Therefore, learn to think of a photoplay as being a story prepared for
pantomimic development before the camera; a story told in _action_,
with inserted descriptive matter where the thought might be obscure
without its help; a story told in one or more reels, each reel
containing from twenty-five to fifty scenes.

The spectator at a photoplay entertainment must be able promptly and
easily to discover who your characters are, what kind of people they
are, what they plan to do, how they succeed or fail, and, in fact,
must "get" the whole story entirely from what he sees the actors in
the picture _do_, with the slight assistance of a few explanatory
leaders, or sub-titles, and, perhaps, such inserts as a letter, a
newspaper cutting, a telegram, or some such device, flashed for a
moment on the screen. The more perfect the photoplay, the less the
need for all such explanatory material, as is the case in perfect
pantomime. This, of course, is not to insist upon the utter absence of
all written and printed material thrown on the screen--a question
which will be discussed in a later chapter. It is enough now to
emphasize this important point: Dialogue and description are for the
fiction writer; the photoplaywright depends upon his ability to
_think_ and _write_ in action, for the postures, grouping, gestures,
movements and facial expressions of the characters must be shown in
action, and not described as in prose fiction.

_Action_ is the most important word in the vocabulary of the
photoplaywright. To be able to see in fancy his thoughts transformed
into action is to have gained one goal for which every photoplay
writer strives.