This need for an insert of some sort at a given
point may be inherent in the material and therefore desirable as well
as needful, but do not admit such a necessity without serious thought.
Ingenuity accomplishes wonders. Remember, the use of a leader is in
most cases a frank confession that you are incapable of "putting over"
a point in the development of your plot solely by the action in the
scenes--you must call in outside assistance, as it were. A scenario
written by a novice often contains many leaders which he considers
necessary to tell his story, yet the same plot in the hands of a
trained writer could be made into a photoplay with many less
sub-titles. Like fire, the leader is a good servant but a bad master.
Once you discover that you are getting into the habit of introducing
an explanatory insert before almost every scene, it is time to remodel
your idea of what constitutes proper technique.
But when a leader can be used to advantage, do not hesitate to insert
it--it has a distinct value and that value must not be despised. True,
_any_ leader halts the action because it destroys the illusion to some
extent, and diverts the attention from the picture to the explanatory
words. But it is also true that it puts the mind of the spectator in a
mood to accept and appreciate the action which is to follow.
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