To get the ball rolling, as Robin has suggested, I started exploring what can be achieved with a camera and mirrors. At this stage I wasn’t focused upon a theme or message I wanted to convey but merely to explore possibilities. I shot with my DSLR purely for simplicity sake but if I am to replicate or further explore the idea I want to explore the possibilities of the EX-3. For this exploration I got hold of two medium sized mirrors and started to look at constraints in terms of the angles at which I could shoot the mirror without my reflection being visible. To look at some of the possibilities of warping or tessellating the image of an object I used some shells, a rock and my ventolin inhaler. Unfortunately they aren’t particularly aesthetically pleasing but they served their purpose well.

 

Reviewing the footage I found that what I captured could be divided into three areas of exploration:

Infinity Loop
Here I was exploring what could be achieved by placing the mirrors essentially opposite one another. My experimenting was focused upon where I could position the camera to best capture the effect and seeing if there were ways to make introduce movement and interest to the effect.

Camera Movement
Through zooming and focus pulling I wanted to see if I could shift between the images in the mirror and ‘reality’ to confused or surprise audience. With this technique I could explore false senses of reality or attempt to create an optical illusion.

Mirror Movement
Utilising a stationery camera I wanted to see if I was able to create interesting patterns/effects by moving the mirrors. I found that this was a particularly interesting effect but quite limited by the fact that I was required to moves the mirrors by hand which was difficult not too capture.

Further Exploration
I believe that this is an area of worth however I feel that to convey a message powerfully it requires sophisticated execution. With a more refined set up and space I believe this quite yield exciting results. Working with larger mirrors would also help to achieve something more aesthetically pleasing. It would also be fantastic if I am able to use warped mirrors, such as convex mirror and ones similar to those at carnivals.
From this experiment it’s clear that this would be a vignette that will probably require people to assist with the set up and then throughout the shooting. With a crew there would be more freedom to explore both camera and mirror movement within a single shot. Incorporating Robin’s suggestion I also want to explore similar ideas with a person looking into the mirror, applying make up or adjusting their appearance in some form. In this experiment I would then movement from the their reflection to the face in ‘reality’ enticing the audience to question the validity of the filmic image as well as what they see of people in ‘reality’.