EYES
INTRODUCTION
It is often said that ‘the eyes have on language everywhere’. This idea that a person’s true emotion can only be seen in their eyes rather than their language. More so than words or body language, eyes are essential to communication, they are the most expressive part of the face. Hence the utilisation of eyes in films is most effective when communicating with the audience.
The filming technique most often used when filming eyes is the extreme close-up. The extreme close-up shot usually shows a portion of the actors face and produces a sense of importance in the normally unperceivable from a normal range. However, in reality we judge someone’s emotion through their eye expression so in order to manipulate reality through filming the extreme close-up on the eye is most effective. The extreme close-up of the eye leads the audience to wonder about the significance of perception and the viewers become reflective about their own participation in watching the film. Hence, the extreme close-up is a revealing technique.
The Cube, Renaissance, The Shining and Equilibrium are all films which utilise extreme close-up of eyes to manipulate reality throughout filming. Each film uses eyes to develop a particular ambiance and aid plot development. However, each film uses filming of eyes in unique ways.
