photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

and

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,mirror image A mirror image (in a plane mirror) is a reflection (physics), reflected duplication of an object that appears almost identical, but is reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface. As an optical phenomenon, optical effect, it r ...

. This is opposed to a ''

flipped image A flipped image is a static or moving image that is generated by a mirror-reversal of an original across a horizontal axis, making the image upside-down. In contrast, a ''Flopped image, flopped'' image is mirrored across the vertical axis, as i ...

'', which means an image reversed across a horizontal axis. Flopping can be used to improve the subjective

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

appeal of the image in question.

Use in advertising

There are two main uses in advertising, one practical, and one subjective. On a practical level, images of cars are often flopped to ensure cars look appropriate for left-hand-drive or right-hand-drive markets. This allows the results of a single production shoot to be used across markets, allowing a cost saving. On a subjective level, the direction in which a person is looking or a car appears to be travelling may be regarded as important. When placing a picture on a page of text, it is usual for depictions of people to face into the text, rather than off the page; thus, when compositing a page, a picture may be flopped so it may be placed either side of a column of text.

Use in art

Cultural considerations come into play — a picture of a person eating with their left hand may be flopped for publication in a Muslim publication, due to the strong taboo against eating with the left hand in Muslim society. Similarly,

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

took the trouble to etch some of his originals in mirror-reversed form so that when printed, people in the image would appear, correctly, as right-handed. An example of flopping is the use of Joseph Edward Southall's painting ''Fishermen and Boat'' as part of the art associated with

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's album ''Aerial''. The picture is flopped, and the name "AERIAL" added to the boat.

In moviemaking

Flopped images are common movie

blooper A blooper, or gag reel, is short clip from a film, television program or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or ...

s, usually called "flipped images" contrary to the technical usage of that term. Flopped images are common because they can be used to correct continuity errors between shots and are hard to see without extensive examination. Examples of these can be found on several movie blooper sites. In James Cameron's "Titanic" movie, only one side of the ship was built, and the boarding scenes at Southampton Pier which required the other side of the ship were shot flopped. Costumes, signage and hairstyles were all reversed left-to-right on set so that the footage could be mirrored afterwards.

Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Ac ...

recalls being amused to see "sailors with ' ENIL RATS ETIHW' written across their hats" on set.

Accidental

One of the most famous flopped images is this picture of

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

carrying a Model 1873 Winchester rifle and a pistol belt with the pistol on his left. This led people to believe he was left-handed, but it was later revealed to be a flopped image due to the cartridge loading gate on the rifle being on the wrong side.The loading gate on a Model 1873 Winchester lever action rifle is on the right side of the receiver.

Notes

References

*Sorenson, Ray. *De Clercq, Rafael. {{small, (45.2 KiB) Artistic techniques Graphics Printmaking Photographic techniques