Filming Reflections: Rediscovering an Analogue Illusion

Blending classic optics and modern technique for Flying Lotus’s "Remind U"

Loop from Flying Lotus’s “Remind U,” showing a reflection overlay filmed through water.

During the pandemic, I needed something to pass the time—and calm the nerves. Rotoscoping fit the bill. I began cutting out moving characters and objects from low-res videos sourced from the Prelinger Archives, assembling them into a scrolling collage without any clear destination in mind.

One day, Flying Lotus called to ask what I was working on. I sent him the unfinished piece, and he immediately saw potential in it for his next music video. He added sound effects and music while I continued refining the visuals. Near the end of production, he pointed out that the frame rate felt a bit off and could use some motion blur. I tried a few different fixes, but nothing quite worked—until I remembered an effect I’d seen as a kid in commercials and music videos.

A clip from the Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way” music video, featuring the effect.

I’m sure a film historian could offer a more precise origin story, but from what my own digging turned up, the ripple tank effect has long been part of optics and projection art—transforming images by reflecting them through water’s surface and re-recording the distortion. Its roots possibly trace back to mid-20th-century liquid-light shows, where artists projected slides through trays of oils, dyes, and water to create flowing, hallucinatory visuals. Over time, cinematographers adapted similar methods using shallow tanks, mirrors, and optical printers to scatter light and warp imagery—an undercurrent technique in title design, commercials, experimental film, and music videos. Today, those analogue tricks inspire a kind of modern hybridity: replaying video through water to reclaim imperfection and texture in digital media.

Here is an early test using some collaged video elements reflected in water.

I built a DIY ripple tank using an iPad, a shallow dish of water, and a camera. I played back the finished video on the iPad, filmed its reflection in the water, and then layered the rippled footage over the original using a blend mode in After Effects. The result was a ghostly, fluid distortion that softened the sharpness of the digital motion and transformed the piece into something mirage-like.

Here is the finished music video for Flying Lotus featuring the effect midway through.

If you try this yourself, think beyond music videos—the same approach can add depth to title sequences, documentary overlays, gallery installations, or projection mapping. Anywhere an image could use a touch of fluid distortion, this effect invites play.