Westworld was released in 1973. Back in time, the movie-making resources were so limited.
How did they achieve the Gunslinger's eye shining effect?
Is it a kind of contact lens?
Is there more information about this (making-of, documentaries, etc.)?
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5"Back in time, the movie-making resources were so limited." People were smarter and more clever than you think they were.– RonJohnCommented Jun 3, 2019 at 11:35
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2@RonJohn - Gotta love when we tend to think of ourselves as so much better now, yet modern technology is such an enormous crutch...– Broots WaymbCommented Jun 3, 2019 at 13:06
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1I wish all sociopaths were this easy to spot.– ChloeCommented Jun 3, 2019 at 18:25
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4@RonJohn please don't get me wrong. I'm talking about resources, not intelligence. There is no doubt that ancient people who calculated the Earth's size without any device it's tremendous smart. Actually, the lack of resources makes the achievement even more fantastic. Don't you think?– Danilo GuimaraesCommented Jun 3, 2019 at 19:19
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4@DaniloGuimaraes For what it’s worth, I think it’s plainly clear that you aren’t insinuating anything about the intelligence of people in the past, nor are you suggesting that we are better now than we were in the past. It’s an objective fact that in comparison to today, movie making resources were limited in 1973.– wgrenardCommented Jun 4, 2019 at 5:33
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1 Answer
Is it a kind of contact lens? Is there more information about this (making-of, documentaries, etc.)?
Yes, they used mirrored (light reflecting) contact lenses.
From this edited version of Shooting Westworld by Michael Crichton
Three problems were especially tricky. One was the robot eyes. I wanted eyes that looked only slightly unreal, not strikingly bizarre. After some experimentation, we settled on eighty percent reflectant mirrored contact lenses, which gave us flexibility to control the "kick" by lighting. They also had the virtue of permitting the actors to see through them.
Also from Oohlo article,
You might notice (especially in the header picture) a particular glow in the Gunslinger’s eyes (Cylon red spine, anyone?). That is no digital effect; Brynner wore mirrored (light reflecting) contact lenses.
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9A few years earlier, the second pilot of the original Star Trek series, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" used a cruder version of the technique: aluminum foil sandwiched between two contact lenses, with a hole poked through the center for visibility. They were uncomfortable and left the actors looking in odd directions in many shots. Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 16:25
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1People slag off actors for having it easy, but you wouldn't catch me sticking a lump of tin foil in my eye and hoping for the best Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 12:38
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