The film stuff (as opposed to digital) was a bit rough. Apparently I'm a level 3 candidate.

I got 16 wrong. Of those, maybe 3 were from not carefully reading the question. Applied dyslexia, I guess.

It's a good test. Seems to be aimed at Directors of Photography. Much of the film stuff is worth knowing even if you work in a digital realm. After all, you may need to strike prints some day. Let's hope, anyway.

Good DPs I know would get all the questions right, I'm pretty sure.

Rob Mack

maybe 3 were from not carefully reading the question

With one question, the one about 5274 vs. 7274, it wasn't enough to read the question carefully though, you had to guess their intention too.

I knew both answers to this question, but misread their intent. At least they admitted that it was a trick question.

Another trick one was the Technicolor one. There are two correct answers. Hopefully they do acknowledge both, though I answered with the more common one because I didn't want to take the chance. :-)

True. They should have said "IB Technicolor".

This ancient 1930s stuff beats 2K projection IMHO (when projected in 70mm).

Hmmm...interesting.

Great test for DP's and camera operators. Good for lab people as well.

Thing I hate about this type of test is the misleading questions. For example:

44. How long does it take to shoot 15 seconds of screen time at 48fps?

Thinking this was an obvious "trick" question - sort of like "Who is buried in Grants Tomb?" - I said "15 seconds" because to me the key word was "shoot" - "How long does it take to shoot 15 seconds..." Well, you can't slow down real life so 15 = 15. However that is "wrong" here because they add in "screen time". What the test wants us to do is sit in a dark room and watch 15 seconds of slow motion on the screen and ask "how long is that scene in real time?" In which case 15 seconds run time projected at 24 fps but shot at 48 fps = 7.5 seconds. But even so I would argue the wording of the question because it did not ask what the projected run time vs shoot time was, it clearly asked how long did it take to *shoot* 15 seconds of film at 48 fps. Yes it does say "Screen time" but to me that is a cop out because not too many people get on the set and ask something to be shot slo mo for "15 seconds of screen time". More than likely they ask something like "Can we get this in slo mo?" and the sit down and have a discussion about various frame rates. The editor than is going to chop it up anyway. Beyond that anyone who has actually been on a set knows that to set up the shot, get everyone in place, reherse, do a few takes - I mean rarley would anyone turn on the camera for *exactly* 7.5 seconds and use each frame. So the real answer based on the wording of this question should be something like "about 5 hours" or, even better, "There is no right answer because the question implies there was zero set up time and that magicly someone just turned on the camera and shot footage that was no less, no more, than 7.5 seconds long. The question does not take into account things like head or tail slates, the camera op saying "Speed" - which at 48 FPS would take *at least* one second to get up to speed -, the director saying "action" and "Cut" and so on. Also the question does not take into account film stock - for example in negative cutting you would loose a frame and a half for 16 mm. This loss of 3 frames would, in reality, cut down on the 'exact' 7.5 seconds that was shot."

You get the idea. I found more than one question like this. For example -

70. Who is responsible for a shot being in focus?
71. Who's job is it to get a shot in focus?

I answered based on what goes on during a shoot. However the "correct" answer(s) did not agree with mine. My reading these questions were that if there is a camera crew the 1st AC is sitting there pulling focus as the subject hits marks. However it is the Camera Operators job to tell ther 1st AC what is in focus in reguards to what they see through the camera. AFter a take the 1st AC can say "I missed a mark" or the Camera Operator could say "I missed a mark" but someone who is *not* looking thorough the lens can not say that at that second. So to me my answer is a correct answer - however what the test meant is seen in the words used - "job" verses "responsible". To me it is one in the same really - the wording is sort of the attitude that causes real issues on a working set - pointing out that "That isn't my *job*" or "well that was *your* responsibility". So anyway - the DP is "responsible" for the overall look so the testers logic is that if the shot is out of focus it is the DP's fault. (Now keep in mind that while their logic can be understood IMO that logic is not reality because if the DP is not the Camera Operator, and most likely they would not be the 1st AC, it is kind of hard to be blamed directly for an out of focus shot.) Even the "correct" answer somewaht states what I answered - they say of the DP: It may not be his/her job to set the focus, but it is certainly his or her responsibility. Ahh - see, the fine line between "job" and "responsibility" is made clear. Likewise the "correct" answer for 71, according to this test, is The first camera assistant, sometimes referred to the 'focus-puller', has the job of keeping the shot in focus.

On any set I have been on no one sits there and looks at the, say, location sound recordist and asks "Why don't you keep the shot in focus?" any more than someone looks at the DP and says "Could you try and keep the boom out of the shot!" And really, by this tests logic, th DP would also be "responsible" for the boom being in the frame. Sure - like a shot being out of focus, or dust in the gate or an inccorectly loaded mag for that matter, we can just blame the DP for anything visually that isn't correct - ohh..I guess that would be art and set design as well.

Sorry - the issue I have with "tests" a lot of the time is that what looks good on paper is not real world reality. Some things just are - you need film in the camera and you need to get an exposure to capture some sort of image on that film. How you do that is creativity. Who does what on a set is not that defined, union rules aside, until you get there and start shooting.

I took the test ,

I wont be moving to Hollywood anytime soon

Er? Where's Hollywood? What happens there? - G

a long ,long time ago they had a film industry,, its somewhere in the states i think. Now its an experimental center for plastic surgery and eating disorders.

---Er? Where's Hollywood? What happens there? - G---

Almost nothing.

filmy, question 44 threw me when I first looked at it, but after I re-read it it was quite clear. While they don't mention the playback speed, I think it's a fair assumption that they mean 24fps, since it's a film site and any time the question had to do with video it was clearly stated. Certain things are a given, unless there's reason to believe otherwise, and on this test, there was no reason to believe they meant a playback rate of anything other than 24fps. And I think you're really stretching it in that long argument. Yes, it was a trick question, but not an unreasonable one, or one that couldn't be figured out within the context of the rest of the test.

As for #70 and 71, I got 70 wrong because I put "camera operator." I know that the ultimate responsibility lies with the DP, but I thought they meant directly, and while the focus puller (or 1st) does the work, it's up to the operator to make sure he's doing what he needs to in order for the focus puller to do their job right.

Oh well.

>>>...and on this test, there was no reason to believe they meant a playback rate of anything other than 24fps.<<<

I never said there was. My point is that no matter what format if I ask someone how long would it take to shoot 15 seconds the answer would always be 15 seconds. Again - real time can not be slowed down. So it is, as I tried to explain, somewhat of a multi layered question. On paper reading it and syaing "oh, they don't mean the actual real time shot, they mean the playback speed verses the real time shot" can make perfect sense and it perfect for a test...although I might have worded it along the lines of "old school" math - sort of "if X=24 and Y=48 and XY=7.5 than what is the run time?"...but on a set if someone said "I need 15 seconds" you would shoot 15 seconds of something and chances are you would shoot 30 seconds to be safe. For me I have never been on a set and heard the following: "Now I want a 15 second slo mo shot..." Unless you are shooting inserts for product placement the slo mo shot will take as long as it takes...and I was being semi ironic anyway with the "real answer should be..." comment. But I *was* ben serious when I said, and say now again, that on paper tests are based on what is on paper not always on reality.

Like the whole "job" and "responsible" comment. Reality might define those answers a bit different. if my "job" is first AC than I am also "resposible" for pulling focus, among other things and if I miss my marks time after time than I would be fired...not the DP. Now if the DP was very slow is making the day. day after day, it would be the DP who would get fired - not the 1st AC or the Camera Operator. IT is really the sum of the parts here.

Yah - ok, many years ago I went to film school. I have a few moslty usless pieces of paper that say that, and no I never hung my degress on any wall. But one thing I learned early on is to learn from the teacher what you can but only remember it for that class because the next teacher will have another whole method to the madness. It is sort of like this on the set - you walk onto the set in some capacity and yo uhave to "learn" what everyone is doing - you have to "learn" how they work and try to make it all work together. And you just can't teach things like shooting on the corner of Santa Monica and La Brea and walking out from the 7-11 and seeing cop cars and LAPD choppers flying around and thinking "Wow - something must be going on..." when in reality they are there because some nice old lady saw some guy in a mask run into the 7-11 and called 911...not knowing it was the actor in a film and not noticing the lights and camera and crew in the parking lot.

Filmy,
yes, a few questions trapped me because I was in a hurry and it's fair enough to pick the questions up for dubious phrasing. I agree that their "correct answers" to the focus responsibility questions caught me out (I reckon the DOP would be rather busy on other things and would sack members of his crew asking him to check focus). Your problem with "shooting time" is understandable, but I didn't expect them to be quite that devious (so I ticked the desired answer).
I would have done better if I'd referred to my tables of filters, but I thought that maybe this was intended to be "what you know without looking up". Not realistic, of course -- that's why people own the American Cinematographer Manual.

Filmy, the "who is responsible for focus" would have been better if it read: "Who is ultimately responsible for the shots being in focus." Having "ultimately" in there would, at least to me, make it much more clear. I know it's supposed to be a test, and therefore shouldn't actually be *easy* but the way they phrased it there's more than one answer, which is unfair. I still maintain that the 48fps question was fine though.

I still maintain that the 48fps question was fine though. It did, after all, say "screen time."