1:22:00
"Using an old trick, I hid
a second camera with a close-up lens."
1:22:04
"When the mask was torn off,
1:22:06
I was able to get what Claude
was most concerned about not showing,
1:22:10
a full-face close-up showing
the pain and anguish
1:22:13
that only a consummate actor
was capable of."
1:22:16
"This stunning climax and Claude's
magnificent characterisation
1:22:20
left no doubt that most
of his suggestions were right,
1:22:23
except for the damn mask."
1:22:25
Now, as we'll see in a moment,
the unmasking shot itself
1:22:28
is a complex camera setup,
1:22:30
and it's taken with a short prime lens,
with focus pulled as the camera dollies in.
1:22:36
There's no way that Rains didn't know
they were doing this.
1:22:39
Obviously, he allowed them to do one
big reveal shot coming in to a close-up,
1:22:44
and with the shallow depth of field,
the light and the rack focusing,
1:22:47
he passes in and out of focus so quickly
1:22:50
that you never get
a real sharp read on his face.
1:22:53
That may have been all Rains allowed, but
with a hidden camera, and a long lens,
1:22:58
Lubin was able to take, simultaneously,
other angles of Rains without his mask
1:23:02
without the actor being aware of it.
1:23:06
These subsequent shots of Claudin
reacting as Raoul and the Inspector arrive
1:23:10
are severely underexposed and poorly lit,
1:23:13
suggesting that
they were not lit to camera,
1:23:15
and they appear to be the shots Mr Lubin
is referring to, taken by a second camera.
1:23:23
Claudin has killed a number of people,
even though he's a sympathetic nice guy,
1:23:27
and the Production Code
demanded a penalty.
1:23:30
Now, D'Aubert and Raoul can't just
walk in and shoot the poor old fella.
1:23:37
They have to believe he's threatening
with a sword, and pull a gun...
1:23:41
And of course Nelson
has to then jockey Barrier's arm,
1:23:44
so that the shots accidentally make
the catacombs come in.
1:23:49
You wonder what's happening in the tier
boxes, with the underpinnings giving way.
1:23:58
With this fabulous black lake
in the surrounding room,