[Illustration: Arrangement of Electric Lights in a Photoplay Studio]
[Illustration: An Actor's Dressing Room in the Selig Studio]
An editorial in _Motography_ says: "The best motion picture dramas
produced today are reproductions of literary classics. These films do
not achieve immortality; they merely further assure the immortality of
the original work. Why cannot a photodrama be produced that is fine
enough to live on its own merit--why must the picture always seem to
be secondary while literature and the drama continue to furnish the
primary motives?
"The answer lies in the peculiar requirements of photoplay
authorship. The writer of printed fiction is a master of _words_. He
revels in artful phrases and unique constructions. He woos immortality
not by his plots, but by his clever handling of words--his 'style'."
And then the editor goes on to say that the photodrama will become
great when it has developed its own great men. "The photoplay author
of fame," he says, "must be a specialist."
This also is true; but at the same time he must, as in any other
profession, first of all be a student. He must serve his
apprenticeship; and while he _is_ serving his apprenticeship he must
cultivate the imagination which M. Prevost declares to be so
essential.
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