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.