Internally, there is no reason why the means of the photoplay should not allow a rather subtle depicting of complex character.

But the chief demand is that the characters remain consistent, that the action be developed according to inner necessity and that the characters themselves be in harmony with the central idea of the plot.

However, as soon as we insist on unity we have no right to think only of the action which gives the content of the play.

We cannot make light of the form.
As in music the melody and rhythms belong together, as in painting not every color combination suits every subject, and as in poetry not every stanza would agree with every idea, so the photoplay must bring action and pictorial expression into perfect harmony.

But this demand repeats itself in every single picture.