Yeah, now we're looking for the secret, aren't we...

but we won't find it because of course, we're not really looking.

I assumed Root's face was never in the same shot as Angier's?

I think they used a double (cutter would agree... )

The process would have been like this, I think;

1. Jackman plays both parts against the double.

2. They filmed the exact same shot twice to get coverage of Angier and Root.

3. In the editing they cut to the next angle as soon as the double's face was due to be seen.

"I don't know of any other way!"

If they used a double it would be only as eye-level-reference point I think. I doubt they pasted Jackman's face over someone else's face, it would look fake. The shot was done twice alright, the 2nd time Jackman and the double changed places.

And the double wore a green suit I guess.

Actually I think it's done three times, once with noone in the shot so they later on use that as a background layer.

prince0gotham wrote:If they used a double it would be only as eye-level-reference point I think. I doubt they pasted Jackman's face over someone else's face, it would look fake. The shot was done twice alright, the 2nd time Jackman and the double changed places.

And the double wore a green suit I guess.

Actually I think it's done three times, once with noone in the shot so they later on use that as a background layer.

They might have. Have you seen The Social Network? The face replacement there was superb. You didn't know which twin was played by Armie Hammer and which was played by Josh Pence. Many people believed that they were actually played by twins.

Depending on how the Prestige scene was shot, it might have been difficult to replicate it exactly. Nolan and Wally went for an extremely handheld approach, and it's very likely that Wally was just walking around with the camera and pointing it at things.

Well it seems Ernest Neinz played Rudy in the shots where no CGI was needed and where we see the back of the head of either Rudy or Angier. He might have played a guy in a green suit too, not sure about face placement.

You can tell in that scene, the guy whose back of head we see in those shots always has darker hair than the other one.


In those several little shots we see Angier walking around Rudy Angier seems a little off and moves/vibrates a little more than Rudy. He also seems a bit brighter and noisier and the the edges and contours of his body... I thinkWally did that manually I mean he shot Angier on a green screen then they did the harder thing and pasted and synced him into the frame. Because if there was face placement their necks would look unnatural and they don't.

such a complex shot... for only a moment in the film.

I want 'Making-of' of The Prestige.
Why we can't have enough extra features with Nolan's films?

Pratham wrote:I want 'Making-of' of The Prestige.
Why we can't have enough extra features with Nolan's films?

He's very secretive.

The distant shots that pan slightly and zoom in slowly on a moving car (Insomnia) or train (Inception) accompanied by a low pitch thud from the bass. Love them