RE: Eclair Cameras: beam splitting

[Chris Leong <emotepix@artnet.net>]

Hey Larry
The effect is a classic one - check under "Pepper's Ghost" - as Wade has 
said, it's basically a semi-silvered mirror, first surface (i.e. 
reflective stuff on the side of the glass facing you, not the back side 
like a regular mirror). This gives you the same effect as a Bolex RX 
prism, but in front of the lens. Set at 45 degrees you can get two 
images (the superimposition effect depending on and controllable by the 
lighting ratio between the two images shot). 
I shot a scene this way once, two actors, one straight ahead, and the 
other to camera left. If you try this, beware - you need two script 
supervisors, since it's very difficult for a single script super to keep 
track of the action that's happening onto one image, but originating in 
two simultaneous shooting directions. 
Commonly used in the old days, for instance, to put a miniature set and 
live action together - kind of an in-camera matte shot. (Which is, of 
course, the original use of the matte box...)
HTH
Cheers
Chris



shaktilarry@cs.com wrote:
> Reading in my trusty guide to low budget filmmaking, I encountered a 
> chapter on special effects using a beamsplitter. I said, "Should talk to 
> the guys on the list about this one," realizing that I had said it out 
> loud on the subway, I pretended I was on a cell phone. Since I was 
> underground, it was a bad scene.
>
> But, hey, what can you do? Does anyone know about where to get a 
> beamsplitter and how double exposure works with them? 
> Larry

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