When a director needs to show some serious emotion, they usually zoom in on the eyes of their actors. Why? Because the eyes are one of the most expressive parts of the human body, and often times more emotion can be delivered with a single stare than with an entire line of dialogue.
Don't believe me? Watch this supercut of some of the most famous "eye" moments in cinematic history, then get back to me.
A DIFFERENT LENS from Jery October on Vimeo.
This particular supercut was put together by Bob Joyce and presented at the Society of Camera Operator's Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2012 to benefit the Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Each scene is iconic performance after iconic performance, with a huge range of genres, actors and emotions represented. It begins with a barrage of actors and actresses waking up and ends with scenes of eyes closing. In addition to all of the iconic human eye moments, some of the eyes represented don't actually belong to actors at all.
The computer-generated Na'vi from Avatar make an appearance with their large, cat-like eyes, as do the huge, pitiful looking eyes of Puss in Boots from the Shrek series. Even with these computer generated performers, filmmakers still understand the importance of conveying emotion through focusing on the eyes.
Hungry for more supercuts? Check out this compilation of all the best arcade scenes from movies. It will take you straight back to 1984. Or you could always save yourself some time and watch this super-condensed (and much improved) version of the Transformers films.
Photo: Micky** via Flickr
