Hall of Mirrors is a 2001

2001 in film

The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...

 independent

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 written and directed by Brad Osborne.

Plot

Hall of Mirrors concerns a young, desperate gambling addict who is plummeted into financial ruin. A strange, anonymous caller (who happens to know every intimate detail of the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

's life) offers a unique solution to his situation. Lured by the promise of easy money and the beauty of an enigmatic woman, he enters an underworld of counterfeiters and con artists, where he becomes a pawn

Pawn

Pawn may refer to:* Pawn , the weakest and most numerous piece in the game* Pawn, another name for a pledge in certain jurisdictions ** Pawnshop/pawnbroker* Pawn , an embeddable programming language...

 in a scheme far more elaborate and ruthless than he could have ever imagined.

Historical importance of this film

With the making of Hall of Mirrors, Osborne successfully fooled experts into believing it had been shot on 16 mm film

16 mm film

16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...

, when in fact it was shot on Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 Digital8

Digital8

Digital8 is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999.The Digital8 format is a combination of the older Hi8 tape transport with the DV codec...

 video cameras. This "film look" or filmizing

Filmizing

Filmizing is a process that makes video productions seem to have been shot on film. The term is generic and informal. The process is usually electronic, although filmizing can sometimes occur as an un-intentional by-product of some optical techniques, such as telerecording.-Differences between...

 was achieved using cinematic lighting techniques, a diffusion filter

Diffusion filter

A diffusion filter is a translucent photographic filter used for a special effect. When used in front of the camera lens, a diffusion filter softens subjects and generates a dreamy haze. This can also be improvised by smearing petroleum jelly on a UV filter or shooting through a nylon stocking...

 and a setting on the Sony Digital8 called "Flash", which is essentially a progressive frame mode. The "Flash" setting set on the fastest setting (about 30 frame/s) really took away the "video" feel and added a subtle shutter effect.