By now, it should be no surprise that the studios entered the Mazda Tests with a rubber-stamp mentality. They had already decided upon the cost-effectiveness of incandescent lighting and were not interested in comparing it to any other unit. The majority of the effort merely examined the range of the new source and looked to discover its shortcomings. The executives were also interested in finding out what equipment the suppliers needed to develop. All manufacturers of lighting gear – most notably General Electric and Mole Richardson – were invited to participate. Eastman Kodak, DuPont and Agfa contributed free film and processing. Max Factor sent their best make-up artists. In time, nearly all of Hollywood’s prominent players were drafted for the effort, marking the first opportunity for them to systematically compare their products.
The tests were carried out from January 18 to early March of 1928. All ASC and Academy members were invited to take part, and take part they did. Seventy-two thousand feet of film was exposed on the Warners lot and a dozen public demonstrations were held. This material was then edited down to eight reels by the ASC for a premiere screening on April 17 at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
No official endorsements were made by the Academy at the conclusion of the Mazda Tests, but this was of no matter due to the widely accepted inevitability of incandescents as the new standard. On the other hand, the ASC couldn’t help piping in:
“It was decided from the results obtained in the tests that the tungsten incandescent lamp is superior to all other types of light source now in use in the following respects: convenience; economy of power and operating labor; ready controllability; freedom from smoke and dirt; superior color of light permitting correct tone reproduction of colored objects when used with panchromatic color sensitive motion picture film.”
Was this statement made by pioneers or studio shills? We’ll never know, but the process of adapting tungsten lighting had another benefit. It gave engineers and manufacturers a better understanding of what tools cinematographers needed as the industry was entering the sync-sound era. Though the light emanated by the Mazdas was often criticized as too diffuse, too hot and not strong enough, their adaption forged collaborative business relationships which led to innovations and improvements that until then had been impossible or untenable.
We should be thankful for that today. Absent the changes engendered by the Mazda Tests, the advancement of cinematography would have followed a longer, rockier road. In that case, film might have remained our only choice for origination, something many of us would’ve considered the biggest step forward of all!
More to come about the Mazda Tests in the next post…
Thank you Richard for illuminating these tests. The fact that the ASC always strives to improve the Art of Cinematography makes me smile. No competition amongst its members, but only focused on elevating the technology for everyone. After Star Wars premiered in May of 1977 and I started reading American Cinematographer magazine; the spirit of team work always showed through and wasn’t lost on a young guy from Virginia. Keep up the great work at the ASC!