Scene 31. Simply marked grave in cemetery.
Malcolm discovered kneeling, closes his eyes. Fade to
INSERT VISION .... Reproducing scene 20 in part (great rock above beach, etc.). Fade to
INSERT VISION CLOSE-VIEW .... Malcolm looking intently at Florence, whose eyes disclose her tender love for him. Fade to
Scene 31 (Continued) Malcolm has opened his eyes, arms opened as tho to take Florence.
A helpful distinction between the simple insert and the close-view insert—tho they are both close-views, as a matter of fact—is to designate all static and inanimate matter that is neither alive nor in motion, as simple inserts; and that which is properly part of the action and has life, motion and expression, as close-view inserts.
(EXAMPLE 22.) Letters, telegrams, news excerpts, printed, carved, engraved matter, miniatures or other likenesses reproduced, and objects incapable of automatic effort are simply inserts. Close-views of a hand, face, or other part of the anatomy under the stress of emotion, or merely revealing a contributive peculiarity, remote objects with their contingent action brought near, and fragments of action isolated for emphasis, are close-view inserts.
The question of the employment of dialog at all in the photodrama has been widely discussed. It would seem to hinge on the meaning of the word “dialog.” If the word is used in its strict sense of “a conversation between two or more persons,” then we may eliminate it from the photoplay without further question. The photoplay is no place for conversations. But there are occasions upon which the apt employment of a spoken line of dialog has no equivalent or substitute. It becomes one of the fine contributory elements that establishes and preserves the illusion. The effective use of the spoken line is usually as an insert, being timed to appear simultaneously with the representation of its utterance:
(EXAMPLE 23.) To be precise, the insert follows its actual utterance:
Scene 23. Vine-covered arbor.