Como eles filmaram o Homem Invisível sendo invisível no 1933?

O pequeno documentário O homem invisível - revelado! fornece detalhes de como eles atingiram os efeitos da invisibilidade. Nas cenas em que o personagem estava parcialmente vestido, eles filmaram o ator Claude Rains, vestindo veludo preto sobre as partes do corpo que pareciam invisíveis, contra um fundo de veludo preto. Essa filmagem foi então composta por filmagens do resto da cena, fazendo-o parecer invisível.

Isso é explicado em O homem invisível - revelado!, em suma, eles fizeram dois tiros, um com a cena principal e outro em que o ator usava todo preto contra um fundo preto e combinava os dois.

Any portion of the actor that was to disappear was covered in black velvet. Then photographed against a black velvet backdrop. When combined with a separate shot of the normal set the illusion of invisibility was startling.

_{The Invisible Man - Revealed!}

Isso é explicado ainda mais no ensaio abaixo, que também menciona uma patente sendo arquivada para a técnica.

John P. Fulton and Frank D. Williams are the men directly responsible for creating the ground breaking effects seen in the ‘The Invisible Man’ film. On the 23th of July 1916 F. D. Williams filed a US patent entitled ‘Method of Taking Motion Pictures’ which detailed a method of “taking motion pictures, and is especially adapted to produce a picture showing two or more objects in relative positions in which they have not actually been placed”

(F. D. Williams, 1916. Method of taking motion pictures. U.S. Pat.1,273,435)

This process was used and adapted as a base to create the majority of effects which illustrated a partly clothed or bandaged invisible character in the film. To achieve these effect sequences Rains or a double wore a tight fitting black velvet suit underneath any clothes which were to remain visible moving around the scene. The actor’s performance was then filmed on a black velvet backdrop; a second background plate was filmed and a double exposure was then used to seamlessly combine the two shoots together, this resulted in the black elements from the first shot, the valet suit and backdrop being replaced by the background film in the second shoot. This is a very early version of an effect today know as ‘green screen’, in modern times an array of different colours, most commonly green, blue and black are used depending on the backdrop and the colour of other elements in the scene for example if the screen is green heavy or an actor’s costume includes green, a blue backdrop can be used.

_{UK Essays, Technology In Invisible Man And Hollow Man Film Studies Essay}

De acordo com a Wikipedia:

The film is known for its clever and groundbreaking visual effects by John P. Fulton, John J. Mescall and Frank D. Williams, whose work is often credited for the success of the film. When the Invisible Man had no clothes on, the effect was achieved through the use of wires, but when he had some of his clothes on or was taking his clothes off, the effect was achieved by shooting Claude Rains in a completely black velvet suit against a black velvet background and then combining this shot with another shot of the location the scene took place in using a matte process. Claude Rains was claustrophobic and it was hard to breathe through the suit. Consequently, the work was especially difficult for him, and a double, who was somewhat shorter than Rains, was sometimes used.

The effect of Rains seeming to disappear was created by making a head and body cast of the actor, from which a mask was made. The mask was then photographed against a specially prepared background, and the film was treated in the laboratory to complete the effect.

Uma simples exposição dupla fantasma através das roupas do ator. Todas essas técnicas de fosqueamento dependem da manipulação do contraste. O próximo passo foi levar o elemento da câmera com a roupa sobre o preto e criar um fosco negativo de alto contraste, onde a roupa é preta (opaca) sobre um fundo claro. A primeira passagem é imprimir um positivo dos panos com um fundo preto. O segundo passo é imprimir um sanduíche da roupa fosca sobre o fundo. Somente a área externa aos panos será impressa no filme receptor