Palmer plan handbook; photoplay writing, simplified and explained (1919)

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Plan of Study The Plot Encyclopedl\ The Handbook is essentially an elementary work intended for intensive study purposes—the Plot Encyclopedia is a reference book to be permanently turned to for help in the selection, rejection and combination of situations in plot building. Certain portions of the Encyclopedia, however, will be found to be of direct and definite value as a medium of study. The following suggestions are offered to assist the student in obtaining the best results from such study: In the closing paragraph of the Handbook plan of study on the opposite page it is assumed that the student is ready to commence actual work in plot building and story creation. If at this point, the student feels that he or she possesses a clear, compre- hensive realization of what dramatic situations are and how they may be used in the construction of a photoplay, it may be well to start immediate work on a story in order to test the various elements of technique that have been set forth in the Handbook. If, on the other hand, the student does not seem to possess a sound and satisfactory grasp of the subject as dealt with in Chapter IV of the Handbook, it would be well to turn the attention to portions of the plot Encyclopedia. Read the preface and the six chapters of Part I. Read through Part II in order to gain a familiar knowledge of the classification of the thirty-six situations and their various subdivisions. This perusal will equip the student for the intelligent use of part two of the Plot Encyclopedia for reference purposes. Part III is supplementary to Part II, inasmuch as it contains synopses of one hundred well known photoplays, with analyses in which references are made to the situations involved. The student may read and carefully consider these synopses and analyses from time to time in order to gain an exact idea of how various definite situations have been used in produced photoplays. Part IV may be regarded as a continuation of Part I. Parts I and IV may be read and digested as a means of study and in direct connection with the Handbook, while Parts II and III are primarily intended for permanent reference. The addition of the Plot Encyclopedia to the Palmer Plan is intended to clarify and simplify the Handbook rather than to confuse or complicate, and it is the firm belief of the authors that it will be found to be of immeasurable value to this end.