ands the attention of both
director and cameraman. On the side of the motion-picture camera is an
indicator, by which is computed the exact number of feet exposed each
time the cameraman turns the handle. At the conclusion of each scene
the director cries "Cut!" The cameraman stops turning, looks at the
indicator, and announces "Seventy-five!" or whatever the number of
feet used. In some cases it is necessary to take the scene again,
altering the "business" slightly or hurrying the action a little to
reduce the footage consumed in a certain scene. A point worth noting
is that the director can seldom figure in advance the exact amount of
footage a certain scene will require--even after it has been rehearsed
and timed several times; whereas he _can_ always tell the exact number
of feet he must give to each of the various inserts, because "insert
footage" is reckoned in advance, a certain number of feet being
allowed for each word.

Photoplay audiences have gradually been educated up to an appreciation
of sub-titles, or leaders, when they are all that they ought to be (a
point which we shall presently discuss); and less attention is paid to
the rather selfish cry of the illiterates in the audience who insist
that "they came to look at pictures, and not to read a book." As one
of the most prominent theatre managers in San Francisco recently said
in the _Motion Picture News_: "In many pictures the big scene is 'put
over' by a sub-title. The wording of a sub-title in a big situation
can make or break a picture, and it is therefore false economy to
allow this work to be done by any person other than one with real
literary talent, who is thoroughly conversant with the art of
expression."

We have already pointed out that in most studios the work of writing
leaders and inserts is now attended to by one specialist--the
"sub-title editor," as he is usually called. Just as much care is put
into the preparation of everything in the nature of an insert as
attends the making of the scenes of the picture.

_1. Why Inserts Are Used_

Before the advent of pictures of five and more reels, with their
consequent greater room for inserted matter in addition to the
necessary scenes, the general opinion was that the perfect photoplay
had no leaders and needed none. Certainly, such a picture would be
ideal if a photoplay were to be a motion picture and nothing more than
that, since it would be so perfectly acted and so self-explanatory