The Moving picture world (January 1926-February 1926)

January 2, 1926 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 17 OF the ScreeUy BY the Screeuy And FOR the Screen By William J. ReiUy HROLF WISBY HERE'S where Hrolf Wisby does his stuff. We have been talking about his new plan of production technique for two weeks. This vveek ve decided to let Mr. Wisby do the talking himself. So we asked him a few direct questions, calling for direct answers. When you say to this man, "Speak for yourself, Hrolf," you get an earful. We cannot agree with everything Mr. Wisby says about current values and methods in production, particularly in what he says about the value of stars. However, in the questions and answers that follow, we made no effort to cross-examine him. The pulpit is his. He is preaching the sermon. If, after reading what he has to say, you cannot join in an "Amen" chorus, just step up to the rostrum and declare yourself. Here are our questions and Mr. Wisby's answers: — Question No. 1 — "Is the Wisby plan designed to please the highbrows only or is it stiitable for general production ?" Answer by Mr. Wisby — "I do not aim at class nor mass consciousness as an excuse for entertainment. I am not interested in highbrows nor in lowbrows. They belong in business. There are no such distinctions in the arts and the sciences out of which my production technique has been evolved to kindle and nourish the best and the finest instincts of the people of the United States taken as a whole." Question No. 2 — "It has been intimated that your plan might be more effective for costume spectacles than for pictures of everyday life — is that so?" Answer by Mr. Wisby — "No, it is not so. It makes not the faintest difference what the subject or the vehicle may be — anything from spectacle drama on the grand scale to homespun melodrama and comedy. The Wisby Cinema-Regie is a methodized procedure — not a mechanized process or system — for creating ORIGINAL values on the screen. It is a highly organized medium of operation raising the acting as well as the atmosphere from the level of mere craft to the status of a true art of-forand-by the screen. It is an esthetic enterprise, not a mechanical operation." Question No. 3 — "How long would the advance preparations require and how long actual production for a picture on the Wisby plan?" Answer by Mr. Wisby — "On a grand-scale costume production the preparatory period would be longer than actual production time, but as I employ only four experts on my staff outside of myself the cost is conservative. It is absolutely necessary that the preparations are , definitely and concretely charted scene for scene before the crank starts. The cost of it is saved many times over in the brisk rate of production following. "There is very little camera rehearsing. The director rehearses his cast, going through the script from start to finish, during the last two weeks of my work in completing the advance preparations." Question No. 4 — "Do you join the director in coaching his cast or does he work independent of you and your functions as regisseur?" Answer by Mr. Wisby — "The ideal way is for the regisseur and the director to co-operate on main lines of action. Each man is supreme in his field. There is no interference, no butting in. Every one of the five cinematicians composing the staff must take the view that they are members on the same team and that they must work together as a unit. You might call it co-operation of directorship. Five highly trained director cinematicians pool their talent and experience under the same team pennant, and they receive credit on the screen as a unit. Once the proper authorities have been secured the staff becomes permanent for only in this way can we achieve' our goal to create a new standard of technique for each picture." Question No. 5 — "How about actual costs outside of time charges as such?" Answer by Mr. Wisby — "Sets, props and wardrobe would, in most instances, be much less than present studio costs. True, practically everything I use m,ust be specially designed and made to fit into the general scheme of technique, but then I use the cheapest materials I can find and very little of thcni. The salary roll would shrink considerably. "I do not need stars. I can do much better with talented amateurs who are seriously ambitious to excel. The staff is paid full salaries on production time only, and living salaries during the advance and finishing periods. I take the same medicine myself. Once we get together a permanent staff its members will be given special inducements in the way of a bonus plan similar to the 'tantieme' arrangement of the royal theatres on the Continent." Question No. 6 — "Why are you against stars?" Answer by Mr. Wisby — "Stars are all right as drawing cards for routine production, which is not in itself of sufficient interest without them to hold the crowds. Stars are not all right when it comes to putting new acting values on the screen. American stars, especially, because they are fundamentally 'personality exploiteers' rather than interpreters of characters. The star as such is much more occupied with himself than with the production as such. He is adept at 'actoring' all over the place but he gives us precious little acting. You will find that the great, creative regisseurs of the Continent — men like Reinhardt, Appia and Stanislavsky—started out with unknowns and not with stars. The particular kind of acting I have evolved to harmonize with the new technical values of my Regie is a new element in itself consisting of two phases of cinematic pantomime, the objective or external effect of instant visualization and the subjective or inner meaning which is revealed subconsciously. You can teach an intelligent and competent amateur things like that but a star cannot be taught because he knows it all and believes he knows it." Question No. 7 — "Suppose your first picture on the Wisby plan goes across in great style artistically and financially, would this fact in itself revolutionize production?" Answer by Mr. Wisby— "Yes and no. I feel certain in advance of the artistic success and if this is also followed by a real commercial success there may be some kind of upheaval taking the form of imitation. None of the producers possess staffs for creating work of the new calibre, but they arc adept at imitating anything they can get their eyeballs on and they will most certainly imitate a successful offering of the new school I represent." "I am not worrying about it, however, as nothing we shall attempt will have (Continued on following page)