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(I am aware of this question, but the question didn't word its request properly and as a result didn't get the desired answer)

In Iron Man (2008), a common shot is used to let Robert Downey Jr. act while Tony Stark is in the suit. This one:

Iron Man's interior HUD

Unlike many HUD shots, this isn't a POV shot looking at his viewpoint. It takes some liberty with reality to achieve its purpose in a unique and effective way.

Did Iron Man pioneer this technique, or are there other films that previously used the effect?

Specific Criteria:

  • The camera must be "in" the helmet. Close-ups of a character's face while they're wearing a helmet or mask don't count.
  • By extension, the shot should be "impossible". If there's room inside the helmet for a camera (somehow), it doesn't count. Technically, interior shots in Pacific Rim are shots from "inside" a "helmet", but the helmet is so big the effect isn't the same.
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  • I know 'Sunshine'(2007) used many 'in helmet' shots. But, I'm sure there are movies even before Sunshine that used those types of shots.
    – onewho
    Jul 20, 2017 at 18:27
  • Close-ups of a character's face while they're wearing a helmet or mask don't count. Well, there goes Dragon Ball Z. Though there may be a Dragon Ball example.
    – cde
    Jul 21, 2017 at 22:48

3 Answers 3

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Not quite "in helmet", but pretty close shots were in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Not sure if it's really the first one though.

A "beyond infinity" scene, for example. I think there were few more scenes during Dave's conversation/'battle' with Hal, but I'm not sure.

For example (0:40 in linked video):

enter image description here

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    It's close! It's not quite what I'm looking for so I'll edit the question to clarify, but the shot is close enough to the Iron Man one that I think this answer should stick around, even if I don't accept it.
    – monoRed
    Jul 21, 2017 at 14:20
  • This is just a close-up of an actor wearing a helmet, almost completely irrelevant.
    – Ghoti and Chips
    Jul 22, 2017 at 6:39
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In lieu of an older film example, I looked into the Sunshine (2007) example. This screencap is very close to what I'm looking for (although it doesn't quite fulfill criteria 2) so I'll post it as an example. I expect there were films that did this even earlier though.

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Star Kid 1998. It won’t let me upload the picture but you can check out the trailer on youtube

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