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218 THE PLOT OF ACTION the blows come more rapidly and are harder, for now it is the cumu- lative physical effect that the fighter seeks and not the more delib- erate moral effect. In the parlance of the ring, he has him going and must hurry to finish him off. It is the same way in photoplay; you do not wear the spectator out too rapidly at first. You start slowly and stand back for the effect of each crisis to be felt, but as you progress the crises come closer together as the situation becomes more acute until near the climax you administer the knockout in a series of telling blows. 12. It is best to make a diagram of your crises before you start to w^ite your plot of action. Study these and ascertain their relative strength and frequency. First decide mentally how your play is to run and then make a sketch of the developments in the form recommended. Then make certain that the crises are properly placed. The crisis in- creases both in frequency and strength as the play progresses. In an orchestral composition the composer sounds the keynote, then he works out his theme. If he works too quickly to his climax he exhausts his resources too rapidly. If he is skilled, he makes increasing use of brass and wood wind until at the climax he calls upon the percussion instruments to give the effect that brass no longer yields. Oscar Ham- merstein voiced this neatly the night he presented Creatore to the pat- rons of his theatre. Before the middle of the first selection the drums and cymbals w^ere lavishly used. He turned to his companion with the comment, "He is big; but he is wasteful. His drums are gone. For his climax he must kill a musician with the music rack." 13. If you find that you are getting ahead too rapidly, you must re- duce your tension. The best way is to go back and develop your ac- tion properly. The alternative is to invent some incident that will re- duce the tension through contrast. In a story already referred to, a messenger boy's solicitous care for his cigarette created a diversion that permitted a scene of intensity to continue. 14. Imagine, if you will, a Roman legion battering the walls of a be- leaguered city. They bring up the ram and beat against the stones. They do not use short, quick strokes. They swing the boom well back and drive it against the wall, and with each swing they gain greater impetus through momentum until the wall is responding to the vibra- tions and presently begins to crumble. Now is the time for the short- er and quicker strokes, but at first the long swing and the slow im- pact are the better to establish the vibrations. 15. And when the wall has been broken down it is foolish to con- tinue the effort. The object is accomplished and the blows stop. It is the same in photoplay. When your climax arrives; when you have attained your objective, to seek more crisis is to drive the ram against thin air without effect. The climax, if possible, should be the conclu- sion of the story. Once the objective point of the story is reached, there is little more that can interest us. It may be necessary to run on in falling action properly to conclude the story, but it cannot interest us much, for now there can be neither struggle nor suspense. These