Something for the Weekend - Part 160 - Stay sharp!

[davescm]

Hi,

Thanks to all who took part in our last 'elevator' challenge, there were some great ideas and images.

This week we start with a safety pin. What can you make with this simple object?

The “rules”:

* Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright etc

* Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum "regulars".

* There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off, or bring a bit of humour and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go!

* The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only.

To download the image below at full size, hover over the image and click on the circle with the arrows at the top right. Then, when the image opens in its own window, right click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar depending on your browser). On opening, you should also find a path in the paths panel should you wish to use it to create a mask.

When posting back your image – please use the blue reply button in this first post. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.

Have fun

Dave

[Leslie Moak Murray]

@Trevor.Dennis  Thanks for making my day, Trevor! Sorry I haven't been participating lately. Work stress, a possible move to San Antonio, gah.  But also for this one, I can't think of anything! What am I saying I can't think at all lately

[davescm]

It looks like the cat might have found the sharp end of the pin Leslie! I love the expression. Take care and I hope the stress leaves you soon 🙂

Dave

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Now see, if I'd been thinking that's what I would have shown. Thanks!

[Trevor.Dennis]

I think you currently live in Texas Leslie, so possibly not too far from where you are.  Heck, Texas is a BIG state, so you could be moving 500 miles away!  You'll need a Bowie Knife living in San Antonio, but your cat could double up as a Davey Crockett hat.  I hope things sort themselves out, and if the move happens, it goes smoothly.

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Thanks, Trevor! Yes it's so big you can drive for 12 hours and still be in Texas. I was born in Chicago and grew up in its suburbs, the same one as Hillary Rodham, and after seeing her around since I was 10 years old I will never get used to seeing her on TV! (I have a picture of me and her younger brother in fifth grade somewhere. I should find it)  But my parents are from Texas and I've been coming here all my life for holidays with the relatives so it's familiar to me. I love Texas because it has a personality.  In other states, you can drive all around and never know where you are because it's the same Starbucks and Barnes & Noble etc, but in Texas every sign has an armadillo, or cowboy boots or a lone star on it and you always know you're in Texas. Maybe because it was once a Republic, I don't know. I found this guy in my yard one day:

[Trevor.Dennis]

I am not entirely sure why, but this has made me think of Judy Garland's dress from The Wizard of Oz which about to be auctioned, and expected to fetch a million dollars.  I am also not sure why they don't just auction an image of the dress as an NFT, but then again, I don't have the first clue about what the heck NFTs are and how they work.

[Jacob Bugge]

Surely it is because of the safety pin, Trevor, uless you put it there yourself, cunningly and a wee bit blurry.

[jane-e]

Crossing my fingers that the dress will be donated to the Smithonian's American History museum and join one of the four "pairs" of ruby slippers, Trevor! https://americanhistory.si.edu/press/fact-sheets/ruby-slippers. Sadly, the artificial snow in the movie was pure asbestos.

Jacob, I don't see the safety pin?

Jane

[Jacob Bugge]

Jane, rigth next to the bow that ties the braid part of her right updo (nothing at her left updo), as I said cunningly and a wee bit blurry, and fading upwards.

[Nancy OShea]

Sadly, the artificial snow in the movie was pure asbestos.

By @jane-e

=============

The makeup they used was no less toxic. 

Buddy Ebsen was originally cast in the role of Tin Man but was poisoned by the pure aluminum dust applied to his skin. It blocked his pores and nearly smothered him.  He spent many days in the hospital under an oxygen tent.  His recovery took too long so the studio replaced him with Jack Haley.  Makeup artists then formed Haley's makeup into a paste and painted it on the actor. Haley developed an eye infection from the paint that had to be medically treated.  

The Wicked Witch played by Margaret Hamilton, got burned on the set.  Makeup artists rushed to remove her copper makeup so that it wouldn't seep through her wounds and become toxic like Ebsen's did.  Unlike Ebsen, she didn't lose her job. The shooting schedule worked around her for several weeks.

[TheOriginalGC]

Did you know that the apple tree actors had to be "baked" into their make-up/costumes? No wonder they were so grouchy.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Nancy, I missed your Buddy Ebsen reference but by complete coincidence the YouTube algorithm threw up a video entitled Why Was Buddy Ebsen Blacklisted by Hollywood?   I watched the video expecting to find it was to do with McCarthy (it was actually because he refused to sign a single studio contract) but it also mentioned his close call with the aluminium dust/powder when he was originally cast in Oz.  It's hard to imagine that happening in today's — not so much an obsession with safety, but more a risk averse attitude by employers.

In New Zealand we have ACC (Accident Compensation corporation) which pays for hospital care if you hurt yourself, and pays 80% of your income if you become too ill to go to work.  This applies to anyone who has an accident while in NZ including tourists and other visitors.  The down side of this is that we are not as litigious as say the USA and UK, and there is an attitude of 'she'll be right'.  People/employers simply don't take as much care about other people's safety as they would if they knew they'd get their ar$$e$ sued for being negligent.

[Nancy OShea]

In New Zealand we have ACC (Accident Compensation corporation) which pays for hospital care if you hurt yourself, and pays 80% of your income if you become too ill to go to work. 

By @Trevor.Dennis

============

Today the US has Worker's Compensation Insurance and OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) to protect worker's safety.  But neither existed in 1938 when Oz was filmed. 

Sadly, tragic accidents still occur on movie sets.

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/27/1094970648/investigators-offer-new-insight-into-the-fatal-shooting-on...

[EuanWilliamson]

My favourite piece of trivia about this movie was that amazing opening shot going into OZ

How they did this in 1939

"This transition is handled entirely in the (b/w and Technicolor) cameras, on-set.

The Technicolor print begins with the shot of the closed door. ( at 50 seconds in the YT vid )

The “Dorothy” that opens that door to Munchkinland, holding Toto, is a double, clad in a sepia-tone outfit.

We then travel through the door and the sepia Dorothy is observed to leave the frame with her dog.

Then Judy, now dressed in color, re-enters the frame, with apparently a lifeless pet double of Toto, and finally, very quickly, we cut to the reverse angle, with “national heroine” starlet and canine visible in full Technicolor in the brightly “sunlit” land."

Of course now it is a slider in Lumetri !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWFHeDcVNiw

[Trevor.Dennis]

From what I know of Technicolor from that time is that it was 'Three Strip'.  Does that mean the camera shot three  rolls of 35mm negative at the same time, or does the Three Strip process happen in post?  It certainly produced a very saturated image, but perhaps they thought if they were going to have colour, then they would 

The dress looks very faded compared to how it looked in the movie.

[EuanWilliamson]

Absolutely correct Trevor

https://filmcolors.org/timeline-entry/1301/

[jane-e]

---

@Trevor.Dennis wrote:

The dress looks very faded compared to how it looked in the movie.

---

There were six dresses; the "Kansas" dress was black and white.

https://news.justcollecting.com/wizard-of-oz-dorothy-dress-profiles-in-history-auction/

"The dress appears on-screen in one of cinema’s most magical moments, as Dorothy Gale steps out from her sepia-toned cabin into the Technicolor world of Oz....Numerous versions of Garland’s pinafore dress were worn during the production, but only one was made using black and white fabric, rather than the standard blue and white."

Jane

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Wow I never knew that!  People had to be so much more creative and resourceful back then. Sometimes I wonder how much all of our new techbology will affect our ability to think.

[jane-e]

Haha, even though I pasted the quote, I've just noticed Dorothy's last name is an aptronym!

I only learned about the six dresses yesterday when I followed Euan's link, Leslie 😊 but I've seen the ruby slippers many times.

Jane

[Trevor.Dennis]

There are all sorts of double meanings and jokes.  It's so long since I last saw the movie I had forgotten big chunks of it.  When Euan mentioned the transition to Technicolor I looked for the clip and remembered how closely the dialog on the farm is related to the characters that the farm workers become in Oz. Jane, I did not even know that Dorothy's surname was Gale — I bet there are lots more 'in' jokes (probably more accurate to call them puns) in the movie.  While the sepia to Technicolor transition is slick and clever, a lot of it is still very dated.  Dorothy is so obviously walking on a sound stage with a painted backdrop for instance.

This is one heck of a tangent from a throw away remark.  I'm feeling a bit guilty that we are spending so much time here when we should be answering questions.  I'd also hate to think anyone would think these threeds are in any way cliquey.  Please please join in. Put up an image or share a thought about something in the thread.

[EDIT] And the irony is that the clip I posted above ends before getting to the trnsition to Technicolor, but I enjoyed watching it all the same.

[Peru Bob]

I'm feeling a bit guilty that we are spending so much time here when we should be answering questions. 

By @Trevor.Dennis

...but the questions are getting answered.

I'd also hate to think anyone would think these threeds are in any way cliquey. 

By @Trevor.Dennis

That's not likely.  The quality of entertainment here is top notch.

Although I haven't posted images here (by the time I finally get an idea, it usually has been done).

I've been a lurker since the first SFTW.

[mamma murph]

... interesting conversation!! - murphy

[Ussnorway]

In Australia we have this inner voice saying not to be a morion ... Admittedly many people don't listen

[Jumpenjax]

 What perfect aim.  😂😂😂

[davescm]

....and perfect timing 🙂

Dave