Avoiding reflections?

R

RED ROBOT

Hey friends !

I am currently building the costume for my second short film which is a Sci-Fi movie.


I just got the huge bubble which is going to play the helmet ,however I am afraid of getting reflections when I do close ups.

I will try to avoid them as much as possible but sometimes the actors should just directly look into the lens and since the bubble is some sort of glass I was hoping if you guys could tell me how can I avoid those reflections?

I read about some polarizing filters but I am not sure if they do good enough job ?

What do you guys think , you know any tricks ?

Have a nice day.

Thanks in advance!:)
 
I assume you're talking about the round bubble style helmets that you see in space movies.

Yes, my first suggestion would be: (in this order)

1). Choose a different outfit
2). Prepare to spend a lot of time being careful of the reflection during production. It could really slow you down a lot.
3). Prepare to spend a lot of time and money in post production removing and dealing with unwanted reflections.

You could use a dulling spray, but that'll depend on your outfit to start with. It might kill the purpose of having the outfit in the first place.

These kind of things can really make logistics harder. It can make it hard to light a scene, record audio and shoot. You'll need to pay attention to whether you're getting reflections of all these, the director, ad and all of the other crew members. You may even need to keep the unseen part of the room clear and set dressed just in case. You'd be best to do a lot of testing to see if these problems really need to change the way you'll shoot.

So you need to work out if that outfit is really necessary to your story.
 
The lights will be the biggest problem, so yes, do invest in a circular polarizing filter, and get creative with the angles of your lighting and try to use a lot of practicals that won't matter as much if they are reflected because they are part of the world you are creating.
 
Thank you both!


The outfit is an absolute must to the story .

I don't have to worry about the crew members and lighting since I'll shoot it all by myself and couple of my family members .

As far as lighting goes I'll shoot the whole film outside and I'll use nothing more but a reflector ..

I guess I have to try the filter option and try to be extremly careful.

Thanks!
 
Main issue in avoiding reflections like that is lighting. Remember, with no light there is no reflection. So don't put light on things you don't want to show up in reflections. Basically that means that whatever is in front of the 'bubble' - your crew, equipment, the room beyond - needs to be in darkness. If you're shooting outdoors this is going to be very hard to achieve, but if you have control over the lighting that's the key.
 
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