Schüfftan process

The Schüfftan process is a special effect in filmmaking named after its inventor, German cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan (1893–1977). The technique consists of covering part of the camera's view with a mirror, allowing filmmakers to assemble an image from multiple parts. It was widely used in the first half of the 20th century before being almost completely replaced by the travelling matte and bluescreen effects.

Setup of the Schüfftan process. In the left diagram, a camera (at the bottom of the diagram) is pointed towards a mirror which has a small archway cut in it, through which distant actors can be seen, with the reflective surface of the mirror reflecting a small stone block to its left. The right-hand diagram shows the view from the camera's perspective: the two figures appear to be standing in an archway in an enormous stone block.

First popularized in the 1927 film Metropolis, this technique involved positioning a plate of glass at a 45-degree angle between the camera and the miniatures, outlining the area where actors would be inserted, and transferring this outline to a mirror. The process is similar to "Pepper's ghost", a 19th century stage technique. Despite its use in numerous films, including works by Alfred Hitchcock and Peter Jackson, the Schüfftan process has largely been replaced by matte shots and bluescreen effects.

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