Why can't I see my reflection in the mirror on a television?

Question

Does this mean anything teacher?Why can't I see my reflection in the mirror on a television?Why don't mirrors reflect anything when you see them on tv?http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=Ar_FOzjGdI9aawIfvT1ZiAr_xQt.;_ylv=3?show=OyXuKky2aa  You're asking two completely different questions. You can't see your reflection in a mirror on a television because you're not on the show. You'd have to be on the set where the mirror is physically, silly. As far as why mirrors don't reflect anything when you see them on tv, you must be referring to them not reflecting anything the set...I simply can't answer that one because I've never observed or taken notice that.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Perhaps you are a vampire?

Clive

Khoff · Answer

Anonymous, you've just quoted a question and the answer from "Yahoo! Answers".

AnonymousDoes this mean anything teacher?

Yes, of course it "means something". What part of the question or the answer do you not understand?

Dimsumexpress · Answer

CliveHi,Perhaps you are a vampire?Clive

Or something supernatural....

Anonymous · Answer

Yes, I've noticed this too, that is, in movies you rarely see a scene where there is a reflection in a mirror.  Apparently a movie camera doesn't photograph a reflection in a mirror well, and so for mirror scenes they apparently have to use trick photography or special processing to get a person's reflection in a mirror, which is expensive, and so they simply avoid scenes with mirrors in them.

Anonymous · Answer

Another possibility is that this is considered just bad cinematography, that is, shooting an actor's reflection in a mirror.  An actor is going to look smaller in a mirror, and movie stars want to look larger than life, or maybe an actor just doesn't look as good in a reflection in a mirror.  So no scenes with mirrors in them.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousYes, I've noticed this too, that is, in movies you rarely see a scene where there is a reflection in a mirror. Apparently a movie camera doesn't photograph a reflection in a mirror well, and so for mirror scenes they apparently have to use trick photography or special processing to get a person's reflection in a mirror, which is expensive, and so they simply avoid scenes with mirrors in them.

Such scenes are much more common than you realize. It's a typical cinematic device to show a character's reflection in a mirror. The audience believes it's a straight-on shot. Then the camera draws back and we see that what we thought was the character seen directly was only his reflection in a mirror. I'm sure that real film buffs could point you to at least 50 such scenes without thinking about it for more than an hour. Perhaps it's become a cliche these days, and we aren't seeing it as often, but I assure you a movie camera can photograph reflections very well indeed as long as the lighting is set up properly and care is taken that the camera man and his camera are at the right angle so they don't enter the shot. Of course, having an impeccably clean mirror doesn't hurt.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

I've thought about this some more.

Another possibility is that actors are taught to play to the camera, but in a mirror scene he must play to the mirror, so to speak. This might throw a wrench into the whole scene.

Still another possibility is that mirrors are either tinted, to flatter the viewer, or not tinted, giving a stark, unflattering image; neither would cut it in the movies. If an actor looks better in a tinted mirror then worse when the camera pans back live, that's not good. And if he looks worse in an untinted mirror, that's no good either.

Yet another possibility is that people apparently have a deep-seated and unconscious ambivalence towards mirrors, since they've often not liked what they've see in them. So a mirror scene might trigger an instinctive negative reaction in a viewer, which can turn him off to the whole movie.

Thus, mirror scenes are apparently considered bad cinematographic technique and are avoided by directors.

Khoff · Answer

Anonymousmirror scenes are apparently considered bad cinematographic technique and are avoided by directors.

Or not, as Jim suggests.

Why can't I see my reflection in the mirror on a television?

Why can't I see my reflection in the mirror on a television?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions