Modern filmmakers are too obsessed with “objective” camera tests, trying to quantify the performance various cameras. But these tests really don’t say that much. Real camera tests put a camera system in a situation similar to the film you’re shooting and give you a chance to test out the colors of your production design and to see if you can achieve the feel your going for. Here’s perhaps the earliest test film done by the studios of featuring an unknown Audrey Hepburn.
Very rarely seen silent colour footage of the future Holly Golightly. These are probably the earliest colour pictures of Audrey Hepburn. The actress is shown here in different situations, playing an assistant in a draper’s shop. Although she had already appeared in a small number of films, these tests were taken before she went to Hollywood and rocketed to fame in ‘Roman Holiday’. Hepburn’s personality shines through, even though we cannot hear her voice.
The film was taken with Dufaychrome film stock, a British attempt at a Technicolor-like process, which gives these scenes an unusual sheen. The film for which these test takes were shot would never be made – perhaps the world was not ready to see the future icon looking a bit green. (Sonia Genaitay)
