Shooting an Empty Mirror for Amateurs

[Chris Minchella]

Hi Everybody:

So I am an extremely amateur film maker (as in haven't really made anything outside of messing around with a DV cam back in college) who has, by merit of the fact that he's the only one with access to a halfway decent set of equipment, just been made director of photography for a 15 minute film project a friend is doing.

Being part of the zeitgeist, we're doing a vampire flick and as such, we need to do a scene wherein it is revealed that the protagonist has no reflection. I'm trying to avoid doing this in post because in addition to being new to videography/cinematography, I'm also pretty novice with AVID. So I'm trying to do a shoot where I move back and forth from the mirror's perspective to an empty mirror.

My question is: How do I shoot an empty mirror? Is it a lighting thing? Do I have to shoot it at an angle? Or is there no way to do this other than in post?

Thanks for the help,

Chris Minchella

[James McLellan]

Artificially cut the room in half with drywall. Have the room look identical on both sides. Leave the mirror frame open. As in leave it as a hole. Shoot at an oblique angle. No reflection. Perhaps for your setup this might be asking a lot, however, depending how many times the character is in the particular shot/room you may be able to fake something similar with a little less construction.

My 2 cents.

[Michael Panfeld]

Have you tried casting for a real vampire?

Easiest solution is composit in post. First shot with actor. Second shot without. Camera needs to be locked down. You'll also want to position the actor, mirror, and camera so that the actor and the reflection and the mirror are not overlapping.

[Chris Minchella]

Thanks for the suggestion. :-)

The idea here is to avoid having him in the frame with the mirror. We're working with little to no budget the fact that we have any kind of equipment at all is only by virtue of the fact that I sell the stuff and work doesn't mind me borrowing it for a shoot here and there.

It's a viable solution if not for the fact that it requires me buying another sink fixture specifically for the shot.

I should also mention, that right now the plan is to shoot the thing on a Pansonic AJ-HDX900 which posses some problems because it's not exactly compact. I might be able to get a smaller cam, but I'd prefer not to because that could possibly require my putting down a deposit or having to actually buy the thing.

*Edit: After reading my post I realized I should have clarified. I'm not trying to avoid post entirely. I'm trying to avoid photoshopping a scene with the protagonist standing in front of an empty mirror. Obviously I'm still going to have to do all the cutting/transitioning in post. We're not making Children of Men here.

[Marc Wielage]

The idea here is to avoid having him in the frame with the mirror. We're working with little to no budget the fact that we have any kind of equipment at all is only by virtue of the fact that I sell the stuff and work doesn't mind me borrowing it for a shoot here and there.

Lock down the camera, with the character on the left, and the mirror on the right. Shoot the scene. When you're finished, move the actor out of the frame and continue to roll. Get enough empty mirror footage to last the entire scene.

In editing, do a split screen, using a wipe right on the edge of the mirror (or cut a box-shaped hole the same shape as the mirror), bringing in the new background of the empty mirror.

What's harder is to do this with a moving camera. Go watch Francis Coppola's 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married, which has got an extended scene with James McLellan's idea: piece of glass instead of a mirror, complete duplicate room through a hole in the wall. This was all done "B.D." (before digital), when they had to do effects the hard way. They used a combination of perfect stand-ins, identical props, careful lighting, and precise camerawork to pull off the stunt, and it was spectacular at the time.

If you move the camera, you'll need an effects person to do matchmoving to cut the background material inside the hole and track the perspective. This takes time and money, but looks a lot better. I've seen $5000 student films that had 100 match-moved green screen shots, so it can be done if you have somebody who knows how to use Shake, Nuke, or similar compositing programs and has a lot of time (and works cheap).

An alternative: just do what they do on True Blood, Twilight, and the Anne Rice books, and assume that not many of the vampire legends are real. In those, vampires have reflections, holy water does nothing, and crosses do nothing. At least with True Blood and the Anne Rice books, sunlight will burn and can kill vampires, which they inexplicably omitted from Twilight.

[Michael Panfeld]

Marc: you should watch the Jessica Biel movie, London. Shot mostly in a bathroom almost entirely filled with mirrors on all walls, includng behind the camera. Someone said that theu used special two-way mirrors to ide the camera.

[Elsie N]

My first option would be to greenscreen the mirror inside the frame. Then I'd come back and shoot suitable fill. Haven't done it, but that would be my first attempt.

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Lock down the camera, with the character on the left, and the mirror on the right. Shoot the scene. When you're finished, move the actor out of the frame and continue to roll. Get enough empty mirror footage to last the entire scene.

In editing, do a split screen, using a wipe right on the edge of the mirror (or cut a box-shaped hole the same shape as the mirror), bringing in the new background of the empty mirror.

What's harder is to do this with a moving camera. Go watch Francis Coppola's 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married, which has got an extended scene with James McLellan's idea: piece of glass instead of a mirror, complete duplicate room through a hole in the wall. This was all done "B.D." (before digital), when they had to do effects the hard way. They used a combination of perfect stand-ins, identical props, careful lighting, and precise camerawork to pull off the stunt, and it was spectacular at the time.

If you move the camera, you'll need an effects person to do matchmoving to cut the background material inside the hole and track the perspective. This takes time and money, but looks a lot better. I've seen $5000 student films that had 100 match-moved green screen shots, so it can be done if you have somebody who knows how to use Shake, Nuke, or similar compositing programs and has a lot of time (and works cheap).

An alternative: just do what they do on True Blood, Twilight, and the Anne Rice books, and assume that not many of the vampire legends are real. In those, vampires have reflections, holy water does nothing, and crosses do nothing. At least with True Blood and the Anne Rice books, sunlight will burn and can kill vampires, which they inexplicably omitted from Twilight.

If we had a +1 button I might not have even have replied.

This is definitely the easy way.

In fact, you can do this in the edit software usually ... but you may have to crack open the manual.

Just a crop of one image.

The most important part is locking the shot down. Literally, use the locks on the tripod roll the camera, wait for it to settle, then don't touch it until the take is complete.

If your lighting is not 100% controlled (i.e. if you are using a room with a window and there is any sun/moon light) then I recommend getting a "blank" with every take. (Like Marc suggested, keep rolling after the take.)

I suppose its worth adding that you should minimize the people and stuff on set that are not on camera. The crew shifting their weight foot to foot can change your lighting ... so just get every non-essential out of the space!

[Larry Kelly]

This is the way I would do it.
1. First Green screen the mirror or at least make sure it has an easily trackable boarder.
2. Shoot an over the shoulder shot of the actor as he moves in front of the green screened mirror with the camera facing the mirror aimed at where his eye would track in the mirror.
3. Set up the camera right in front of the mirror facing back at the eye line of the actor then remove him and execute a move as close as you can in reverse. You will be shooting what the mirror would project back at the actor, minus the actor. If the mirror is long and narrow, turn the camera on it's side to get the full shot to the floor.
4. Composite that shot into the mirror frame and you've got it. You may have to reverse the image to make it look right.
This is an easy thing to experiment with prior to the shoot to get the logistics right and don't worry about getting the move exact. It just needs to be close.
Look up a tutorial on compositing using tracking key frames? or find someone who can help you with that. It's not that difficult. Have fun!

Larry