own writing staff and the [writer] will continue active work on every production until its conclusion, staying by the side of the director even when the film is cut and assembled." 26 Today, since the writer's "property" is going to be packaged anyway by an agency with a director, major stars, etc., why not encourage an earlier rapprochement between the two creative forces? Why not also move across agencies and present a fait accompli to the respective agents? With the director present at the time of the writing, the plot may suddenly become less paramount. Why not initiate the story from an accident one has just witnessed? What about the strong mood that emanates from a tenement? And why not think of a character first? Ozu and his screenwriter, for instance, often reread old scripts to extract from them a secondary character, to see what they could do with him or her. Images may be jotted down, gestures and camera movements as well. And, as ideas are thrown all around, there may already be some definite ideas about the use of sound. Mainly, the script would advance on two fronts simultaneously through audio and images. All the film's potential would thus be engaged from the very beginning of the project.
VII
The writing format too may be of help. In France and a number of other countries, it is not paramount to present a screenplay in a specific form. It is best left to the taste and custom of the individual writer. In the United States, unfortunately, everyone must submit scripts in the sanctioned format or it will not be considered. This does not mean, however, that screenplays must be written that way. If other models prove more fruitful for developing the work, they should be used; at a later stage, the script can be translated back into the conventional model for the sake of agents and producers. What would be gained from such an arrangement is the rediscovery that words and images can interact creatively in all sorts of ways. One illustrious example of alternative format (one which film students could seriously benefit from) is Carl Mayer's screenplay for Sunrise (Friedrich Murnau, 1927). One excerpt goes like this:
Now: The Vamp walks into picture In very short negligee, with limbs exposed. A typical creature from a big city.
