FUTURE OF THE SCREEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19798, 19 November 1927, Page 9 (Supplement)

FUTURE OF THE SCREEN.

VIEWS OF NOTED DIRECTOR.

BY D. WINTER HALL.

The growth of motion pictures during tho past few years has been alarming, and yet the possibilities, of this new industry are still being discovered. Every aay brings forth new technical improvements and one cannot help wondering what the future holds for the screen.

Recently I chatted with Mr. Cecil B. de Mille on this subject. He is unquestionably one of the great figures in the film world to-day, maker of some of the greatest photoplays, and a man ever watching for new ideas arid new methods. "It is easy, and perfectly accurate," Baid Mr.' de Mille, "to say that the possibilities of this new art are unlimited. I thing it js evident to anyone that a mere twenty years of existence can have made only a dent in the expansion of a great new expressive medium. It has teen the first to cut across the barriers of race, creed, language and geographical limitations, to be showing at the same instant in Tokio and Toledo, Sydney and San Francisco. " I believe, however," he continued, " that the first big change in motion picture production will be the development of lenses and film to such an extent that it will be possiblo to do away with the tremendous amount of illumination which is necessary at present. » Amperage sufficient to illuminate » city frequently 13 used on large picture sets, but within a few years I expect to be producing pictures in light no more brilliant than that used to illuminate a home." Mr. de Mille is an authority on the art of lighting, for on the " King of Kings " a picture which recognised not the bounds of expense, some sets required three, and even four hundred lights. On an average their cost ran into five pounds a day each. Therefore one can realise the depth and importance attached to his belief. " I once prophesied that some day a householder would make a great motion j picture with no other facilities than the rooms of his own dwelling, the director said. "This comes closer and closer to the realm of possibility with each increasing scientific advance. Mr. de Mille, also held that the old Kuperstiiion that the public does not want the so-called " costume picture is entirely without foundation. Clothes and customs of another day can never spoil the interest in a vital story.