Cinematography : To the Mirror and Back by Nathan Woodward

Nathan Woodward

To the Mirror and Back

Do you want to know something that's always fascinated me. Light. For example, a reflection. When pulling focus on a shot you generally have to spin the wheel until the focus aligns with the film/sensor plane. This is a simple concept. If you're ten feet away, you focus to ten feet.

Makes sense right?

Well, here's where it gets tricky. When you're filming a reflection you don't focus to the mirror. You have to focus to the mirror and then back how far away they are from the mirror. Everyone just acts like this is normal. It literally sends my mind into overload thinking about how light bends.

I guess they don't call it the Circle of Confusion for no reason. What are your thoughts?

Ashley Renee Smith

That's so trippy. I honestly find light so fascinating!

David Abrookin

I had never thought about that before and it hurts my brain a little. Thanks for teaching me something really cool about cinematography, though!

Nick Waters

That's some Inception kinda thinking...

Daniel Stuelpnagel

Yes, that mirror opens and re-opens the world; I’m a painter and have been photographing art work for years, usually I use plenty of autofocus and often there are certain paintings where a color field makes it impossible for AF to focus on the picture plane because it’s seeing miles out to infinity; also I found it interesting that I couldn’t use a scanner for small paper collages since the depth of field is so infinitesimal that one top layer is in focus against the glass but the half-millimeter between puts the underneath layer out of focus, so those get shot with a camera just like much larger paintings.

Nathan Woodward

Ashley Renee Smith I often quote Vittorio.

Nathan Woodward

@David It hurts my brain a lot lol.

Nathan Woodward

@Nick It is very much so lol.

Nathan Woodward

@Daniel I never thought about that in regards to the depth of a painting either, like, into another world lol. Wowzers!

Mino Rimada

Great post...

Nathan Woodward

Mino Rimada thanks Mino.

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