Narrator: Look at this
famous deleted scene in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." We're looking directly
at Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton's reflections, but we can't see the
camera capturing it all. That's because that's not really a mirror and this reflection of
Hamilton isn't actually her. Filmmakers have mastered the art of hiding their cameras from a mirror using visual trickery and
precise cameras and choreography. Today, they can shoot mirrors in ways that once seemed impossible. Innovative mirror shots stretch back to the beginning of film, like when Orson Welles captured the now-iconic fun-house-mirror sequence in 1947's "The Lady from Shanghai." Of the 80 mirrors in the sequence, some were actually two-way mirrors. While Welles and Rita Hayworth acted on the reflective side of the glass, the camera could shoot everything from the non-reflective
side without being detected. Two-way mirrors are still useful today. "It Chapter Two" used them for its terrifying fun-house sequence to switch between the reflections
of this kid and Pennywise. But a convincing mirror shot doesn't necessarily need
to use a real mirror. Like that scene from "Terminator 2" where Sarah Connor removes the
chip from the T-800's head. The camera was directly
behind the characters, but it's nowhere to be
seen in the reflection. That's because for this trick, the mirror is actually a window looking into a duplicate
version of the set. Performers stand on either
side of the reflection mimicking each other's movements. So Hamilton can be seen here, but her reflection is actually
the actress's twin sister next to Schwarzenegger. And Schwarzenegger's
silhouette in the foreground? Well, that's a very lifelike dummy. The body-double trick works
best with twin actors. Otherwise, filmmakers have to make sure to avoid the double's face, as seen in this mirror shot
from 1995's "La Haine." And this technique is
also prone to human error. Take this shot from 2011's "Sucker Punch." If you look closely,
you'll notice the timing of the actresses and their
doubles is slightly off. To avoid this issue and
let actors focus on acting instead of imitating a body
double, filmmakers turn to CGI. First, the crew will shoot the
actor in front of a mirror. Then they will film just the
background behind the actor. VFX artists then wipe away the
camera by swapping in pieces of the clean plate of
the reflected background. This allows for the kinds of shots once thought to be impossible. However, the process isn't
as easy as it sounds. Take these mirror shots
from 2014's "Birdman." To perfectly match the background shots, they had to make sure the lighting was identical in each pass, and the artists had to be
careful where they cut. For this one close-up, you'll
see green tape on the camera. This helped the VFX
artists avoid cutting out any of Michael Keaton's hair. The process gets even trickier
if the camera is moving. Take this legendary shot
from 1997's "Contact," where one shot seemingly
turns into the reflection on a medicine cabinet mirror. To make this work,
director Robert Zemeckis broke it up into multiple shots and replaced the entire mirror with CG. First, Zemeckis had actress Jena Malone run towards the camera instead
of filming her from behind. The camera was placed on a Steadicam, allowing for smooth
shots and repeated takes. After running down the hall, Malone reached for the knob
of the medicine cabinet, but instead of a mirror,
there was a blue screen. Then the crew shot the
bathroom background on its own and placed it as well as
the texture of a mirror on top of the blue screen. This one shot was so influential you still see similar
styles decades later, like in this episode of HBO's "Euphoria." All these tricks and more were used in 2021's "Last Night in Soho." Production designer Marcus Rowland and VFX supervisor Tom Proctor of DNEG had to build a world of mirrors while avoiding cameras in the final shot. The Café de Paris set alone was lined with an estimated 178 mirrors, which all needed accurate reflections. But they had to do much
more than remove the camera, since Eloise, played by Thomasin McKenzie, frequently looks in the
mirror and sees Sandie, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, and vice versa. And many of the mirror shots
were incredibly active. So like "Contact" before
it, they used Steadicams, relying on the consistent
movements from Chris Bain to get shots like this
and this over and over. For key scenes with multiple
multifaceted mirrors and large camera moves, the team relied on motion-control cameras. Since their moves are
programmed in advance, it made it easier to do separate takes of both actresses walking down the stairs. And to make sure the leads matched their movements precisely, "Soho" brought in a movement
coach for weeks of preparation. To allow the stars to
interact more directly, the "Soho" team had to
build several double sets. This shot here, where Eloise first walks into the Café de Paris and
sees Sandie in the mirror? The two actresses were actually
facing each other on set. Rowland built a double lobby, allowing for direct interaction
between the actresses. And just like in "Terminator 2," they used a real set of twins
to tie the illusion together. But the shot could go from
just Eloise's reflection to Sandie's with no visible cuts thanks to adjustable mirrors. When the attendant takes
off Eloise's jacket, they're standing in
front of a real mirror. Then one of the twins walks
in front of the camera. This gave the crew just enough
time to push the mirror away, allowing Sandie to step in. And as a viewer, you'd never know there wasn't a mirror there, thanks to this very subtle bevel added to the edge of the mirror with CGI. Every mirror scene presented
its own challenges, so in some cases, the team had to rely on two tricks at once,
like here, where Taylor-Joy stands in front of a
mirror with Matt Smith, whose real reflection
is caught in the mirror. Smith is in front of a real mirror, but the rest of the glass is CGI. For the final touches, "Soho" utilized the most
subtle VFX improvements to avoid any continuity errors. For example, Proctor and his team inserted green-screen shots of extras into many final shots to cover up the rough edges of where
a camera was cut out, and for any mismatched mirror movements, visual effects artists used
digital re-timing tools. They could get into shots frame by frame and individually speed up or slow down individual characters, bringing them into perfect alignment.
