Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-17
LESSON IL
Comedy and Melodrama
Continued from Page One

Continued from Page One
episodes in the comedy that culminate
earlier in the play, but the main theme of
your story should end in a quickened pace
at the very summit of your comedy.
The best slapstick or straight comedies
start slowly. The characters are introduced,
and the plot is started. Perhaps the
| comedians are given some comedy business,
as it places them at once with the audience,
but this business is apart from the plot or
| merely incidental to it. The more serious
the rest of the cast is, the greater, Of
| course, the contrast.
The story probably would be drama
| or a melodrama without the comedians.
| Then your plot should take some odd angle,
| and If 1t is slapstick. series of melo-
| dramatic situations should be introduced!
| Gradually you lead the audience away from
the drama into the comedy, until the strong
est melodramatic action carries not alone
a thrill, but laugh
The pace quiclSens, the scenes are prob
| ably shorter and the story comes to con-
| clusion with the comedians getting the worst
| of tor the best of it, If your story tends
to that conclusion. The suspense" If you
will analyze the picture, has been chiefly
responsible for the comedy.
The audience could not feel the comedy
without a reason, and once you give a
reason for your story, 1t is stale and fiat
is like a house of blocks, each block de-
pending upon the block beneath for support.
If you have no suspense" to carry it.
In the early days of the pictures we had
photoplays of potions, pills, magic powders
and the like. We saw the comedian take
a pill a nostrum and Immediately be-
come changed either in looks or in dis
position. The woman-hater became amor
Gus, the minister tippled or the bad boy
became monkey. We no, longer laugh at
comedies of this kind, but they illustrate
nTinpiplPS N
show us what effects the producers, In
crude way, were striving to attain The
producer knew that the laugh came from
the abnormal situation or character.
To create the abnormal they took the
path of least resistance and asked us to
imagine that the person was actually, for
the time being, drugged. They sought
sharp contrasts and obtained Them not
along natural lines, but along those lines
that seemed surest.
Then the producers seized upon the trick
picture to get comedy. man was seen
to wreck a room and rebuild II In a mo-
ment Another character built a wall in a
Tew seconds. These were principally the |
product OF the European school OF produc- |
ing Again IL was the obvious that was |
used we use the trick picture nowadays. |
but usually the audience wonders II Il was |
trick or II II was actually as It appears.
The trick is disguised.
In a recent farce comedy the producer
shows the leading comedy character hang
ing on 70 the top OF periscope under the /
water, There Is no way 10 take this pic.
ture unless It Is "trieked." BY clever as
sembling and cutting IL became difficult 10
believe that the photographer and camera
weren't actually on the deck OF the sub.
marine under the water
1t Is nearly always true that almost any
situation you write like this can be taken
II can be done with trick Photography
Usually the trick photography comes at the
height OF the melodrama in the picture
They use Il more to get over some melo-
dramatic effect than to cause laughter II
Is usually connected with the suspense
although Il may occur anywhere.
A great many comedy writer's seem to
see source OF amusement IN people with
various deformitles. They see IN a wooden
leg. harelip Or other physical deformity
2 chance TO be funny II the authors
seala consider these peculiarities carefully
sf Z thes Were Sc afflicted themselves. they
would never nrlts their stories
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