# According to Sargent (1916, Ch. XXXVIII), what is a close-up, how does it differ from a bust, and when should a writer call for one instead of keeping the players in the big scene?

- id: art_01M5MXJXNP41R81KHJ7GTBPE0D
- type: article · status: active · revision: 2
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T01, T02 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-24T23:02:16.102Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MXJXNP41R81KHJ7GTBPE0D

Corrected 2026-10-24 - see C3-B1095-01; the original statements below are kept for history and are superseded where the correction says so. 1916 practice: Sargent defines a close-up as a scene made with the players close to the camera (better said: the camera close to the players). It differs from the bust only in degree: the close-up takes in most of the figure(s), the bust a larger enlargement of part. His writing rule is a sequence: first bring the players to the front by altering the action; if that cannot be done without a deliberate approach, establish a new stage by moving the camera in; only then is the close-up 'indicated'. He warns that the device is simple and so apt to be abused, and leaves selection to judgment developed by experiment and practice.

1916 practice: Sargent defines a close-up as a scene made with the players close to the camera (better said: the camera close to the players). It differs from the bust only in degree: the close-up takes in most of the figure(s), the bust a larger enlargement of part. His writing rule is a sequence: first bring the players to the front by altering the action; if that cannot be done without a deliberate approach, establish a new stage by moving the camera in; only then is the close-up 'indicated'. He warns that the device is simple and so apt to be abused, and leaves selection to judgment developed by experiment and practice.

Curator correction 2026-10-24 (discovery audit record C3-B1095-01, curator-reviewed C3R-0700; excerpts re-located by independent curator GET 2026-10-24): Correction. Record C3-B306-S110-01 answers 'when should a writer call for a close-up' only with Sargent's staging-economy sequence (bring the players to the front, then approach them, and only then is the close-up 'indicated') and frames the close-up as the fallback. It omits that the same chapter, paragraph 2, opens by saying 'The close-up has several distinct advantages' and names three: breaking up a scene that runs too long, emphasising an action that might be lost in the full scene, and creating intimacy between spectator and players. Paragraph 3 ties the staging sequence to facial expression: story 'is or should be told in facial expression', which shows only when the player's image is large. The record's quotes are accurate; the omission was already present when the record was written (1916 text, same pinned source). 1916 silent-era practice, Sargent only; OCR text, not a facsimile.

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.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt",
      "note": "sar.flat (a3cff7eb) ch. XXXVIII offsets per candidate"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Curator correction 2026-10-24 (discovery audit record C3-B1095-01, curator-reviewed C3R-0700; excerpts re-located by independent curator GET 2026-10-24): Correction. Record C3-B306-S110-01 answers 'when should a writer call for a close-up' only with Sargent's staging-economy sequence (bring the players to the front, then approach them, and only then is the close-up 'indicated') and frames the close-up as the fallback. It omits that the same chapter, paragraph 2, opens by saying 'The close-up has several distinct advantages' and names three: breaking up a scene that runs too long, emphasising an action that might be lost in the full scene, and creating intimacy between spectator and players. Paragraph 3 ties the staging sequence to facial expression: story 'is or should be told in facial expression', which shows only when the player's image is large. The record's quotes are accurate; the omission was already present when the record was written (1916 text, same pinned source). 1916 silent-era practice, Sargent only; OCR text, not a facsimile. · locator: curator correction paragraph in this record body (C3-B1095-01) · source: https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt
- [sourced_fact] SUPERSEDED IN PART 2026-10-24 by curator correction C3-B1095-01 (see the correction claim above); original kept for history: 1916 practice: Sargent defines a close-up as a scene made with the players close to the camera (better said: the camera close to the players). It differs from the bust only in degree: the close-up takes in most of the figure(s), the bust a larger enlargement of part. His writing rule is a sequence: first bring the players to the front by altering the action; if that cannot be done without a deliberate approach, establish a new stage by moving the camera in; only then is the close-up 'indicated'. He warns that the device is simple and so apt to be abused, and leaves selection to judgment developed by experiment and practice. · locator: sar.flat (a3cff7eb) ch. XXXVIII offsets per candidate · source: https://archive.org/stream/techniqueofphoto00sarg/techniqueofphoto00sarg_djvu.txt

Rights:
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