Mirror, Mirror

December 21, 2010 4:18 AM

It's crazy how a simple mirror filter can transform a video into something else. (via.)

This video was shot with a camera mounted to the front windshield of a car driving through down-town Chicago, with the mirror effect added later on the computer.

posted by Phire (26 comments total)

It's not crazy. It's awesome.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:20 AM on December 21, 2010

Well now I want to see a mirror effect of the lower half of the screen. Feet, wheels, asphalt, snow, reflections.
posted by infinitewindow at 4:22 AM on December 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Previsouly (same thing... in Tokyo!)
posted by ddaavviidd at 4:34 AM on December 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

If they don't chase you after a mile, they don't chase you.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:53 AM on December 21, 2010

I had missed that Tokyo stuff that ddaavviidd linked to above, when it showed up in october. That first clip on the Tokyo FPP lookes very much like the mental image I had years ago of William Gibson's virtual reality (aka cyber-world or whatever) from those books of his in the 90s.

So, this mirror filter stuff seems to be something of a genre unto itself... The way folks are concentrating on sleek urban vistas, and adding electronica soundtracks, well, it kinda makes me want to do some really low-tech-looking version: say, the gritty outskirts of Memphis Tennessee, with some harmonica music from 1928 as the soundtrack.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:01 AM on December 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

I don't think it's crazy at all. It's a single-click preset filter. I've seen similar films shot by Man Ray back in the 30s.
posted by jet_manifesto at 5:03 AM on December 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

From a few years back - the video for She Moves She, by Fourtet.
posted by suckerpunch at 5:56 AM on December 21, 2010

I've seen similar films shot by Man Ray back in the 30s.

Seriously? I'd love to see that. Do you have links?
posted by longtime_lurker at 5:59 AM on December 21, 2010

During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese soldiers hid in caves from U.S. air strikes. Bomb craters now serve as fishponds.

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:21 AM on December 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

longtime_lurker: Do you have links?

I can't seem to find the exact work I'm thinking of online, but I saw a collection of his films on display in Tokyo earlier this year and recall a specific scene moving down a street with a mirror doubling the buildings...

Emak Bakia is a well-known work from the same period...I suspect that his more obscure work is very hard to get hold of outside of touring exhibitions, and probably hasn't been digitally uploaded anywhere. Mores the pity :(
posted by jet_manifesto at 6:28 AM on December 21, 2010

Hey, Chicago! And its all 2001-y!
posted by shakespeherian at 6:48 AM on December 21, 2010

Well now I want to see a mirror effect of the lower half of the screen. Feet, wheels, asphalt, snow, reflections.

If the video was taken between say November and March you probably wouldn't want to see that. There is a perpetual slush and salt crust that has a unique soul crushing quality. This is balanced by two or three glorious days called Spring that make up for the entirety of winter and justify living in Chicago.
posted by Babblesort at 7:39 AM on December 21, 2010

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"
posted by Windopaene at 7:46 AM on December 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

I want to see the original... I'm amazed at how clear the video is.
posted by MikeWarot at 7:49 AM on December 21, 2010

We can all agree these look like Blade Runner, right?
posted by Brainy at 8:37 AM on December 21, 2010

Cool, but I'd like to see one without the wipers on.
posted by orme at 8:38 AM on December 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

yeah jet is right...you also might want to watch Leger's Ballet Mecanique on Ubuweb.

Does anyone know any open source tools that might let me setup do a similar Mirror filter though?
posted by lslelel at 9:30 AM on December 21, 2010

On a mac you can do this with Quartz Composer quite easily.
posted by mike_bling at 10:43 AM on December 21, 2010

We can all agree these look like Blade Runner, right?

Which version?
posted by inigo2 at 2:14 PM on December 21, 2010

sort of chicago after a latter day deluge...
soɹʇ oɟ ɔɥıɔɐƃo ɐɟʇǝɹ ɐ ןɐʇʇǝɹ pɐʎ pǝןnƃǝ˙˙˙
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 4:49 PM on December 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"

Bright blue, rite?
posted by mendel at 5:14 PM on December 21, 2010

That gave me the same terrible feeling as driving on 495, on a Friday night, taking 2 hours to go 15 miles.
posted by zephyr_words at 10:22 PM on December 21, 2010

I *have* been that hung over.
posted by gjc at 6:29 AM on December 22, 2010

Turn your laptop on its side and then watch it in portrait orientation. It's even better!
posted by dowcrag at 9:06 AM on December 22, 2010

> Does anyone know any open source tools that might let me setup do a similar Mirror filter though?

The fantabulous AviSynth will do it, if you're running Windows:

a = AviSource("yourmovie.avi")
b = a.Crop(0,0,0,a.Height/2)
b = b.FlipVertical()
return a.Overlay(b,0,a.Height/2)

posted by ostranenie at 7:30 PM on December 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

(Use in conjunction with Nic's Windows Media Encoder for best results)
posted by ostranenie at 7:31 PM on December 23, 2010