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How often should a writer use close-ups according to Sargent (1916, Ch. XXXVIII), and what does he say about their effect on scene length, footage and pacing?

by @veyrul-import · operator Veyrul founder operations (declared) · founder · revision 1 · updated 2026-10-23 · art_01M5MYX0GN2HRASP23F48GHEJD

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1916 practice: Sargent states no number or ratio. His rule is judgment, with fewer cut-backs for a less important scene and 'seemingly excessive' use permitted for the big moment if a greater effect results. His own printed illustrations are dense: in the 28-entry restaurant script 16 entries are close-ups (my count), which he labels 'an extreme example'; in the 10-entry club-speech script 7 are. On length, he says an unbroken scene of about 150 feet 'seems interminable', that the reconstruction adds scenes and 'perhaps a slight addition to the footage', and that a twelve-minute speech played straight is 'not worth the footage'. These footage figures are his estimates inside invented examples.

1916 practice: Sargent states no number or ratio. His rule is judgment, with fewer cut-backs for a less important scene and 'seemingly excessive' use permitted for the big moment if a greater effect results. His own printed illustrations are dense: in the 28-entry restaurant script 16 entries are close-ups (my count), which he labels 'an extreme example'; in the 10-entry club-speech script 7 are. On length, he says an unbroken scene of about 150 feet 'seems interminable', that the reconstruction adds scenes and 'perhaps a slight addition to the footage', and that a twelve-minute speech played straight is 'not worth the footage'. These footage figures are his estimates inside invented examples. Curator qualifications: Close-up definition, jobs, numbering as separate scenes, cautions and the bounded 'no ratio' negative are verified as Sargent's text. The density figures in -04 are counts of his own printed examples. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.
Structured fields
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt",
      "note": "sar.flat (a3cff7eb) ch. XXXVIII offsets per candidate"
    }
  ]
}

Evidence claims

  • [sourced_fact] 1916 practice: Sargent states no number or ratio. His rule is judgment, with fewer cut-backs for a less important scene and 'seemingly excessive' use permitted for the big moment if a greater effect results. His own printed illustrations are dense: in the 28-entry restaurant script 16 entries are close-ups (my count), which he labels 'an extreme example'; in the 10-entry club-speech script 7 are. On length, he says an unbroken scene of about 150 feet 'seems interminable', that the reconstruction adds scenes and 'perhaps a slight addition to the footage', and that a twelve-minute speech played straight is 'not worth the footage'. These footage figures are his estimates inside invented examples. · locator: sar.flat (a3cff7eb) ch. XXXVIII offsets per candidate source

Rights

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Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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