The line of climactic
development should be a series of ascending waves. After each crisis
or climax there should be a slight lull. And the first few hundred
feet, like the first ten minutes of a play, should be devoted to
getting your audience acquainted with your characters and their
relationships. To place a very important action in the first few
hundred feet before the audience knows who the characters are or what
they are to one another tends to create confusion. People will later
say, 'Oh, was _he_ the one who did that?' Of course the characters
must do things in these first few hundred feet, but they should be
things that express their characters interestingly rather than things
that have important significance in the plot development. Perhaps I
put the point a little too strongly, for there are always exceptions,
but you will know what I mean.
"The thing is to look at one's own work from the viewpoint of the
audience, and continually ask one's self such questions as, 'Is it
clear? Can I follow it without confusion of mind? Does it constantly
keep my interest stimulated?'
"Now the question of breaking one's scenes with close-ups and varied
shots from different angles. Of course, we all do this in preparing
our scripts. But lately I have wondered whether it would not be better
to leave the breaking up of the scene to the producer, except in very
obvious cases.
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