Fantastics & Personalities

Andy Warhol's Screen Tests were filmed between 1964 and 1966 at his Factory in New York. Although these short films became known as Warhols 'Screen Tests', they were originally conceived as silent film portraits. Each subject was captured in stark relief by a strong key light, and filmed on silent, black & white, 100-foot rolls of film at 24 frames per second, resulting in two-and-a-half minute film reels which were then screened in 'slow motion', so each portrait is four minutes long.

Over 500 screen tests were made, but many were discarded. Among Warhol's subjects were Bob Dylan, Edie Sedgewick (see below), Salvador Dali, Lou Reed, Nico, Yoko Ono and Marcel Duchamp, to name a few. The Screen Tests were exhibited in MoMA but some kind soul uploaded a number of them to YouTube for our viewing pleasure...

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