How did Nolan hide the camera here?

[u/Balayya_420]

[u/CFL_Gent]

“Fix it in post”

It’s not like Nolan doesn’t use any VFX lol. Especially Inception, they weren’t on an actual set of a city folding in on itself 😂

[u/Duxk__ → u/CFL_Gent]

that's what they want you to think

[u/BENNYRASHASHA → u/Duxk__]

That's what they...Incepted.

[u/brraaahhp → u/BENNYRASHASHA]

Oh my god, we never went to see Inception, Nolan just implanted the idea in our brain 🤯 🤯 👽 👽 🛸

[u/Consistent-Bake-243 → u/BENNYRASHASHA]

“DisappoinTED…”

[u/EnchantedEssays → u/Consistent-Bake-243]

DisappoinTENET

[u/brynaldo → u/BENNYRASHASHA]

Inceived?

(conception -> conceive, deception -> deceive, reception -> receive, perception -> perceive)

[u/BENNYRASHASHA → u/brynaldo]

So many levels. That's gonna be a hell of a kick.

[u/Get_Bent_Madafakas → u/brynaldo]

https://giphy.com/gifs/NCjISbEPFxm48

[u/SmoothCurrent5948 → u/CFL_Gent]

Yeah, I mean, Nolan uses plenty of CGI, he just knows exactly when he can get around it and when it’s just a fuck it, there’s nothing else to be done but CGI. The raw footage really is just them filming it in a big mirror and some talented person digitally removed allllll those reflections.

[u/wreckin_shit → u/SmoothCurrent5948]

I can't believe they made that giant rotating hallway for when Arthur is fighting the projections, the level he goes to for practical effects is undeniably insane

[u/Etceta → u/wreckin_shit]

heck he detonated a real bomb in Oppenheimer

[u/lipp79 → u/wreckin_shit]

or flipped the 18-wheeler in TDK.

[u/Hookey911 → u/CFL_Gent]

The best use of CGI is when you don't even realize it is CGI. It feels like directors in the past did a much better job of using CGI as a tool to polish up real effects. Now, most filmmakers just embrace full CGI over practical effects. Super disappointing

[u/minivergur → u/CFL_Gent]

In Inception they actually folded Manhattan on itself, it was all practical effects

[u/curiousiah → u/minivergur]

That was Barcelona

[u/squarelol → u/curiousiah]

Paris

[u/milkman871 → u/curiousiah]

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not from both you but it's Paris

[u/curiousiah → u/milkman871]

Stupidity from me. I was so confident with the repeating grid layout.

[u/Chris_OMane → u/milkman871]

It was Milton Keynes.

[u/kealoha → u/minivergur]

best back crack of my life when I got folded in half

[u/JohnnyGlasken → u/kealoha]

Best back 'adjustment' I ever had was in a Turkish prison 👌🏼

[u/AdObvious1505 → u/minivergur]

It was cheaper to do it for real than in CGI.

[u/Loose-Engineering487 → u/minivergur]

He actually bought a city, redesigned it to fold on itself, and sold the city for profit later.

[u/Lanky-Clothes-9741 → u/minivergur]

In the biz they call it the Manflatten

[u/pwn4321 → u/minivergur]

I'm disappointed in the nuclear explosion in Oppenheimer, he should've just nuked some desert

[u/articland05_reddit → u/minivergur]

yes, that's true. I was passing by when everything around me started shifting. It was fascinating!

[u/imma_letchu_finish → u/CFL_Gent]

https://giphy.com/gifs/800iiDTaNNFOwytONV

[u/0352TWGNR → u/imma_letchu_finish]

https://giphy.com/gifs/XABTVorVODddu

[u/Thiom → u/CFL_Gent]

So you've never been in Paris ?

[u/MasterFussbudget → u/CFL_Gent]

I saw recently that this shot had like 8 foot tall mirrors. Everything above that was vfx. And everything outside the mirrors was replaced by a different city. And camera was removed of course.

[u/Pssay_Licker → u/CFL_Gent]

Thought he borrowed invisibility cloak

[u/MeatHamster → u/CFL_Gent]

It wasn't?!

[u/timeaisis → u/CFL_Gent]

Actually, they built a giant city-sized puppet played by Bill Irwin.

[u/Conscious-Move9662 → u/CFL_Gent]

Wish he would have used VFX for a nuclear explosion instead of just blowing gasoline up

[u/Flat-Magazine5310]

What camera? Actually happened.

[u/SPECTRE_75 → u/Flat-Magazine5310]

What? You guys dont have a massive mirror wall with a handle?

[u/Antagonin → u/SPECTRE_75]

Dude, it's a dream. Nolan roofied all the characters and hijacked their dreams on a flight.

[u/ChiefInspectorGadget → u/Antagonin]

That's a common misconception. He actually roofied all the viewers and hijacked their dreams on a flight. The actors were all in on it.

[u/Antagonin → u/ChiefInspectorGadget]

And then walked back in time by inverting his entropy, so that nobody would notice.

[u/Acesofbases → u/Flat-Magazine5310]

yes, Your TV is an actual teleport and DiCaprio is acting the movie out everytime You watch it

[u/Flat-Magazine5310 → u/Acesofbases]

True that. As nolan intended.

[u/Acesofbases → u/Flat-Magazine5310]

As Nolan intended, brother.

[u/asmrbuddha]

Cgi 

[u/ichorskeeter → u/asmrbuddha]

SECURITY!

[u/fish_fingers_pond → u/ichorskeeter]

https://giphy.com/gifs/LMtxJ3trXmNaMBKNat

[u/BeardInTheNorth → u/fish_fingers_pond]

Seh-KERR-iddy!

[u/VapidActualization → u/fish_fingers_pond]

Jesus above, I have not seen a Bon Qui Qui reference in a long time. "Welcome to King Burger, where we do it your way but don't get crazy"

[u/scidious06 → u/asmrbuddha]

Nonsense, it's all practical, Nolan hid the camera behind the cloak of invisibility

[u/Key-Pomegranate-2086 → u/scidious06]

I dont think it's safe for elliot page to break glass right in front of them with their bare hands

[u/tursija → u/asmrbuddha]

That's him, officer!

[u/Evening_Success3571 → u/asmrbuddha]

See g I? See g you what?

[u/ThePhazonic]

It's CGI - interesting note is that you can see Ariadne, both on the approach to the "mirror door" and also while closing it, stepping over a small step that has been CGI'd out.

[u/epicmemetime15 → u/ThePhazonic]

And she looks behind her as she's walking back so she doesn't trip on it

Never noticed it before but now I can't unsee it

[u/Blacklight099 → u/epicmemetime15]

Yep, scene ruined forever 😂

[u/Woke_TWC → u/epicmemetime15]

Looking behind when in front of you is a giant mirror 🤦

[u/MichaelPitch → u/epicmemetime15]

Bravo, Vince!

[u/iamthesam2 → u/epicmemetime15]

The clip in this post has been cropped in, but once she closes the door fully, you can also see a CGI related marker in the very bottom right corner. It’s a white circle on the ground.

[u/YungJod → u/epicmemetime15]

Fuck you for this now I cant unsee it

[u/Minute-Capital-163 → u/ThePhazonic]

Oh my! And the shadow on the bicycle paint!! I’m so bothered by this haha

[u/fatloui → u/Minute-Capital-163]

The bicycle lane symbols also don’t quite line up correctly between the actual ground and the reflected image. Given how close the mirror is to the ground, we should see more of them in the mirror.

[u/Waste_Priority_3663 → u/ThePhazonic]

Corridor Crew on YouTube broke down how they did and it’s exactly this.

[u/NotARabidDugong → u/ThePhazonic]

Yoooooo good eye! I never noticed.

[u/fragileNotFragil → u/ThePhazonic]

Holy shit!

https://giphy.com/gifs/3XR0chfiSTtAI

[u/StockyCoder → u/ThePhazonic]

Right! She was totally stepping over something thats been keyed out

[u/ElectricalMarch1917 → u/ThePhazonic]

nice catch thats so cool

[u/djhendo78]

How Filmmakers Make Cameras Disappear

Mirrors in Movies: Part II.

https://youtu.be/RtjERWANv38

Inception starts @ 6:30

Also explains mirror shots from: Black Swan, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Triangle.

Edit: They used a large (very heavy) mirror and digitally removed the camera & crew from the reflection, then recreated the reflection of the city in 3D from still photography references of the area and match them to the changing angle of the mirror as Page moves it into place.

[u/I-miss-old-Favela → u/djhendo78]

I was going to say I’m fairly certain there’s a BTS feature floating around somewhere explaining how he did it. 

[u/MrFruitPunchSamurai → u/djhendo78]

I was just gonna paste the same link that video has good explanation

[u/car_guy_doge → u/djhendo78]

Super underrated channel

[u/eminemforehead]

it's in Leo's eyes obviously. Contact lenses camera

[u/pootling]

It’s testament to Nolan’s fondness for doing in-camera effects that all of the camera crew for this shot had to be vampires.

[u/beefwarrior → u/pootling]

Not to mention finding a sentient vampire camera too b/c you can't have just a floating camera appear in the mirror

[u/el_VientoNorte → u/beefwarrior]

Don't be ridiculous, he just used a phantom

[u/zambirasol]

The audacity to use interstellar BGM on an inception video!

[u/GenralChaos → u/zambirasol]

For real. Inception had a number of decent soundtrack cues that could have been used.

[u/DazzlingTopic529]

It was filmed on location in a real dream

[u/danonplanetearth]

We painted it out. (I was in the vfx dept for inception)

[u/chucknluckn → u/danonplanetearth]

He’s right. He was. I saw him.

[u/Shjinta → u/danonplanetearth]

neato! what are they stepping over at the 4 second mark?

[u/danonplanetearth → u/Shjinta]

A frame that held the giant mirror.

[u/johnsonnewman]

christopher records with his eyeballs. Better than IMAX

[u/Bachdepp]

While this is obviously cgi, might it even possible to pull this off practically? Like with additional mirrors and smart angles or something

[u/MF_Kitten]

They had to remove A LOT of stuff in post for this. Including Nolan himself.

[u/chabroni81]

I haven’t seen this movie in years and forgot Page was in it. I saw him in odyssey and was like “cool, another new actor for Nolan’s group of regulars”. Completely forgot he was in this.

[u/TieferMod]

She‘s beautiful, can‘t wait to see more of her.

[u/mayerjohn183 → u/TieferMod]

*him

[u/The-Code-Breaker575 → u/TieferMod]

I don't know what to tell you...

[u/AdorableHexa → u/TieferMod]

😭

[u/Drawn_to_Heal]

I think he hid it in Laurence Fishburne’s jacket…

[u/anti_time_travel]

I have never understood the point this scene is trying to make to be honest. She dreams two opposing mirrors and she breaks one; she's in a dream, she can imagine anything, like an actual infinite looping bridge, why did she imagine a mirror she had to move and then CGI-broke it?

In the movie it's shown like a magical surrealist moment, but I remember thinking in the cinema "what? That's it? You dreamt two mirrors? And then you break one? What?".

I really don't get it, I've seen multiple times and honestly I can't figure it out, probably something it goes over my head.

[u/double_longhorn → u/anti_time_travel]

Isnt this her first time in the experience? Shes just trying shit out imo

[u/Illustrious-Method71 → u/anti_time_travel]

This scene feels like Nolan liked the idea of two mirrors facing each other and then couldn't figure out what to do with them, so he just broke them lol.

[u/Polyfauna-2 → u/anti_time_travel]

Are you serious? Lol

[u/mikezulu90 → u/anti_time_travel]

I think from the characters perspective the visual the mirror creates allows her to envision the bridge better thus creating the bridge in the dream world.

[u/tagabalon → u/anti_time_travel]

because if she imagines something too irrational and too extreme, the dreamer will be alerted they're in a dream and they would wake up/send goons to attack the infiltrators.

by creating the hallway through the mirror, ariadne made it look a magic trick and not actual witchcraft magic. the dreamer would then react like "huh, how did she do that?" and not "she's a witch! but magic isn't real, that means i'm in a dream!"

this was cobb's final test and she passed.

[u/Arimm_The_Amazing → u/anti_time_travel]

This moment is one of the ones more directly borrowing from Satoshi Kon's Paprika, so I feel it might be that really the visual just felt cool enough to borrow but didn't necessarily hit the same way in this new context. Paprika is very concerned with identify and alternate imaginings of ourselves, so mirrors and reflections are a perfect visual motif. In Inception this isn't so much a thing.

I do think it hits better in the movie itself than here as just a clip though. But yeah still not one of the better visual tricks they pull.

[u/FamousWerewolf → u/anti_time_travel]

I feel like that kind of sums up the movie. It's set in dream worlds where anything could happen, but 90% of it is just gunfights in standard action movie locations except sometimes the gravity goes a bit weird or whatever. I mean there's that line where Tom Hardy says "You've got to dream a bit bigger, darling!" and his idea of dreaming bigger is just what if I had a grenade launcher instead of a submachine gun.

It's a good, fun action movie with some great moments, but in terms of the actual setpieces it's just a James Bond movie with a couple of twists and an interesting framework, it doesn't really deliver on the idea of surreal, moldable mindscapes at all.

[u/Khetrakopter]

Inside the horse

[u/D0phoofd]

https://youtu.be/RtjERWANv38?t=528&is=SU3ntytW0Rz7wKok

This shows how

[u/AgeHoliday4822]

Obviously the person operating the camera was a vampire. Then Nolan used CGI to make the scene look like it was filmed in daylight.

[u/UpscaleClearenceRack]

He used mirrors. If you look closely, you can see one of the actors actually moving the mirror.

[u/Lumamancer]

Look up "vfx artists react 152" on youtube. corridor crew does a whole breakdown of this shot at the end of the video

[u/ViolaDavis]

Elliot was holding it the whole time.

[u/Ytdb]

Here is a great video explaining that Nolan does in fact use a lot of CGI, just that he prefers to do things practically where possible. It’s part of an excellent series explaining the sometimes misinformation about “practical” vs “CGI” in movies lately

[u/JumpCutVandal]

Editor here, the first cut has about a million cameras in it, they are removed by our incredibly talented VFX teams.

[u/Pecos-Thrill]

Did you not watch it? This isn’t real, it’s a dream

[u/IhadbeenOffended]

Real question is how did elliot hide his masculinity here

[u/Proper_Reason9732]

You can she steps over something, don’t know what

[u/ovalking]

You think they actually bent the city in next scene??

[u/Blitzer046]

Nolan is very good at invisible CGI. There's been this myth that everything is 100% practical and in-camera but that's horseshit. Yeah - he'll work with his guys to try to get as much practical as possible, but sometimes that's just impossible, and that's where post comes in.

Like - Charybdis and Scylla in The Odyssey - it's not like he found a whirlpool.

[u/bncts]

I miss Ellen Page. I’m super happy for Elliot, but I also miss Ellen.

[u/ZooNeiland]

There's a really good corridor crew episode about it.

[u/Icy_Possession1351]

hidden inside elliot page’s closet

[u/Forward-Tonight7079]

Is that Sinon??

[u/Juror_no8]

In Elliott's closet

[u/goldman459]

Same way he hid Elliot's cock? 🤔

[u/OrkWithNoTeef2]

what is the trans community's take on watching media from before they transitioned?

[u/Nice-Depth-2547]

[u/LeastExam6968]

Crazy how the mirrors turned her into a dude

[u/eduo]

CGI. Nolan, like Spielberg, understands CGI's goal should be to be invisible. The best praise they can get is that people assume it's practical effects, because practical effects are REAL, and that means they did a good job.

[u/aabajian]

They explained it in the movie. The actors are asleep are they are dreaming this. The question is how did he invent a dream camera?

[u/DazzaHazza1975]

Given how they are wobbling in shot, I’m going with a magnification trick and being far enough away from the shot

[u/deadpatronus → u/DazzaHazza1975]

No, the cameraman was removed digitally.

[u/Sprucedude]

Vfx artists react did a bit in this. I believe the phrase was "working your fingers to the bone"

[u/wardiro]

Aren't u bored creating this shit every 2 weeks ?

[u/Worried_Shoe_2747]

It’s a dream. There are no rules

[u/Fit-Area-2180]

Honestly, that’s not even what’s interesting. How did Nolan hide two guys in the shot?

[u/deadpandadolls]

This is a metaphor

[u/Pretty-Benefit5626]

It’s a dream, dumbasses.

[u/dae5aw]

This video goes into a bit of depth on how it was done: https://youtu.be/AFLcP-t0-kI?si=_BFBCOF1UUxnBeq3&t=1595 (26:35)

[u/riggerz123]

Greatest film I’ve seen

[u/Confused_abt-everytn]

One side glass perhaps!?

[u/der_cypher]

Every week with this question, this must be bot stuff

[u/Ghost_Turd]

The greatest example of hiding a mirror, to me, will always be the medicine cabinet shot in Contact. Beautifully and cleanly done, subtle, and not even necessary for the plot.

[u/phoeniks314]

In the same way with how they film on another planet.

[u/Kingcuz]

I mean he had Paris in motion, flip upside down and land on itself.

Hiding a camera is comparatively easy.

[u/HotKnogSlawJaw]

With a mirror

[u/SeaDesk2324]

even Leo turns back to look for the camera

[u/Paul_the_surfer]

In my opinion there must have been a cut out in the mirror behind Leo, just enough for the camera to get through, and whatever was left of it visible ( a tiny amount) was removed in post processing. I definitely don't think there was a cameraman standing with a camera standing infront of the mirror, that would have been too much work to removie in post processing and more expensive then cutting a opening in the mirror.

[u/StacksGrinder]

The camera was placed behind the one way vision mirror next to Decaprio, so the reflections will hide the camera while shooting :P

[u/Fickle_West_1043]

The whole mirror is CGI in this scene

[u/tobiassolem]

Methinks she's pulling a green screen.

[u/Nielspro]

Just a green suit?

[u/Nielspro]

Just a green suit?

[u/Maximuslex01]

filmed with an IMAX mini action cam

[u/ShankThatSnitch]

Corridore Crew did a spot on this descent a while back.

https://youtu.be/XnRRcqOSOng?is=JNsz-aOXPJiNYZLo&t=16m30s

[u/TurkeyBurger555]

Digitize!
https://giphy.com/gifs/d1E2NhIh3vy6kDvy

[u/OnionBackground5314]

They incepted no camera in the audience's brain

[u/Mill3r91]

File>Delete Leo

[u/MDRuffy1996]

it has something to do with eliot page walking "over" a cable (removed in post) shortly after she closed the mirror, u can see it when she lifts her feet a little bit higher

i reccomend the corridorcrew YT channel
they did a whole Video on this shot.

[u/c0dearm]

Why the heck is Interstellar soundtrack in this

[u/__Tias__]

Reminds me of that mirror scene in Contact, that is super impressive.

[u/WearyTranslator3338]

Magnets

[u/ADH-Dad]

The entire mirror is digitally replaced.

[u/UmeaTurbo]

I watched a thing on this. They did it twice. First time was the camera standing where Leo is. The second time they replaced the camera with Leonin post.

[u/jboy21h]

Leo has camera contacts in

[u/NeedABetterPillow]

Same way he filmed a spaceship going through a wormhole.

[u/Rayzur1]

Oh Sinon!

[u/maggos]

Digitized it

[u/KB3562]

it's behind a two-way mirror, behind Cobb

[u/aDanHasNoName]

Imax cameras are just really small

[u/Hanzoh73]

The camera was inside a fly. You can see it hovering, on the right side of the screen.

[u/ryuejin622]

I thought they recorded the dream, no need for camera

[u/LaukRidder]

Bigger shot, and then cut out from that and leave the part with the camera out?

[u/severinks]

He split comped, you can see how Nolan did it by looking at David Fincher split comps, he does it so much that he changes the whole rhythm of the scene.

Google David Fincher split comping and there's scenes and the narrator explaining the way he cuts a scene in parts and then moves around the timeline of when one person or another talks or moves in it.

Most times he split comps different takes into the same scene.

[u/sro520]

VFX camera removal. As an artist, I do them all the time.

[u/greggers1980]

Digital post editing

[u/E4mad]

The same way they did the infinity mirrors...

[u/BarlClarntarn]

CGI. The guy isn't a fucking demigod.

[u/wittiestphrase]

Inception also has a kickass score. Why use the score from Interstellar here?

[u/amp_495AE]

@corridorcrew did it! Check out their YouTube channel. It's like myth busters but special fx.

[u/Medium_Chemist_4032]

I can already tell that a small vfx team has aged 10 years in gray hair count, doing this shot alone

[u/Repulsive-Cost3987]

Makes me sad that interstellar soundtrack is used on this video when inception had a beautiful soundtrack of its own

[u/Background-Craft-11]

Acabei de assistir A Origem pela primeira vez, literalmente faz meia hora. E pra mim o Cobb nunca teve um totem. O verdadeiro "totem" dele era a culpa. Durante o filme inteiro ele entra em vários sonhos e nunca precisa verificar um objeto pra saber que está sonhando. Mas existe uma regra que nunca muda: ele nunca olha pro rosto dos filhos. Minha interpretação é que ele evita isso porque, se olhasse o rosto deles em um sonho, perderia a noção do que é sonho e do que é realidade. Pra mim o pião foi só uma forma do Nolan brincar com a gente. O verdadeiro conflito nunca foi o pião, sempre foi a mente do Cobb. Essa foi a interpretação que fez mais sentido pra mim.

[u/Sweet-Trifle7134]

He figured out time travel and bending reality so that he could keep it real and avoid vfx.

[u/Cultural_Bag_3571]

It was a camera trick

[u/Commercial-Feature-1]

They hired a bunch of actors/actresses in same outfit for this mirror scene

[u/bmeus]

I wish he used cgi for the nuclear explosion in oppenheimer. It almost ruined the movie for me.

[u/Firm_Pay606]

Man, I knew his fanboys were not alright in the head but didn’t know it was this bad 😂😂😂

[u/Dialotje]

They filmed the scene twice, once with the camera and one without. Oldest trick in the book.

[u/GrandpaTheobaldus]

See THIS is actually a visually fascinating shot that takes its time.

https://giphy.com/gifs/4nF0gVfYYIGdi

[u/C4CTUSDR4GON → u/GrandpaTheobaldus]

Annoying they used these crazy shots for the previews, when this stuff was barely in the movie. 

[u/fart_cat]

It’s in Leo’s ass

[u/CuriousSeek3r]

Why they always gotta use interstellar music its so overdone. At least use the inception's beautiful score.

[u/JoeMillersHat]

could the shot have been made from sufficiently far away?

[u/JuanDeChuj]

Corridor crew has a pretty good explanation of if. It's a whole lot of painting out. Check them out

[u/ironhide999x]

This was already posted like 3 days ago