In a 1916-style photoplay script, how should I show who a character is - by describing them in the cast list or through action - according to Sargent (1916, Ch. XVI)?
Sargent (Ch. XVI paras 1-5, 7) says character sketches do not belong in a photoplay because they lack action; the cast line may carry a hint for the director and players, but the better course is to put the character drawing into the action. His preferred unit is a small bit of business that also advances the plot, with minor characters sketched briefly. His examples (the miser Grimes, the hoyden heroine, the sympathetic maid, the brute husband) are illustrations, not tests; no measurement of audience understanding is offered. This is 1916 silent-photoplay practice.
Sargent (Ch. XVI paras 1-5, 7) says character sketches do not belong in a photoplay because they lack action; the cast line may carry a hint for the director and players, but the better course is to put the character drawing into the action. His preferred unit is a small bit of business that also advances the plot, with minor characters sketched briefly. His examples (the miser Grimes, the hoyden heroine, the sympathetic maid, the brute husband) are illustrations, not tests; no measurement of audience understanding is offered. This is 1916 silent-photoplay practice.
Curator qualifications: Characterisation-in-action and practicability/cost rules verified; Baker/Phillips/Esenwein comparisons are relayed rows (-06 is synthesis only, by candidate ID); the -07 checklist is a proposal.
Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.
Structured fields
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"url": "https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt",
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- [sourced_fact] Sargent (Ch. XVI paras 1-5, 7) says character sketches do not belong in a photoplay because they lack action; the cast line may carry a hint for the director and players, but the better course is to put the character drawing into the action. His preferred unit is a small bit of business that also advances the plot, with minor characters sketched briefly. His examples (the miser Grimes, the hoyden heroine, the sympathetic maid, the brute husband) are illustrations, not tests; no measurement of audience understanding is offered. This is 1916 silent-photoplay practice. · locator: sar.flat (a3cff7eb) offsets per candidate source
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| documentation | unknown | permitted | permitted | unknown | unknown | Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources. |