On camera, off duty

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Mary Queen of Scots (2013) directed by Thomas Imbach (Martine Felber) Martine Felber

Anatole Taubman in Anjas Engel (2005) directed by Pascal Verdosci (Triluna Film AG) Triluna Film AG

André Jung (l.) in Im Nordwind (2004) directed by Bettina Oberli (Catherine Schneider) Catherine Schneider

Mathias Gnädinger in Sternenberg (2004) directed by Christoph Schaub (Dorothee Schmid) Dorothee Schmid

True Grit (2010) directed by Joel und Ethan Coen (Thomas Nellen) Thomas Nellen

Die Bettkönigin (1994) directed by Gabrielle Baur (Martine Felber) Martine Felber

Carla Chiara Bär in Geburtstagskind (TV series Tatort, 2013) directed by Tobias Ineichen (Fabienne Helfer) Fabienne Helfer

Suzanne von Borsody in Justiz (1993) directed by Hans W. Geissendörfer (Jakob Peier) Jakob Peier

Linda Geiser in Lilo und Fredi (2004) directed by Gitta Gsell (Regula Marthaler) Regula Marthaler

Eurocops (TV crime series) directed by Markus Fischer (Martine Felber) Martine Felber

Mona Petri in Big Deal (2002) directed by Markus Fischer (Martine Felber) Martine Felber

Bruno Cathomas in Die Bettkönigin (1994) directed by Gabrielle Baur (Martine Felber) Martine Felber

Nora König in Tausend Ozeane (2008) directed by Luki Frieden (Catherine Schneider) Catherine Schneider

Carlos Leal in Hildes Reise (2004) directed by Christof Vorster (Catherine Schneider) Catherine Schneider

Roxane Mesquida und Julia Ensner in Sennentuntschi (2010) directed by Michael Steiner (Catherine Schneider) Catherine Schneider

James Woods in White House Down (2013) directed by Roland Emmerich (Thomas Nellen) Thomas Nellen

Sunnyi Melles in Taxi ins Jenseits (Eurocops 1989) directed by Erwin Keusch (snakefilm) snakefilm

Director Xavier Koller and Heike Makatsch in Gripsholm (2000) (Catherine Schneider) Catherine Schneider

Lavomatic from Studio Moscow (Martine Felber) Martine Felber

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Behind-the-scenes jobs on film sets rarely get their moment in the spotlight. Make-up artists, costume designers – even script writers – fade into the shadows as big-name stars soak up the praise, not to mention prizes.

An exhibition at the Solothurn Film Festival gives a glimpse into the wings of the world of the big screen.

Many backstage jobs are a bit of a mystery to the average cinema-goer. Something that is probably even less well known is that the production team doubles as a miniature army of photographers.

Actors, outfits, hair-dos, make up, special effects, extras and sometimes even whole sets are captured on camera.

Known as continuity pictures, these shots help to recreate perfectly a moment within a scene to be reconstructed days later, without any glaring differences.

The snaps primarily serve a functional purpose, but also create an unusual record of the film making process.

The images are intimate but clinical, like police photographs of a crime scene. Actors are shown before and after plot twists, stressed or relaxed, but always captured in a particular moment.

Make-up artist Martine Felber received the “Prix d’honneur” at the Solothurn Film Festival. Over the course of her career she worked on feature-length films for cinema, TV movies and series.

Set photographs from Martine Felber and other production crew members can be seen in the exhibition, “Between backstage and on set: wardrobe and continuity supervisors and make-up artists as photographers”.

(Pictures: Martine Felber and others, Text: Felix von Muralt).