Filming in a house of mirrors

Question

How do they film in a house of mirrors? Obviously the reflection of the cameras would be seen.

Do they use a green screen and a lot of editing?

I really don't know anything about video production, but I was watching tv and it had me thinking..

Answer 1

One thing that you learn pretty quickly when you begin producing film or video, is that what looks right in a mirror in person usually doesn't look right to the camera. You end up having to place the mirrors at very different angles than you expect.

Fun houses/houses of mirrors are usually recreated on a sound stage or other set. Fun house mirrors can be rented and placed to accommodate production equipment. On screen, you will often see fewer mirrors than what might be used in an actual house of mirrors.

For instance in this Bruce Lee sequence, except for the final shot, you only see mirrors on one side of the actors. In that final shot, the mirrors behind Lee are obscured by other set pieces. The actors probably could not see the image of their opponent that they were punching in the mirror, everything was staged specifically for the camera.

Similarly, in this Key & Peele sequence, the mirrors are noticeably far apart, you generally see only one actor in a mirror at a time, and mostly only see mirrors on one side of the actors at a time.

Answer 2

Another way to accomplish this would be to simply use a one way mirror and only light inside the room of mirrors. A one way mirror or half-silvered mirror (also sometimes called a two way mirror) is designed such that which ever side is brighter reflects light while the darker side can see through to the brighter side.

This is the same concept used in teleprompters to display text to a presenter while the camera only sees the presenter.

In the case of the house of mirrors, the camera would be able to see through the one way mirror, but within the scene, the mirrors would only see each other and not the camera or crew behind the mirror that is half-silvered.

Answer 3

One trick would be to not actually shoot it in such an enviroment, and then add the effect of mirrors in post. Probably easier than to try and hide a camera crew among mirrors.