Filmy Mirror Shot Tricks: You must have noticed that many times while watching a movie, a scene comes in which the actor is standing in front of the mirror. He is fixing his hair, looking at his face, doing make-up or looking at himself in the mirror and appears emotional. The camera also seems as if it is present right in front, but the surprising thing is that the camera or the cameraman is not visible anywhere in the mirror. After all, how is it done like this? Because in reality everything placed in front of the mirror is visible. But why is the camera not visible in films?
Actually, here the filmmakers do not depend on any one trick. They adopt different tricks according to the need of the scene, movement of the camera, structure of the set and their budget. Sometimes the camera disappears just by changing the angle, sometimes the entire set is made in two parts and the duplicate of the actor is placed in front. In today's times, help of VFX is also taken when needed. This is the reason that a lot of thinking and preparation goes behind the scene which appears to be a completely normal mirror shot to the viewer.
What is the easiest way?
The most basic method of mirror shot is not as secret as it appears on the screen. The camera is placed slightly to the side in front of the mirror. Then the angle of the camera is set in such a way that it records the actor and his reflection, but the camera itself is not visible in the mirror. Many times this setup is also created with the long focal length of the lens and framing.
This is the reason why in films the actor is seen right in front of the mirror but the camera is not actually right behind him. It may be a little left or right, sometimes even a great distance. The camera is placed so judiciously that the viewer, seeing the frame, feels as if he is present right in front of the actor. There is another interesting thing in this. Many times the actor is actually looking at the camera and not at his reflection. The framing is kept such that the viewer feels as if he is looking at himself in the mirror.
If the mirror is slightly crooked, the whole game changes?
Let us tell you that the position of the mirror plays a big role in mirror shot. If the mirror is directly in front of the camera and the camera is also placed in the same line, then the reflection of the camera can be visible. At the same time, if the position of the camera is changed by giving a slight angle to the mirror, then the reflection can change. Cinematographers use this trick. The camera is placed at such a place from where the reflection of the actor is visible, but the reflection of the camera is not visible. The mirror appears straight to the viewer, whereas in the actual setup, a very deliberate distance has been created between its angle and the position of the camera. For this reason, the angle of the mirror looks a bit strange in some films, but the audience does not pay much attention to it while watching the story. The job of the camera is to keep the technical things hidden and make everything look natural on the screen.
Sometimes there isn't even a mirror
This is one of the most interesting tricks of mirror shot. The audience watching the film on screen feels that the actor is looking at himself in the mirror, but in reality there is no mirror there. There is an empty space between the camera and the actor and on the other side stands another actor or a duplicate.
This technology can be used especially when the director has to pass the camera through a place where the actual mirror camera will be visible. The set is prepared in two parts and both the parts are made to match exactly. After which the camera shoots a part and then through editing the camera is shown across the mirror. In some films, duplicates of actors are used for such shots.
One-way mirror is also useful
Not only this, technology like one-way mirror or two-way mirror is also used in some special shots. Its basic idea is that every side is visible like a mirror and from the other side the camera gets a place to shoot. Its use is that the camera can be hidden in such a place where the audience cannot see it. The use of technology like one-way mirrors has been discussed in some famous mirror shots like Black Swan. This means that just hiding the camera by installing a mirror is not enough here. Where the light is coming from, in which direction the actor is looking and how bright the background is, all these things have to be controlled.
VFX is also used
In today's times, the best option is VFX. If the camera is visible in the mirror in a shot and it is not possible to make it disappear on the set, then filmmakers remove the VFX from the camera. For this the entire scene is shot first. Then background or empty frame can also be recorded as per requirement. In post-production, VFX artists carefully observe the reflection area and remove the camera and, if necessary, the camera operator digitally.
However, this task may be a little easier in a still shot, but when the camera is rotating, the actor is passing in front of it or a constantly changing reflection is visible in the mirror, the task becomes quite difficult. Such shots may require frame-by-frame work and tracking. Let us tell you that in film making, many other tricks are used to hide the camera from the mirror in the movie.
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