar-marked material4 ,and worse days are to come if the 8stunt0 workers are fed with applause4 ,they promise us pictures in natural colors1 more natural than any now produced4 ,they promise us pictures that have depth so real that the beholder may be tempted to take a stroll into them4 ,they promise us pictures that talk1 and whistle1 and chirp1 and bark4 ,and perhaps somewhere they are even promising pictures that will give off scents4 ,all these wonders will create industrial activity4 ,they will make good advertising1 and will doubtless bring crowds to the theaters4 ,but they will not bring happiness to those fortunate individuals who can enjoy art because it is art1 who can get a finer thrill from a painting that felicitously suggests interesting trees1 than from one which looks so much like a real orchard that the birds and bees swarm in through the gallery doors4 ,let the motion picture look like a motion picture of life1 and not like life itself4 ,let the mobilization of characters in a photoplay start fancies and stir emotions finer and deeper than any which we can experience by observing our neighbors or by reading sensational newspapers4 ,let the lights and shadows on the screen1 the lines and shapes1 the patterns and movements suggest to our imaginations richer beauties than those which are actually shown to our eyes4 ,let the motion picture become as romantic as music1 and yet remain equally consistent with reality and truth4 ,thus we have considered two mysterious art-emotions1 namely1 that which is aroused by a peculiar artistic poignancy in the cinema design itself1 and that which is aroused when the suggestions and associations of the design make our own imaginations creative4 ,a third art-emotion comes from the conscious or sub-conscious appreciation of something exquisite in the finished product4 ,exquisite values and exquisite combinations are present in the masterpieces of every art4 ,the sweet blending of musical tones which leads into a delicacy of overtones that no ear can distinguish2 the subtle shadings of color in a painting1 soft touches of pictorial harmony which can be felt more surely than they can be seen2 tender curves in the most vigorous statue1 and marble surfaces surging so slightly that their shadows scarcely linger2 crisp edges of acanthus leaves in a ,greek capital and the almost imperceptible swelling of the column beneath2 the sparkle1 the caper and the organ-music of a poem you love--these are the exquisite things in art4 ,and there are many others less tangible4 ,they thrill you again and again with feelings too refined for description in words4 ,can the motion picture achieve a similar refinement8 ,or must it always deserve the epithet 8crude08 ,when half of the typical movie's brute strength and snorting speed can be exchanged for tenderness and spirituality we shall have a new era in cinema history4 ,that era may dawn while the doubters are still slumbering4 ,even now we occasionally see motion pictures which are sparkling without the so-called 8flashes0 of scenes1 pictures which flow firmly1 one into the next1 with delicate mingling of tones and patterns1 pictures in which sometimes the moving elements are as airy as gossamer threads blown by a fairy's breath4 ,this quality of exquisiteness is something which the director cannot produce by taking thought or signing a contract4 ,other values he may develop by study and experiment1 but not this one4 ,he may bring balance and unity to his pictorial elements2 he may accent the interests properly2 he may succeed in starting a vital rhythm and stimulating the beholder's fancy1 all this through determined application of skill2 but he will need the help of inspiration before he can create the charm of exquisiteness4 ,the gods have granted that mysterious help to other artists2 they will grant it to the cinema composer1 too1 whenever he proves worthy4 ,there is at least another peculiar art-emotion which the cinema composer should be able to arouse4 ,it is the emotion which comes over us at the overwhelming discovery that a given masterpiece of art has a wealth of beauty that we can never hope to exhaust4 ,that emotion is stimulated by the reserve which lies back of all really masterful performance in art4 ,we feel it when we have read a poem for the twentieth time and know that if we read it again we shall find new beauties and deeper meaning4 ,we feel it in a concert hall listening to a symphony that has been played for us repeatedly since childhood and yet reveals fresh beauties to our maturing powers of appreciation4 ,we feel it in the mystic dimness of some cathedral beneath whose arches a score of generations have prayed and the most eloquent disbeliever of today stands gaping in silence4 ,behind the human power which wrote the poem1 or composed the music1 or built the cathedral lies a vast reserve2 and1 though it was not drawn upon1 we seem to glimpse that reserve forever in the finished masterpiece4 ,has any reader of this book gone to see the same photoplay ten times8 ,and if so1 why8 ,was it because of some irresistible1 undying lure in the content of that photoplay or in the pictorial form of that content8 ,did you go of your own free will8 ,did you even make a sacrifice to see it the tenth time8 ,if so1 then you have known the calm joy of a reserve power in the newest of the arts4 ,unfortunately reserve is not characteristic of the movies4 ,it is seldom indeed that a photoplay contains anything of value that cannot be caught during the first showing4 ,in fact1 it happens rather frequently that a photoplay uses up every ounce of its own proper power and then is forced to call in the help of something known as 8padding0 before it measures up to the commercial fullness of five reels1 or whatever the contract stipulates4 ,if you poke around through this padding1 you will find that it is usually made up of innocent kittens1 ducklings1 calves1 human babies1 and other 8ain't-it-cunnin'0 stuff1 which may arouse emotions1 to be sure1 but not the emotions which make up the enjoyment of art as art4 ,another typical lack of reserve is illustrated in the building and decoration of settings4 ,avalanches of furniture are apparently necessary to show that a character is well-to-do4 ,the heroine's boudoir must look like a gift shop1 and her dressing table like a drug store counter1 in order to convince the audience that she spends a few sacred moments of the day attending to her finger nails4 ,walls of rooms must be paneled off by scores of framed pictures1 mirrors1 etc41 so that1 no matter where the actor stands1 his head will be strikingly set off by some ornamental frame4 ,floors must look partly like an ,oriental bazaar and partly like a fur market4 ,chairs1 tables1 cabinets1 beds1 and what-nots1 must carry our minds to ,versailles and the ,bronx1 to ,buckingham ,palace1 and ,hollywood4 ,hangings of plush and silk1 tapestries of cloth of gold1 curtains of lace or batiked silk1 cords of intricate plaiting1 must flow from the heights1 waving in the breeze to prove that they are real4 ,all this extravagance must be1 we presume1 in order to show that the heroine lives on an income and not a salary1 and in order to give the brides in the audience new ideas for mortgaging their husbands' futures at the installment-plan stores4 ,with such extravagance of materials in a picture there can be no simplicity or reserve in the pictorial composition1 if indeed there can be any composition at all4 ,whatever design the director gives to the miscellaneous lines and shapes will seem rather like a last despairing effort than the easy1 happy touch of a master's hand4 ,the hysterical extravagance of the movies is further illustrated in the breathless speed which so often characterizes every moving thing on the screen4 ,we feel that1 at the end of the road1 horses must expire from exhaustion and automobiles must catch fire from excessive friction4 ,clouds are driven by hurricanes1 rivers shoot1 trees snap1 and the most dignified gentleman dog-trots4 ,it is true that some of this breathlessness carries with it a certain thrill for the spectator1 but that thrill is by no means to be classed as an sthetic emotion4 ,it has nothing of that abiding joy which comes from the consciousness of restrained energy in art4 ,much of this feverish activity1 this 8jazz0 of the screen1 is due to rapidity of projection2 and yet the director is responsible1 for he certainly knows the probable rate of projection and can control his composition accordingly by retarding actions or by selecting slower actions in place of those which cannot be retarded4 ,slowness of movement1 where it is not unnatural1 is pleasant to the eye1 as we have said in preceding chapters1 but it has a peculiar appeal for the emotions1 too4 ,it fills us with a sense of the majesty that none can shake1 of the deep currents that none can turn aside4 ,how to produce a picture that shall impress an audience with its inexhaustible reserve is a secret that remains with him who has the power4 ,so1 too1 with the other pictorial qualities discussed in this chapter4 ,we know of no formulas by which the mysterious art-emotions can be aroused4 ,yet if directors and spectators alike ponder over these mysteries1 it will surely help them to separate the gold from the dross4 ,let us vision an ideal photoplay4 ,it is entrancing1 yet restful1 to the eye4 ,its composition is both vigorous and graceful1 as harmonious as music4 ,our sympathies are stirred warmly by the experiences of the persons in the story4 ,we are held in keen suspense as to the dramatic outcome4 ,and we get also the more subtle art-emotions4 ,our souls are shot through by the poignancy of fixed and flowing designs4 ,we are fascinated by these designs at the same time that our fancies pass through and beyond them4 ,the visible work of the artist is only a mesh-work through which our imaginations are whirled away into rapturous regions of experiences unlived and unexpressed4 ,such transports may be brief1 yet they are measureless in their flights4 ,our attention swings back from these far flights into a quiet response to the delicacy of arrangement of line and shape1 of texture and tone1 of blending and weaving and vanishing values4 ,we feel an exquisiteness too fine for understanding1 which tapers away at last until it is too fine for the most sensitive feeling4 ,and during all the while that we are rapt by the poignancy1 the imagination1 the exquisiteness of the master's production1 we feel that a rich reserve lies beyond our grasp or touch4 ,we cannot quite soar to the master's heights1 or plumb his depths1 or separate the airy fibers of his weaving4 ,yet1 when such beauty comes to the screen1 who shall say that it is a miracle1 that the manner of its coming is above every law and beyond all conjecture8 ,and who shall say that the hour of its coming has not been hastened by the million spectators whose judgments have been whetted and whose sympathies have been deepened by taking thought about the nature of art8 ,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious1 and otherwise left unbalanced4 ,illustrations in this e,book have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations4 ,in versions of this e,book that support hyperlinks1 the page references in the ,list of ,illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations4 ,page #ad3 8propellors0 was printed that way4 ,page #abj3 8,pavlowa0 was printed that way4