The word “scene” seems to be a stumbling block for some beginners.  Take for example the setting showing the bedroom in the ranch house, as listed in the scene-plot of “Without Reward,” and given in this chapter.  In doing the five scenes that take place in that room, Scene 4 would be taken, the camera would be stopped, and, in some studios, a large white card with the figure “9” painted on it in black would be held a few feet in front of the lens.  About a foot of film would then be exposed, which would thus register the number of the next scene to be taken in the same set.[21] Then Scene 9 would be done.  This scene being ended, the numbering-of-the-scene process would be repeated, the next scene being number 17.  Then, in turn, would come scenes 28 and 30—­or, rather, although listed on the scene-plot as two scenes, 28 and 30 would really be photographed as one unbroken scene, for, as a glance at the scene-plot will show, Scene 29 is a bust scene, which means that the film would be cut at the proper place after the scene had been taken, thus dividing it into two scenes, separated by Scene 29 in the finished photoplay.

[Footnote 21:  Different studios have different methods for recording the number of the next scene to be taken.  Some use the numbered card system—­as explained in the body of the text—­in which a stand, or tripod, having a rack on top with cards numbered from 1 to 50, and other cards marked “Retake,” etc., is placed on the working line between each scene.  In other studios the film itself is marked with the number of the scene, just as one writes the name of a picture on the film when using an “Autographic Kodak” camera.]

[Illustration:  The Reception of King Robert of Sicily by His Brother, the Pope—­a Historical Photoplay Produced in the Essanay Studio, Chicago]

[Illustration:  Same Set, with Players Getting Ready for Action.  The Three Poplar Trees are Real, while the Rest of the Background is a Painted Drop]

Now, since Scene 30 is the last to be taken in the bedroom setting, let us suppose that the setting showing the interior of the sheriff’s office is standing on the studio floor right next to the bedroom set.  The camera is merely shifted over and set up as required to take the two scenes (24 and 26) done successively in that set, and the same process is gone through that was followed in making the five scenes in the bedroom.

This, then, is the one thing that the photoplaywright must remember:  All the scenes that are to take place in one setting or location are made before the camera is moved an inch, and, in one way or another, according to the particular studio, the film is marked after each scene so as to show the number of the scene coming next.  The reason is plain:  because scenes 28 and 30 (which are subsequently divided by the bust picture) and scenes 4, 9 and 17, are all done in the same set, if the camera were not stopped and the film marked before each new scene with the number of that scene, the operators in the cutting room, where the different parts of the film are assembled, would—­unless guided by the director—­mistake all that part of the film showing the bedroom setting for one unbroken scene.