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DRAMATURGY 39
An act of courage, in a war picture, can be given heightened dramatic impact, and can achieve truly heroic proportions, if it is shown that the heroism was performed in the face of dangerous obstacles— exploding shells, rat-tat-tatting machine guns, barbed wire, etc.
The horns of a dilemma. Dramatic values are especially present in a situation in which a character finds himself, as it were, on the horns of a dilemma. He must be confronted with a situation in which he is forced to make a decisive choice. Then, as Hollywood puts it, "he's in a manhole" out of which he must extricate himself or perish.
Structural unity. But these points of impact, of dramatic values, must have continuity, unity, and coherence and, in addition, they must build to a climax. Once the story theme has been made clear, the developments should flow from the theme, through the theme, and around the theme. Everything in the story should contribute to its structural unity. The characters, their actions and reactions, their speech, the milieus in which they operate— everything should be made a part of a life that flows from the FADE IN of the picture to the FADE OUT.
Straight-line story line. The story line, however, must not progress in a straight line. It can appear to wander off at times, but only for planned, definite purposes.
The straight-line story line is the commonplace story, the development of which forces the characters to follow hackneyed patterns of behavior which result in hackneyed situations and, therefore, in definitely undramatic values. This subject will be treated more fully in the section entitled GIMMICKS. But here it will suffice to mention that the story line must never be one of straight, to-be-expected developments.
For the straight-line story reveals its plot prematurely. It excludes the important element of suspense— of which more later. This factor of suspense is not confined strictly to "who-dunnits" and psychological thrillers. It is an element that should be present in every story if audience interest is to be maintained.