The Photodrama: The Philosophy of Its Principles, the Nature of Its Plot, Its Dramatic Construction and Technique, Illumined by Copious Examples, Together with a Complete Photoplay and a Glossary, Making the Work a Practical Treatise |
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acters action actors Annie Annie's appealing play artistic audi audience bear become beginning caption cause CHAPTER char character climacteric climax close-view Comedy complete plots crime cumulative Dalton deed dialog director Donnelly dramatic construction editor effect elements emotion employ ence enters essential EXAMPLE eyes fiction Florence gratifying hand happen harmony heart HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS hero human idea insert inspire interpret kinemacolor literary literature Long Play Lost Hills man's manufacturer manuscript matter means Melodrama ment mind motive natural never obstacle pense perfect person photodrama photoplaywright picture play playwright plot germ plot material producing Real Prince reel relationship revealment Ridgway Romanticism rules Salt of Vengeance scene SCENE 23 screen sequence Shelburne Short Story showing situations soul spectacle stage drama struggle STUART BLACKTON suggestive suspense Synopsis technique tell theme things thru tion tive train villain vision visualized vital witness plays words writer
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Page xiii - The great artist is he who goes a step beyond the demand, and, by supplying works of a higher beauty and a higher interest than have yet been perceived, succeeds, after a brief struggle with its strangeness, in adding this fresh extension of sense to the heritage of the race.
Page xvi - But vital art work comes always from a cross between art and life: art being of one sex only, and quite sterile by itself. Such a cross is always possible; for though the artist may not have the capacity to bring his art into contact with the higher life of his time, fermenting in its religion, its philosophy, its science, and its statesmanship...
Page xii - ... ago picture manuscripts were unknown — office boys, clerks, camera operators, any one with an "idea" furnished the material from which motion pictures were produced. Plot was unknown, technique did not exist, and literary and constructive quality was conspicuous by its absence.
Page xiv - ... written for pictorial presentation. The motion picture has narrowed the field of the playwright, but there is another and broader pasture awaiting both the play and fiction writer when he has mastered the technique of the "life portrayal.
Page xiii - ... the authors of international fame, who make thousands in royalties, can make thousands more from picture royalties — and in every case without interfering with their magazine or book rights.
Page 175 - Among the great number of technical terms that photoplaydom has acquired is one identified with literary work-shop slang as well — the "Punch." It is more expressive than elegant, however. The Punch is the Climax and something more. It must first be an effective Climax ; secondly, it is the effect of that Climax. The Punch is the momentous event that is the excuse for the play. It is the tremendous...
Page 176 - The Punch, then, is the motive-idea of the play summed up in a cumulative stroke. It bears the same relation to the story that the climax does to the plot. It is not the big culminating action so much as it is the effect that dawns on the audience. It is the emotional truth of the author's vision come home to dwell in the heart of each one who sees the vision. The Punch is the recognition by the audience of a visible symbol of spiritual struggle.
Page 27 - Photoplay writing is bound to become a dignified profession despite the obloquy that seemed to rest upon it for so long. But the photoplaywright must elevate himself thru his artistic product and thru a demand for recognition of meritorious work by appropriate compensation and also by credit of his name to appear on the screen as author of his plays.
Page xvi - All summed up in a paragraph, the answer is, without a story motion pictures would be what they were styled at their inception — a novelty or a fad. So literature is indissolubly linked with the future and success of the greatest . of the allied arts. The "life portrayal" or "thought visualized" is perhaps better than all "literature realized.
Page xv - properly picturized" emphasized above are significant. The motion picture manufacturer stands to the author in the position of publisher — he needs you — you need him. There are good and bad publishers. You, whose name is an asset, would not deal with a publisher of questionable methods; ergo, when seeking out a market for your work, deal with none but the highest class and best and old-established motion picture concerns.