cinematography tricks for shooting a mirror reflection?

[7studios]

Hey all,

The short I'm currently planning features a shot over the shoulder of the actor as he looks at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. This shot has been done a million times, but never by me.

I've always imagined it was a matter of shooting at an angle (as opposed to directly behind the actor) and controlling the frame (going in tight enough) to prevent the reflection of the camera and operator from showing up in the frame.

However, it occurs to me that there might be some other tricks to help pull this off. Has anyone tried this shot before? Any advice?

-Jeff

Edit: if it somehow matters, I'll be shooting DV, not film.

 

[NicklausLouis]

I've always imagined it was a matter of shooting at an angle (as opposed to directly behind the actor) and controlling the frame (going in tight enough) to prevent the reflection of the camera and operator from showing up in the frame.

The simple and most effective way is to work with the angles like you mention. You could use FX in post to remove the reflection of the camera and cam op, but I would suggest going the simple and most effective route.

Poke

 

[OrangeMango]

I agree. All you need is an angle in which the actor shows up in the mirror but the camera operator does not.

The post work that Poke mentions would be neat, I imagine, for a truly over the shoulder shot, or maybe for a vampire film, but it doesn't seem to be worth the effort otherwise.

 

[AdamG]

Working with mirrors is all about the angle. It's always there, you just have to find it.

You can do alot with post and green screen, but you really need to know what you're doing to make it look right.