Many a promising photoplay script
has failed because it did not make good its prophecy. The plot opened
well, but "petered out"--the complication was a good one, but the
unfolding of the mystery, the result of the struggle, the aftermath of
the choice, were disappointing.
And one final word in this connection: The _photoplay public loves a
"happy ending"--unless it must be forced_.
_3. The Study of Plot-Structure_
A careful study of fictional and dramatic plot will well repay the
photoplaywright. But little more can be said here on the technique of
plot, though it deserves a treatise in itself; but much will be gained
if these few words are taken seriously, and no stories are submitted
except those revolving about ORIGINAL, CLEAR-CUT, PLAUSIBLE
SITUATIONS SHOWING THE LIVES OF HUMAN BEINGS IN THEIR HOUR OF CRISIS,
AND WORKING OUT THE AFTER-RESULTS OF THAT CRISIS WITH LIVELY, DRAMATIC
HUMAN INTEREST.
This advice applies even to humor, for humor takes things which are
ordinarily serious and by introducing the incongruous makes them
laughable. It is the sudden interruption of smooth going, the
unexpected shifting of the factors in the problem, the new and
surprising condition of affairs, the swift disappointment--it is any
of these in countless variety that makes plot possible.
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