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CHAPTER L 251 part of its charm upon the dialogue. Dialogue and blank verse have no place in photoplay, and so tragedy may be dismissed with the recommendation that it be avoided. Most tragedy done into photo- play will be reduced to drama in the process. 3. Drama is a story of life cunningly planned to appeal to the emotions, and has for its theme one of the chief emotions as love., hate, sacrifice, patriotism, desire for revenge or the rewarding of goodness. Because it makes its appeal to these higher emotions, it is apt to make a more lasting impression than a humorous play which pleases for the moment and then is forgotterf in the more serious affairs of life. It is easier to make an impression with a reasonably good drama than with a comedy of the same degree of merit, and for this reason it will be advisable for the student to master drama before essaying comedy. In drama the interest of the story carries the action. In comedy, action is often of greater importance than the plot. 4. 'Drama must possess a strong and gripping appeal through idea. This fact cannot be too strongly impressed upon the mind of the student. Action, no matter how strenuous, cannot replace idea, for action without idea is purely mechanical. If your drama seems to lack strength, you cannot add a railroad wreck or a falling aeroplane and make the drama any better. You improve the visual appeal, but you do not strengthen your story. Drama derives its strength from the idea and not from the action in which the idea is exposed. Action is of importance only as giving the most complete exposition to tlie idea. There must be some striking thought or there must be created in the mind of the spectator a desire to see a certain outcome of the struggle. This is purely mental. 5. Perhaps the most common error is the belief that death is, of itself, dramatic. This is not true. You cannot improve a weak story by killing a man each time the action sags. The introduction of death does not affect the value of a plot and give it strength. A strong story may be written having death for incident, but it is not a strong story because it is written about a murder, and plot and not merely action must be derived from the murder if strength is to be gained. 6. Death is dramatic only when the aftermath of death is dramatic; when the consequences vitally affect your protagonist. Smith, the hero of your story, kills Jones. The best we can do for Jones is to send flowers for the funeral. He is dead and we are done with him He interests us no longer. What now interests us is the effect of the killing upon the life of Smith. Smith may have been a pillar of the church, a captain of industry or a great statesman. By a single act he has set himself apart from other men. If the action can be traced to him he must become either a victim of or a fugitive from Justice. If he is not suspected, he may walk abroad with head as high as ever, but he will never again be the man he was. Always there will be with him the thought of his act. Mere killing will