The Photo-Play Journal (Jul 1919-Feb 1921)

18 PHOTO-PLAY JOURNAL July, 1919 AIN or shine William S. Hart can now work 365 days a year. A solid roof stage makes this accomplishment possible. Bill Hart, screen star, has gone back to the theatre, where he received his artistic schooling for ideas in stage construction to incorporate with the essentials of a motion picture studio. His studio in Hollywood has been entirely reconstructed. The happy combination of motion picture and theatre craftsmanship has resulted in working facilities far more practical and efficient than those of the usual picture studio. Previous to this highly successful experiment, motion picture producers relied upon glass studios to a great extent. In fact, E. H. Allen, the manager of William S. Hart Productions, Inc., who is chiefly responsible for the innovation, was the man who built the huge glass studio for Thomas H. Ince at Culver City some three years ago. It was the first glass studio ever constructed, and today still is the largest of its kind although its builders are elsewhere. Always a practical dreamer in his work, Mr. Allen hit upon the idea of going back to the theatre for studio improvements. He carried his plans to a far greater extent than were ever deemed possible before from a motion-picture production viewpoint. Primarily, William S. Hart and E. H. Allen are men of the theatre, each having gained considerable distinction and success in their respective professions before engaging in motion picture work. The art director of the studio, Thomas Brierley, is a graduate of the thorough school of stage management. In this art there is no argument between the stage and the motion picture. Where the realists of the theatre whose artistic souls demand consistent realism succeed in creating two or three remarkable stage sets in the production of a play, the art director of a motion picture studio is free to create enough sets in one production to suffice ten large and successful Broadway plays. Incidentally, the motion picture sets are REAL from the solid lumber construction to the flowers in the boudoir vase. And, it is the consistent realism of the leading screen productions that has contributed chiefly to the uplift of the stage in the art of set construction. Motion pictures have taught the amusement audiences to laugh at the imitation wall that quivers gently when an actor makes an entrance or exit through an imitation door. Bill Hart is a hard working individual. He is under contract to furnish Artcraft with eight pictures a year and the demand brooks no delay. The big Western screen star strives for consistent realism. Therefore, he requires the assurance of 365 working days a year. "Motion pictures must not look like motion pictures," says Mr. Hart. Therefore, the studio was conceived and executed in such a successful manner that the completed work is a prediction in future studio construction. • The Hart studio in Hollywood is not a large studio. In fact, the stage space is only 60 by no by 26 feet — width, length and height. Ordinarily there would be room for only two large sets. But, with the reconstruction work completed there is room for ten such sets — and the studio space has not been enlarged one foot. Why ? The solid roof stage is the answer. Going back to the theatre for ideas in stage construction has resulted in the introduction of the familiar rigging lofts and portable sheave blocks of the theatre to the motion picture studio. As in the rigging loft of some theatres there are runways above the set space, so arranged that sheave blocks can be used anywhere. From these five runways, clearing space is secured when the stage is honeycombed with sets. Thus it is possible to put an entire screen production on the stage at once by use of the rigging loft. Any set can be taken up in the air to clear the needed act. This is also possible because Bill Hart doesn't use sunlight in shooting interiors. Bill Hart Believes in Realism Which fact brings about a very important point in favor of the solid roof stage. Sunlight and electric light cannot be mixed successfully because grainy stock results. Why use a glass roof if tarpaulin must also be used in covering the sets to darken the scene enough to use lights ? All the top light needed for a set under a solid roof stage can be supplied at a nominal cost. And a canvas top is impractical. It is not durable. There is nothing above with which to work, as is available in the solid roof stage. However, the Hart studio is open on the sides, canvas being used for the purpose of proper ventilation. If sunlight is used in filming interiors in a studio the sets are featured and not the person. If the sets are properly constructed they will take care of themselves. Under a solid roof stage the electrician can work without any inconvenience or danger. There are no obstructions. The stills of the two huge sets used in "The Poppy Girl's Husband," reveal the realism of a William S. Hart picture. Both sets are exact replicas of the original scenes. Take McGinn's Hotel, an exterior scene, which represents a well-known crook resort on Barbary Coast, San Francisco. The old Barbary Coast is a thing of the past. When Bill Hart and his company went to San Francisco to film the scenes of Jack Boyle's famous convict story, they discovered that it was impossible to film the original mecca of the underworld. So, the art director hurried back to Hollywood and built the real thing on the stage. REAL! No man who knows his San Francisco would ever suspect that the dingy brick hotel with entrances below the paved street, the iron railings, the familiar lamp post, the cobblestone pavements, and hilly street, were other than the real scene. In this illustration the great advantages of the solid roof stage and the rigging loft are admirably depicted. Next, we have a replica of an interior scene in prison. It is the largest prison set ever used in a motion picture production. This set is 100 feet in length and there are three tiers of cells. It would have been next to impossible to construct a jail set with three tiers of cells without the use of a rigging loft. Both sets in "The Poppy Girl's Husband" are the last word in realism. They represent solid construction. "Never fake anything!" is the iron-clad rule at the Hart studio. Lumber, bricks, wallpaper, cement, etc., everything must be real. Which is the cheaper, realism or imitation? Contrary to the general belief, results show that it is much less expensive in motion picture production to have the real thing. Here is a rough comparison : Phoney bricks cost 20 cents a foot, while real bricks only costs 9 cents a foot. Real lumber costs 10 cents a foot, while the painted canvas imitation so familiar to the amusement world, is priced 20 cents a foot. The studio with a solid roof stage insures the producer 26^ working days a year. Watch the effect this innovation will have upon the future of motion picture studio construction. THOSE LOVE-SCENES I've a thought of great hilarity, And, it seems to me, of rarity — It occurs whene'er I think Of rhapsodies in printers' ink All about the real love scene That's enacted on the screen. How attractive, do you think, Lips well daubed in rouge so pink? Honeyed glances in bright flashes Underneath well-beaded lashes? (If my terms inaccurate be, All you actors, pardon me!) Cheeks, tho' damask fine they seem, May be redolent of cold cream! Brows, that look so smooth to kiss, Yield, at best, but powdery bliss. Curls that look so natural, really May come off if stroked too freely. Altogether, by and large, This, O fans, would be my charge — Give yourselves a "mental shake-up," No girl's lovely in her make-up! — Mary Nezvberry.