THE PARENT TRAP - Body doubles & Split screens
The 1961 audience was totally wowed by the filming of TWO Hayley Mills in Disney's THE PARENT TRAP. David Swift, director, was able to create the illusion of twins through the use of body doubles and a split screen. Ub Iwerk and Bob Broughton were the geniuses behind the new technological advancement in film.
In creating the illusion of Hayley being her own twin, these scenes had to be filmed twice. Actress double, Susan Henning, stood in for placement during the filming of the split screen shots. Hayley would then, change clothes and wig for a re shoot of the opposite twin. Everything involved in the scene remained the same - camera, set, lighting, props, etc. for continuity. The other part of the screen is then filmed with the opposite - previously filmed - side which would be blacked out with a matte. The two strips of film were rephotographed one frame at a time. The 'split' in the screen is masked with a 'seam,' or background element - bedposts, door frames, poles, etc. It was all very subtle in this movie, for try as I might, I did not see a clear split. It is no wonder that the Visual Effects team won the Oscar for their work THE PARENT TRAP that year.
Notice the pole running down the center of the bed in this scene.
It covers up any trace of the scenes being conjoined.
The technical explanation from Wikipedia:
The negative of the first action was placed
into a printer and copied onto another negative, the composite, but this other
negative was masked so that only the right part of the original picture is
copied. Then the composite was rewound and the negative of the second action
was copied onto the right side of each frame. On this second pass, the left
side was masked to prevent double exposure. This technique is then carefully
hidden by background lines, such as windows, doors, etc. to disguise the split.
During the wedding scene, Hayley had to walk slowly, (and very straight) so that she wouldn't move through the split, to the beat of a metronome. She would then go back and walk down the opposite side, giving the illusion of walking next to each other. On a specific beat of the metronome, the girl on the left would turn and look at her sister on the other side.
Hayley's double was filmed for 'over the shoulder' or side shots, when the face of the twin would not be seen. The director did not want to optically combine the girls any more than he needed to. The greatest challenge to Susan Henning was making sure that she was not recognized in the scene.
Susan Henning at the piano.
Hayley Mills with Susan Henning
Walt Disney presented Susan Henning with the special award, "The Duster," the best 'unseen performance' of an actress.
THE PARENT TRAP - 1998 - Director, Nancy Meyers - Dean Cundey, Cinematographer
Thirty seven years later, computer digital software was now the key in duplicating an actress in a film.
Below is the information that I found (which was not as much as I'd hope to find) on special cinematography for The Parent Trap 1998.
*The 1998 film is shot in two passes: the A pass and the B
pass, utilizing motion control techniques.
When the filmmakers are satisfied with a good take on the Annie/A pass, the shot is locked. Lohan will then change hairstyle, make-up and wardrobe and return to the set to shoot the Hallie/B pass.
On the A pass, the camera operator and dolly grip “teach” the motion control computer the pan, tilt, track, boom and focus moves. On the B pass, the Cooper software will play back the camera moves exactly as they were done on the first pass to within about a 1,000th of an inch accuracy.
When the filmmakers are satisfied with a good take on the Annie/A pass, the shot is locked. Lohan will then change hairstyle, make-up and wardrobe and return to the set to shoot the Hallie/B pass.
On the A pass, the camera operator and dolly grip “teach” the motion control computer the pan, tilt, track, boom and focus moves. On the B pass, the Cooper software will play back the camera moves exactly as they were done on the first pass to within about a 1,000th of an inch accuracy.
Lohan's double Mackey, was on set for filming daily. Many of the scenes utilized the over the shoulder/side shoot. In these instances, the back or side of Mackey would be filmed as Lohan's twin.
*During each pass, stand-in acts opposite Lohan to aid her with eye line, timing and blocking. With the aid of the state-of-the-art ear wig that plays back her Annie performance in her ear only, Lohan can perfectly time the delivery of her Hallie lines on the B pass.
Erin Mackey - Lindsay Lohan's body double
(Erin Mackey went on to play leading roles on Broadway and touring companies - most recently, Glinda in WICKED and Mary Catlett in AMAZING GRACE.)
Just for fun! Below is a recent 22 year REUNION with stars from THE PARENT TRAP - interviewed by Katie Couric.
For current usage of split screens and acting doubles in cinematography today, check out the short feature on Canadian science fiction thriller ORPHAN BLACK.
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