Top 5

Top 5 Reflection shots

OK.......... so this may seem a bit obscure but I've allways been a big sucker for shots that are done as a reflection through a mirror or window pane or something. Here it goes.

5. Southland Tales - when Sean William Scott discovers a delay in his reflection. I liked this one although there wasn't anything super stylish about the angles or anything it was just a cool effect.

4. The Tin Drum - There is shot from the bedroom closet in which the son is watching his mother being...............er..........um..... ravished while the reflection in the mirror shows her husband in the other room fixing himself a drink.

3. Jurassic Park - When the little girl is hiding in the kitchen from the raptor and you see her reflection on the stainless steel cabinet as the monster smashes into it thinking it was her.

2. Jurassic Park - The more famous scece of "OBJECTS IN REAR VIEW MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR"  We all know what I'm talking about.

1. Spirit of the Beehive - There is a seemingly very simple scene in which the little girl is putting on lipstick while looking in a tiny compact mirror. You kinda have to think about this one to fully appreciate it. The camera is perfectly fixed on the girls lips (through the reflection) as she is applying makeup, of course, this means that she cannot possibly be also seing what she is doing and she had to know exactly where and at what angle to hold this tiny little prop in order to get the shot.

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There is a gag in Airplane! where Robert Stack is adjusting his tie (or something - can't quite remember the details) and it seems as if he's doing it in front of a full length mirror, but then he finishes and just steps through the open doorway. A not-relfection shot.

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Hah that is a really funny gag...I love that movie.

Anyways, as obscure as this topic is, I too was thinking about this a little while ago...these are two that I can think of off the top of my head.

2. A Clockwork Orange The scenes that take place in the writers house.  The man's wife comes to the door, and the corrider is lined with mirrors, and it gives it a very strange effect.  Then, when the man's assistant (or gay lover or whatever he's supposed to be) comes to get the door when it's just Alex, it's basically the same exact image, except this time, the man's helping Alex.  I don't know why, but I those two scenes really stuck out, just because of the mirrors on all sides of the shot.

1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly It's mind-boggling to think of how they achieved some of the angles and images created in this film.  One of my favorites is how they managed to make it look like you were looking in a mirror from Bauby's point of view, seeing yourself as this decrepit, pathetic, paralyzed man.  It really is amazing.

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just watched Diving Bell last night. that's a good one for things you can do with a camera...

then there is the convention where the reflection in the mirror talks back. in Heroes, seems like whenever Ali Larter looked in a mirror, her evil twin was looking back at her with somethng to say.

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BOOGIE NIGHTS.

The final, climactic shot of Dirk in front of the mirror.  I think anyone who has seen the movie knows exactly what I'm talking about.

"I'm a big, bright, shining star."

Enough said.  Probably the best reflection shot of all time, hands down.

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leeroy711:

3. Jurassic Park - When the little girl is hiding in the kitchen from the raptor and you see her reflection on the stainless steel cabinet as the monster smashes into it thinking it was her.

2. Jurassic Park - The more famous scece of "OBJECTS IN REAR VIEW MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR"  We all know what I'm talking about.

I seem to remember some montage of Spielberg movies that showed how he uses some of the same shots in almost every one of his films.  I think all of the shots were of people just staring wide eyed at something off screen, but I could have remembed he used stuff with mirrors in most of his movies too.

Re:Top 5 Reflection shots

joem18b:

There is a gag in Airplane! where Robert Stack is adjusting his tie (or something - can't quite remember the details) and it seems as if he's doing it in front of a full length mirror, but then he finishes and just steps through the open doorway. A not-relfection shot.

Yeah it's brilliant

And so is the scene in Duck Soup where Harpo tries to pretend he is Groucho's reflection.

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I think there's a scene in The Evil Dead where something either goes into or comes out of a mirror. I believe it was filmed sideways over water to look like a mirror. Low tech but very effective. Man, I wish I was at home so I could see if I'm remembering it correctly.

Also, there's the fight in the mirror chamber in Enter the Dragon, which is pretty amazing considering all the different angles of the mirrors, yet you don't see any cameras.

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I should also mention the shot in Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well. when the father is at the top of the stairs and sees himself in the mirror. The look on his face tells you everything.The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

Re:Top 5 Reflection shots