Now we come to essentials, by which I mean montage. rhythm and the relation of one picture to another-the vital third dimension without which the film is merely a dead product from a factory. Here I cannot clearly give a key, as in a musical score, nor a specific idea of the tempo which determines the relationship of the elements involved. It is quite impossible for me to indicate the way in which the film 'breathes and pulsates.
I have often wished for a kind of notation which would enable me to put on paper all the shades and tones of my vision, to record distinctly the inner structure of a film. For when I stand in the artistically devastating atmosphere of the studio, my hands and head full of all the trivial and irritating details that go with motion-picture production. it often takes a tremendous effort to remember how I originally saw and thought out this or that sequence, or what was the relation between the scene of four weeks ago and that of today. If I could express myself clearly , in explicit symbols, then this problem would be almost eliminated and I could work with absolute confidence that whenever I liked I could prove the relationship between the part and the whole and put my finger on the rhythm. the continuity of the film.
Thus the script is a very imperfect technical basis for a film. And there is another important point in this connection which I should like to mention. Film has nothing to do with literature; the character and substance of the two art forms are usually in conflict. This probably has something to do with the receptive process of the mind. The written word is read and assimilated by a conscious act of the will in alliance with the intellect: little by little it affects the imagination and the emotions. The process is different with a motion picture. When we experience a film. we consciously prime ourselves for illusion. Putting aside will and intellect, we make way for it in our imagination.
The sequence of pictures plays directly on our feelings. Music works in the same fashion: I would say that there is no art form that has so much in common with film as music. Both affect our emotions directly, not via the intellect. And film is mainly rhythm: it is inhalation and exhalation in continuous sequence, Ever since childhood. music has been my great source of recreation and stimulation, and I often experience a film or play musically.
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