Funny "business," and the by-play of the players, help, of
course, but the humorous lines of the piece are depended upon to make
it a success.
It is just the opposite in photoplay; dialogue (unless cut-in leaders,
taking the form of a speech made by one of the characters, may be
called "dialogue") is entirely absent, and humorous action and funny
situations must take its place.
The requirements of a comedy script are very definitely covered by Mr.
Sargent in the following, taken from his department in _The Moving
Picture World_:
"In photoplay ... the majority of the scenes must each have its own
comedy action while the narrative is advanced, and it is here that the
average writer of comedy falls short. If a scene is not naturally
funny, put some humor into it. Do not force the comedy action, but
invent something that is germane to the plot and natural to the
situation. If you can do this you can write comedy, but until you can
get a laugh in every scene you are not writing comedy, no matter how
funny the central idea may be. As a rule the central idea furnishes
the comedy for only one scene; not for the entire play. In comedy you
must play faster, work harder, and strive constantly for the natural,
unforced laughs. And remember that the editors go to vaudeville shows,
the same as you do.
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