Editing Irving Thalberg (section)

==== Production techniques ====
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, [[Lawrence Weingarten]], who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."<ref name=Vieira />{{rp|59}}

Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with ''Ben Hur''. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century ''[[Romeo and Juliet (1936 film)|Romeo and Juliet]]'' (1936), or with ''[[China Seas (film)|China Seas]]'' (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.<ref name=Flamini />{{rp|9}}

Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually.<ref name=Vieira-1 />{{rp|8}} For ''China Seas'', for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
{{blockquote|I'd like to open this sequence on a roaring gale at sea. ... I think it might be better to open just prior to the storm—that awful calm before the storm ... and the typhoon hits and they go through all that hell, and the terrific tiredness after the fight is over—the weariness of Gaskell [Clark Gable], and from behind him this China woman comes and their affair [begins].}}

To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his [[cinematographer]]s were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."<ref name=Vieira-1 />{{rp|8–9}}

Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."<ref name=Vieira />{{rp|59}}