Graphics Reference
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Access to sets
Rigoletto featured a completely circular small room, with every surface lined with mirrors, a
perfect expression of the Duke's monstrous vanity. Showing as many rel ections of the Duke as
possible while hiding the camera would seem impossible, but each mirror could slide upwards,
and the lens could be gently positioned in the subsequent gap. There were convenient
cushions and bits of furniture to hide the rel ections on the opposite wall. The set, probably
four feet in diameter and three feet tall, was an animator's nightmare, but I had only myself to
blame. The Duke lay back on a low bed, indecently enjoying the myriad of rel ections. The only
way I could reach him was by sliding a mirror up each frame and reaching in. The mirrors were
constructed so that you barely noticed any movement in them as they were replaced. Some
audiences still wonder how the character was animated. Being able to insert walls and other
pieces of the set as digital plates these days does make things both so much easier and more
The enormous set for Rigoletto .
complex to work out, but I miss the tricks. Spending weeks shooting against blue screen is a
disheartening experience for any animator, but ultimately a creative one for the
director. An animator has to work even harder in these blue vacuums and it's hard
not to lose track of eye lines and a sense of the geography.
In theory an audience shouldn't question the logistics of putting a camera
anywhere. Hitchcock apparently did not want any music in his i lm of Lifeboat , as he
worried that some of the less savvy members of the audience might wonder how
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