The Schüfftan process, named after its inventor Eugen Schüfftan (1893–1977), is a movie special effect widely used in the first half of the 20th century. It is the precursor of the travelling matte and bluescreen effects. Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. ... Matte or matt can be used to describe a non-glossy finish on a surface; it can also be used to denote the surface surrounding a framed picture, between the picture itself and the frame; usually made from coloured card. ... The bluescreen setup The final image Bluescreen is the film technique of shooting foreground action against an even-lighted blue background, which is then replaced by a separately shot background plate scene by optical composition. ...

Schüfftan, a German cinematographer, used a combination of miniature models and mirrors to create the imagination of huge real sets in the 1927 movie Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. The camera is aimed at a mirror, part of whose reflective layer was scratched off to make the actors behind it visible. A small scale model or a painting is reflected by the mirror. Metropolis Metropolis is a German science fiction film set in a futuristic urban dystopia. ... Friedrich Anton Christian Lang (December 5, 1890 - August 2, 1976) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the most famous emigrés from Germanys school of expressionism to work in Hollywood. ...

The Schüfftan process was used, among many others, by Alfred Hitchcock; for the first time in Blackmail. It was later replaced by matte shots. Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British film director closely associated with the suspense genre. ... For other uses, see Blackmail (disambiguation). ...

Schüfftan process