THE PURPOSE OF ART We have analyzed the mental functions which are most powerful in the audience of the photoplay.

We studied the mere act of perceiving the pictures on the screen, of perceiving their apparently plastic character, their depth, and their apparent movements.

We turned then to those psychical acts by which we respond to the perceived impressions.
In the foreground stood the act of attention, but then we followed the play of associations, of memory, of imagination, of suggestion, and, most important of all, we traced the distribution of interest.

Finally we spoke of the feelings and emotions with which we accompany the play.
Certainly all this does not exhaust the mental reactions which arise in our mind when we witness a drama of the film.

We have not spoken, for instance, of the action which the plot of the story or its social background may start in our soul.