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CHAPTER L 253 of the hero is endangered. The battle episode, as such, is not im- portant to the story, but gains importance when it becomes a menace to the hero. 11. It must be remembered, however, that suspense too long con- tinued ceases to be dramatic, through nervous reaction, and will bring a laugh. Suppose that the villain comes to the hero's home to kill him. Stealing in upon him, he stands covering the intended victim, who is not aware of his presence. For a short time this situation will be dramatic through its menace, but too long continued the tension will break. But if the hero hears him and springs up, facing his enemy, we get a new phase of suspense which, like the other, should not be too long continued. A third phase might be the sudden presentation of the hero's gun and then there must come some definite termination of the situation. Suspense may be likened to a rubber band which being drawn out too far snaps. The tension may not pass the break- ing point. Very often the prolongation of suspense is the fault of the director rather than of the author, since it is he who determines the footage of the action, but to some extent he can be held back through writing a series of crises of suspense, as shown above, instead of a single moment. 12. Life is more dramatic than death. The man who lives with his nagging wife for the sake of their child or who sacrifices the joys of life to attendance upon an invalid spouse is more dramatic than he who kills hmiself to escape the scolding of the one or the sight of the sufferings of the other. Get your effects from life and not from death. 13. There is one other aspect to the use of death. The theatre is supposed to be a place of recreation. To many there is a seem- ingly real pleasure in having the emotions torn, like the matinee girl who derived great enjoyment from the play that enabled her to wet two handkerchiefs with her tears, but most persons prefer a more healthy appeal to the emotions. Many, too, dislike to be reminded of their own more or less recent bereavements, and death scenes too vividly recall the past. It is a noteworthy fact that as the art of photoplay has progressed the use of death-bed scenes has steadily diminished. This is because with the advancement of the art the cruder forms of appeal have been replaced by more subtle touches and even the occasional use of death is more deftly handled. 14. In almost equal favor with death in the estimation of the novice is the crime play. Here, too, the novice is wrong. Crime, of itself, is no more dramatic than death. It may be used as the motive behind a play, but the mere history of a crime has its place in court reports and not on the screen. The use of crime plots is generally a confession of weakness. The clever and experienced writers do not have to resort to the use of crime themes in order to give strength to their plays. The practiced author can make crime sto- ries interesting; not so much through the commission of crime as through other related phases. Note, for an example, the Sherlock