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SOME TESTS FAIL because they are photographed too well — in¬ compatible with the actual conditions that will be encountered in production. Photo above shows makeup test being filmed by Joseph
Ruttenberg, ASC, (seated in foreground) under lighting conditions carefully calculated to match those that will prevail in the actual production interiors in which the player, Alec Guiness, will appear.
WHAT SCREEN TESTS SHOULD SHOW
“Avoid the maximum and
shoot for the minimum”
for a more natural test result.
SINCE THE ADVENT OF COLOR FILMS, pre-production photographic tests are more important than ever in making fea¬ ture films. And they require more care¬ ful attention — for a number of reasons. Some color negatives, for example, react differently to different colors; colors that are appealing to the eye, often record differently on color film. And so through photographic tests, wardrobe depart¬ ments are able to determine what colors are best to use; and the make-up depart¬ ment is able to experiment until it ar¬ rives at the correct make-up for a given player.
Then there is another factor — the pho¬ tography itself. It has happened many times that pre-production tests have been meticulously lighted and photographed only to be contradicted by the actual production photography. In other words, a player appears far differently in the production shots than she did in the pre-production tests. Why is this? Very often it is because the pre-produc¬ tion tests were done too well, for they were made under conditions that could
not always be duplicated or even ap¬ proached in actual production. In other words, the test director and the camera¬ man had the wrong conception of the test in that they aimed for the maximum possible with a given player or costume, rather than for the minimum that would be possible under the worst conditions of actual production.
As an example: in testing a player for an important feminine role, the tendency might be to give the pre-production test the very best lighting and photography possible — to present the player in glam¬ orizing closeups and medium shots that enhance her personal charms to the ut¬ most.
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ONE OF THE NOTABLE make-up achieve¬ ments last year was the gradual aging of Elizabeth Taylor during progression of the story of Warner Brothers' “Giant.” Each change of make-up was carefully tested under lighting approximating that which would be used in actual production.
American Cinematocrapher
July, 1957
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