Follows business both pathetic and ludicrous of Bud proposing: Annie smiles, shakes head.
INSERT SPOKEN LINE .... “NO, BUD, I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN MY HEART TO A WONDERFUL PRINCE!”
Scene 23. (Continued) Bud broken up but manly.
The spoken line is occasionally used also as a caption, giving voice to the climacteric sentiment or situation in a single scene, or series of scenes, that follows:
(EXAMPLE 24.) CAPTION 6 .... “TO BE HANGED BY THE NECK UNTIL DEAD!” is followed by a courtroom scene. The nature of the proceeding is obvious. The judge rises and pronounces the conventional sentence of death that gives dramatic significance to the entire sequence of action that follows.
The spoken line has a poignant directness in it that is scarcely equaled by any other piece of business. The mental process should be so cunningly imitated that the enthralled spectator hears the words he craved just as distinctly as tho they had beat upon the drums of his ears instead of the drums of his soul. The words pierce the spectator with personal sympathy, or antagonism, and fairly thunder thru the silence. Like all other inserted matter and devices, the spoken line must not be used if it can be dispensed with to the artistic betterment of the play. It must come naturally and bridge a possible gap. It must be used as a supplement to, not a substitute for, effective action. Visualized action takes first and foremost place in the photoplay; all other matters are harmonious trappings and devices or illusion that decorate creaking mechanics with esthetic realities.
Inserted matter, unless artistically used, becomes theatric instead of dramatic. It becomes a sign of weakness and appears in the same light as clumsy explanations in stories written by inexperienced writers. The perfect photoplay leaves no doubts, offers no explanations, starts nothing it can not finish—it is all action, action, ACTION! And by action we mean technically visualized interpretation of whatsoever nature that convincingly contributes to the perfect illusion of emotionally seeing a dramatic story.
Visualisation consists in giving tangible form to Inspiration; clothing Thoughts in flesh; creating living matter from Ideas; transmuting Emotions into thrilling substance; and peopling the imaginations of millions with the glorious company of Dreams come true, Desire gratified, Justice fulfilled, Brotherhood universal and Love triumphant!
CHAPTER V
Visualization