Creating Special Effects for TV and Video, 3rd Edition

Fifty-Fifty Mirrors (Beam-Splitters)

 

Fifty-fifty mirrors are made from optically polished glass coated on one side with a microscopically thin layer of aluminium. The density of coating determines the amount of reflection which, as the term fifty-fifty implies, is designed to return 50 per cent of the light back to source and permitting 50 per cent to pass through.

Ghost effects

With the mirror placed at 45 degrees in front of the camera lens various ghost or super-imposition effects can be achieved.

This technique, while seldom employed in modern television studios, has uses for the camcorder owner needing to combine two pictures with a single camera.

With a 10 centimetre square mirror set in front of the lens, superimposition of one picture ...