Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1916)

The I nee Studios 27 found the dressmaking department, where every day all the many actresses and extra girls at the immense plant are fitted for costumes for forthcoming plays. An interesting detail of the costuming of plays is the fact that styles must be anticipated for months in advance in case of society plays. It is often six months after the date of production that a play is released, and the Ince standard will not allow anything that is not up to date. This means that the head of the dressmaking department must be in constant touch with Paris, and must anticipate the American and European styles several months before they are exhibited. Another door led me to the aft department, where a staff of artists paint real portraits and mural decorations for pictures which are used in the various scenes. The subtitle department is closely linked with the art department, inasmuch as all subtitles are decorated with drawings typical of the incident in the play upon w h i c h they bear. This is an entirely new departure in filmland, and one that is almost certain to make for more artistic pictures in time to come. Next door to the art department is the makeup expert's room. Here, one man is kept busy all day long instructing those who are new at the game how to make up for the motion-picture camera in order to gain the best results. I learned that Miss Billie Burke, the highest-priced star to appear before the Ince cameras thus far, spent several days of her valuable time here before appearing before the camera for anything but a "test scene." As I left the make-up room, I heard the soft purring of a violin. It was apparently trying out a new piece of music, for it stopped quite suddenly and then began again. I traced the music to the door of the office across the way, and suddenly found myself in the music department. This division of the great institution, I Thomas H. Ince, the master-mind of Inceville and Culver City.