(EXAMPLE 60.) In “The Lost Melody” we are shown, thru a vision, the picture that is passing thru Douglas’s mind NOW; its presence was necessary to clear away the great obstacle that barred Douglas’s reformation (the Climax); the play bounded forward in interest as it was visualized.
We do not advance far in the construction of our photoplay plot before we realize that variety is the spice of its life. Simplicity of theme is essential, but simplicity of plot seems out of the question. This, in a large measure, is true. It is the parting of the ways from the short story, for in that the single, simple plot is essential; in the photoplay the complicated plot is not only best but next to essential in creating cumulative suspense. Our theme should be so simple that we may state it in a few words. It is the subject-matter of the play; the Climax is its direct outcome; our hero is with it thru thick and thin because his body and soul are made of it; it is the play. All else is contributive matter. The theme is comparable to the main line of a railroad that is fed and sustained by way-stations and branch lines; if we expect to reach an important destination we can arrive only by way of the main line.
Continuing this view of the complications as tributary material suggests a method of plot building that has exceptional merits. We shall call it the building by dramatic sequences.
(EXAMPLE 61.) We shall quote “The Coming of the Real Prince,” in this connection again. A sequence includes a definite section of action marking the dramatic crises in the play. In the instance of this play a caption has designated each sequence. 1. Annie’s Widowed Mother Left Penniless Opens a Boarding House; 2. Better Times But No Sympathy From a Busy Mother; 3. Annie Finds Solace in “Cinderella”; etc. We take 1. Annie’s Widowed Mother Left Penniless and append all the tributary scenes we can conceive; possibly not in the exact order in which they are finally employed; (a) Arrival home after the funeral; (b) Failure of the boarding house; (c) Servants discharged; (d) Annie becomes the drudge. And so on, in each sequence until the Climax is reached.
The only rule is to keep as close to the central theme as possible, for the completed action must be so perfectly woven that all matter fits as a perfect whole with no suggestion of patches, so artistically is the construction hidden.
The element of time is the secret of logical sequence in the photoplay—always make certain that the following scene is without question the scene that follows. Perfect continuity insures perfect illusion.
One of the big little problems that lies before the playwright is to invent a time indicative without the monotonous mention of time at all—at least by means of such trite Captions as “The Next Day,” “Two Years Later,” “That Night,” etc. Lapses of time in the continuity of essential action are inevitable. It is vitally necessary to an appreciation of the dramatic significance of a scene that the audience know whether a day or a year has elapsed. The Caption alone proves to be the only reliable source of information. The real difficulty lies in eliminating the aforementioned type of time indicative.
(EXAMPLE 62.) The solution seems to rest in incorporating time significance to the entire Caption phrase, or at least in transposing the actual time words from an isolated position to a relative place in the Caption itself. Instead of, “The Next Day. Ridgway Returns Tho Forbidden Ever to Trespass;” why not, “Tho Forbidden Ever to Trespass Ridgway Returns the Next Day”? It is infinitely stronger. “Alice Reconciled to Fate HAS BECOME Gov. Marsten’s Secretary.” “Mrs. Dalton Learns the Truth AFTER TWO MONTHS’ Deception.” “AFTER the Operation.” “SUMMER Brings Hope for Dalton.” (The capitalization is for the student’s benefit only.)
Plot building is simply carrying a dramatic premise to a dramatic conclusion.
In the Beginning of the Plot we have seen the Cause; in its Development we have felt the Effect of that cause; in the Climax we cannot avoid its inevitable Consequence.