American Cinematographer - December 2021 - 46

THE LOOKING GLASS
Top: Things get tense on the dance floor.
Bottom: Shooting McKenzie as she dances in
her character's childhood home for the film's
opening scene.
" There was very precise choreography. "
days at an old airfield.
" I usually do my own operating, " Chung says, " but this film had so
much Steadicam work and was so complicated, I took the B camera. "
Mirrors, Mirrors
The production's sets included three " double sets " that allowed Ellie and
Sandie to appear in the same frame, serving as each other's reflections
in mirrors.
When Ellie enters the Café de Paris, she catches a glimpse of herself
in the 8'x4' lobby mirror. The second time she looks, though, Sandie is
staring back at her. The coatroom attendant approaches and removes
Ellie's jacket from her shoulders, and what appears to be the very same
attendant simultaneously removes Sandie's coat in the mirror. This moment
was achieved with a two-minute Steadicam shot.
Rowland and crew built two identical lobbies side-by-side, and twin
brothers Oliver and James Phelps were hired to portray the coatroom
attendant. As one of the brothers moved around McKenzie to take her
coat, he walked between her and the camera, allowing just enough time
to slide the mirror out, exposing the second lobby set and Taylor-Joy. The
other brother removed Taylor-Joy's jacket at the same moment the first
one removed McKenzie's.
After exiting the lobby, Ellie follows - parallels, actually - Sandie
as she descends a staircase to the bar and dance floor. This, however,
was not a double set. Chung explains, " We shot two passes with a [Technocrane]
Technodolly, [doing] a simple motion-control move. Sandie
walks down the stairs, but we [digitally removed] the mirror covering the
wall next to her. Then we ran the shot again, this time with Ellie walking
down the stairs [watching Sandie]. " Ellie is reflected in several panes of
the segmented mirror; each pane was at a slightly different angle.
" Basically, it's a repeat move, " says Rowland. " Sandie walks down, and
we remove her reflection. Then Ellie does the same, and we keep the reflection
but lose Ellie. " After considering a number of options, " we decided
to do the two passes. There is always a bit of experimentation before
we alight on the right formula. " In post, the shot of Ellie's reflection was
flipped to the left side of the frame. " The scene is a clever mix of practical
effects and seamless VFX, " the production designer adds.
These two sequences encapsulate the feature's premise, and similar
sleights-of-hand abound in the movie. For example, when Sandie checks
her appearance in a mirror at the base of the stairs, her reflection is Ellie,
who can look out at the entire room from her position. Sandie starts
chatting with sleazy bar manager Jack (Matt Smith) while Ellie looks on.
A few minutes later, Jack joins Sandie at the mirror. " There's a hole in the
set [where we placed] a half-mirror, " says Rowland. " Jack is reflected in
that half of the glass [while Ellie stands in the other half]. Matt's body
movement seamlessly hides the join. "
For many such scenes, Chung zoomed into the mirrors using an Angénieux
Optimo Ultra 24-290mm T2.8.
46 / DECEMBER 2021
PHOTOS BY PARISA TAGHIZADEH, COURTESY OF FOCUS FEATURES.
American Cinematographer - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2021
