So, whenever he starts on a picture, especially one with unusual or difficult background, he pitches into the job just as though he were building a racing airplane, let's say. Being trained that way, I never make a scene without first getting a visualization of it. I have artists paint me the scene in complete detail, lighting and shading it as I see it in my mind, working it all out on paper. Then I have something definite to go by and know what I'm doing when I hit the set. If you can show them a picture of what you want it's much easier for them than 10,000 words of vague description.
Hawks also has a recognized talent for modern, brittle comedy.
He has a terrific fondness for the works of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, who he thinks are about the best writers of dialogue in the world. Mr. Hawks is especially interested in dialogue because he thinks that through it more than anything else will come the next important developments in the films. He believes that it should be written almost like music, with the important words emphasized or scored and the rest of it allowed to flow off indifferently. That's the way most people hear conversation anyhow, he thinks. The industry is making a distinct effort to get away from the carbon-copy remakes, it is true, he said, but the important thing is to find a fresh slant and go after your story along it.