Robert Wise
Early career
Early career
------------

Wise began his film career at [RKO](/wiki/RKO_Pictures "RKO Pictures") as a sound and music editor. In the 1930s, RKO was a budget\-minded studio with "a strong work ethic" and "willingness to take artistic risks", which was fortunate for a newcomer to Hollywood such as Wise.Gehring, p. 20–21\. At RKO, Wise became an assistant to T.K. Wood, the studio's head sound\-effects editor.Gehring, p. 26\. Wise's first screen credit was a ten\-minute short subject called *A Trip through Fijiland* (1935\), which was made from RKO footage salvaged from an abandoned feature film.Gehring, pp. 27–28\.

As Wise gained experience, he became more interested in editing film content, rather than sound, and went to work for RKO film editor William "Billy" Hamilton.Gehring, p. 28\. Wise's first film as Hamilton's assistant was Alfred Santell's *Winterset* (1936\). Wise continued to work with Hamilton on other films, including *[Stage Door](/wiki/Stage_Door "Stage Door")* (1937\), *[Having Wonderful Time](/wiki/Having_Wonderful_Time "Having Wonderful Time")* (1938\) and *[The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle](/wiki/The_Story_of_Vernon_and_Irene_Castle "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle")* (1939\). In *[The Hunchback of Notre Dame](/wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre_Dame_%281939_film%29 "The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)")* (1939\) and *[5th Ave Girl](/wiki/5th_Ave_Girl "5th Ave Girl")* (1939\), Hamilton and Wise, as assistant film editor, shared screen credit; it was Wise's first credit on a feature film.Gehring, pp. 29–30\. Wise's first solo film editing work was on *[Bachelor Mother](/wiki/Bachelor_Mother "Bachelor Mother")* (1939\) and *[My Favorite Wife](/wiki/My_Favorite_Wife "My Favorite Wife")* (1939\).Gehring, p. 30\.

At RKO, Wise worked with [Orson Welles](/wiki/Orson_Welles "Orson Welles") on *[Citizen Kane](/wiki/Citizen_Kane "Citizen Kane")* (1941\) and was nominated for the [Academy Award for Film Editing](/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Film_Editing "Academy Award for Film Editing"). Wise was the film's last living crew member.

Though Wise worked as an editor on *Citizen Kane*, it is likely that while working on the film he became familiar with the [optical printer](/wiki/Optical_printer "Optical printer") techniques employed by [Linwood Dunn](/wiki/Linwood_Dunn "Linwood Dunn"), inventor of the practical optical printer, to produce effects for *Citizen Kane* such as the image projected in the broken [snowglobe](/wiki/Snowglobe "Snowglobe") which falls from Kane's hand as he dies.

In *Citizen Kane*, Welles used a deep\-focus technique, in which heavy lighting is employed to achieve sharp focus for both foreground and background in the frame. Wise later used the technique in films that he directed.Gehring, p. 44\. Welles' *Citizen Kane* also influenced Wise's innovations in the use of sound in films such as *The Set\-Up* (1949\), where Wise limited music to in\-film sources, and in *Executive Suite* (1954\), which used no music.Gehring, p. 44–45\. In addition, biographical films or biographical profiles of fictionalized characters such as [Charles Foster Kane](/wiki/Charles_Foster_Kane "Charles Foster Kane") were often the subjects of Wise's later work, including *Somebody Up There Likes Me* (1956\), *I Want to Live!* (1958\), *The Sound of Music* (1965\), *So Big* (1953\), *Run Silent, Run Deep* (1958\) and *The Sand Pebbles* (1966\), among others.Gehring, p. 45\. Wise also worked as editor on Welles' next film for RKO, *[The Magnificent Ambersons](/wiki/The_Magnificent_Ambersons_%28film%29 "The Magnificent Ambersons (film)")* (1942\). While working as a [film editor](/wiki/Film_editor "Film editor"), Wise was called on to shoot additional scenes for the film.Gerhring, p. 51\. After Welles was dismissed from the studio, Wise continued editing films such as *Seven Days Leave* (1942\), *[Bombardier](/wiki/Bombardier_%28film%29 "Bombardier (film)")* (1943\) and *[The Fallen Sparrow](/wiki/The_Fallen_Sparrow "The Fallen Sparrow")* (1943\), before he received his first directing assignment.Gehring, p. 63 and 65\.


What technique used by Welles influenced Wise's innovations in sound in films like The Set-Up?