The art of sound pictures (1930)

FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS 155 University of California. In the early part of the picture, the rich young husband’s family snubbed his wife, a poor young chorus girl. They attacked her reputation and attempted to disrupt the marriage. The climax of the picture showed the complete defeat of the family by the girl, who not only cleared her reputation but put to rout the greatest social snob of her husband’s family. The picture, in its then existing form, ended abruptly at this point. No tag was shown. The audience was unsatisfied at being left to imagine how the girl enjoyed her new-found social prestige and how the snobbish family humbled itself before her. They wanted to see the girl’s final satisfaction depicted on the screen. It is advisable, therefore, in writing stories for the screen, to tie up the elements of the story in a final scene of satisfaction, or at least to portray a definite solution of some sort which will leave the emotion of satisfaction in the minds of the audience. It must also be remembered that the completely satisfied person is not regarded as particularly attractive or admirable in the general opinion of the public. He does not seem to possess the finer human attributes. But, though the audience always demands some satisfaction for the screen characters, they prefer this satisfaction to be taken ‘‘with a grain of salt.” In real life, satisfaction follows desire and is the completion of every human aim. People have had this experience and therefore demand it in stories. Any definite solution of all the problems or difficulties of the screen story, pleasant or unpleasant, gives a modicum of satisfaction to the spectators. A notable exception to this rule, however, is found in a rare type of story which has never been successfully