We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
which to draw his characters. Analyze the traits and habits of all with whom you come in contact, study and diagnose their moods, peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, and try to determine how and in what degree these are caused or affected by their environ- ments and associations. Apply the results of such study to your work of characteri- zation. 44. In written fiction, there may be one leading character, and a story may be in a large measure a character study of this individual, describing at length his mental processes. Such a story may concern the inner struggle of such a character against some evil inclination, and the climax may come with his eventual defeat of such in- clination. This is obviously impossible in a photoplay, where lengthy description is not permissible. Therefore, to show conflict, expressed in action, we must have at least two characters in conflict over a third or over an objective of some sort. Thus we again see the necessity of the "dramatic triad" mentioned in the chapter on Contributory Factions. The strength of the plot with which such a triad is concerned depends largely upon the strength of each individual character. The values of characterization are thus woven into the very foundations of a story. PICTURESQUE VALUES. 45. It is well to give some thought to the picturesque in connection with charac- terization. Pictorially effective characters have screen value. Star characters can- not be, on the screen, simply every-day people. There must be something unusual, romantic, even exotic in the central character to hold our interest. Nazimova, Monroe Salisbury, William S. Hart, Will Rogers, Frank Keenan and others indicate this pictorial type of characterization. It is well to give some thought to this element when starting to write a story. This is quite natural, for we all know that it is the same in real life; the colorless, uninteresting type of man and woman passes through life unnoticed and unadmired, whereas the picturesque individual, with strength of character and depth of personality, wins our attention and admiration. 31