Mission Impossible UnMask Technique

[Chris Smith]

One who defecates,

Do you have a link to what you’re talking about?

Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com

[Pooper]

I do not have a link to anything that shows what I am talking about. But if you have ever seen any of the Mission Impossible movies you would certainly have seen the special effect I am reffering to. Where the main character pulls off a silicon mask to reveal that he is actualy somebody else. I am trying to pull off this effect in a short movie I am doing for my company. I have two shots of two different people blocked the exact same way in the exact same position. Each shot has the person with and without a green mask on, and both showing them removing the green mask. I need to know how I can key out the green mask and place the other person’s face in the place of the key and then have that face removed like it is a silicon mask when the real person pulls off the green mask. Any thoughts on how I can pull this off would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Chris Smith]

Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. Just so you know when ppl talk about masks here they are refering to AE Masks, and “unmasking” is often the term for using AE masks to reveal images from underneath giving the illusion that those images were drawn on. If you want a detailed answer, you should always give a detailed question.

I only saw MI 1, but from what I remember without seeing it agin, it was just prosthetics. It was mostly the power of the cut. Cutting between one actor and Tom Cruise quickly removing a prosthetic mask that looked almost identical to that previous person. But without seeing it, hard to tell.

1. How to key out the person’s face: Use Keylight in AE (or any other keyer).

2. The real problem with putting a shot of another persons face in isn’t the keying or any roto you may have to do, it’s the very complex deformations needed to make a flat image take on a rubber like quality to give the illusion that it’s a mask. If you just key a mask and stick in a face in that hole in the alpha channel, it won’t look at all like a mask, it will just look like a hole over someone’s face filled with a flat image. You can try deforming the replacement image with Mesh Warp, but I don’t predict a good result.

I would stick with the most powerful thing you have in any film: The cut. As they say “Never Express what you can imply”. So get a rubber halloween mask that looks at least in the ballpark of the previous person. Shoot the previous person, pretending like they are going to rip their own face off with a big demonstrative move with their elbow high up in the air blocking most of their face. Shoot this in a wide shot. Now punch in to a close up and have your replacement person match the arm move except they actually rip off the halloween mask. Have both actors do it nice and quick. You can also buy some cheap prostshetic material and make a small flap on the previous person’s neck so you can see them start to rip something off their own neck. Then edit between the two at the right point and you should have a good sequence.

Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com