Eugen Schüfftan (21 July 1893, in Breslau,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, now Wroclaw, Poland – 6 September 1977, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) was a German cinematographer. He invented the

Schüfftan process The Schüfftan process is a movie special effect named after its inventor, Eugen Schüfftan (1893–1977). The technique consists of covering part of the camera's view with a mirror, allowing filmmakers to assemble an image from multiple par ...

, a

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

technique that employed mirrors to insert actors into miniature sets. One of the early uses of the process was for ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

'' (1927), directed by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

. The technique was widely used throughout the first half of the 20th century until it was supplanted by the

travelling matte Mattes are used in photography and special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image (e.g. actors on a set) with a background image (e.g. a scenic ...

and bluescreen techniques. Schüfftan won the 1962 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White for his work on the film ''

The Hustler ''The Hustler'' is a 1961 American sports romantic drama film directed by Robert Rossen from Walter Tevis's 1959 novel of the same name, adapted by Rossen and Sidney Carroll. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson a ...

''.

Selected filmography

External links

*
Literature on Eugen Schüfftan
German cinematographers Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Film people from Wrocław 1893 births 1977 deaths People from the Province of Silesia German emigrants to the United States {{cinematographer-stub

Selected filmography

See also

External links