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How was the Blade Runner replicant

eye reflection effect done?
Asked 10 years, 6 months ago Modified 5 years, 3 months ago

Viewed 27k times

I'm trying to recreate the Blade Runner eye

reflection effect found in these examples:
16

The closest I've seen is with a flash where

the light bounces off in the eye and causes a
bright red or white pupil but that would be
inconvenient during a live shot like the
movie. I've tried shining a bright light angled
between the light, my eye, and the camera
without much success.

lighting special-effects eyes

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edited May 6, 2013 at 20:34

mattdm
143k 52 416 739

asked May 6, 2013 at 15:28

worbel
283 1 3 7

2 Since this is primarily about a film effect, this

might be better on avp.stackexchange.com.
But, it's also one of those things where the
lighting setup could be done for stills as well.
– mattdm May 6, 2013 at 15:54

2 You know, I've watched Blade Runner a lot of

times, even studied it in school, but I've never
actually associated that eye reflection in
some scenes with being a replicant before. I
guess I've always assumed it was just a
stylistic effect. Now I have to watch the film
again to see whose eye has a reflection and
whose doesn't! – thomasrutter May 7, 2013 at
4:56

1 It will be interesting to see if the eye effect is

continued in the Blade Runner sequel. I
expect details will be published on the Blade
Runner 2 information website once available.
– user20010 May 19, 2013 at 15:31

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2 Answers
Highest score (default)

This effect was done by shining light directly

in the same path as the lens. A half-
27 translucent/half-reflective mirror (as in a
"two-way" mirror) was placed in front of the
lens at a 45 degree angle, and a beam of
light directed on to that.

Like this:

subject

\
darkness \ <-- light
\

^
camera

The light would shine half through the mirror

and half be reflected onto the subject; the
camera's image would be half from the
subject and half from whatever is to the left;
to avoid that being an issue, one would
presumably mask that with dark cloth to
absorb the light shining through and avoid
reflecting it back.

One could also use a ring flash to obtain a

similar "on-axis" lighting effect, although of
course the characteristic reflections would
be ring-shaped, not the full circles seen in
the replicants' eyes.

See this article in the American Society of

Cinematographer's magazine for more on
how these effects were done, including
quotes from the film's cinematographer,
Jordan Cronenweth. (He notes that "very
subtle colored gels" were used as well.)

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edited May 6, 2013 at 16:00

answered May 6, 2013 at 15:48

mattdm
143k 52 416 739

3 +1, but just a pane of glass would do it; that's

how a TelePrompTer works. – user2719 May 6,
2013 at 15:54

@StanRogers: I remember reading the

cinematographer saying he used half-
translucent mirrors; found an article with the
quote and linked it in the article. (I love this
movie!) – mattdm May 6, 2013 at 15:59

3 Kind of want to try it with a pane of glass now.

We'll see if my kids are cooperative this
evening. :) – mattdm May 6, 2013 at 16:01

A "proper" beam splitter would probably be

better when working wide (wide-angle lens
and a wide-throw light) since you could work
with a dimmer light and reduce flare, but with
normal-to-long (and a restricted budget), you
don't need to go there. – user2719 May 6,
2013 at 16:41

1 Just a note: many animals (in particular those

that need good night vision), have a special
layer over the retina called the Tapetum
lucidum which reflects the light. Humans
don't have it, so you see their blood vessels
(red eyes). Presence in dogs depends on
breed and individuals. – xenoid Aug 8, 2018 at
20:12

Show 1 more comment

Essentially, mattdm's answer is correct. In

addition, to the half-refelctive mirror, they
3 used a tight, dimmable light to control
when/how bright the eye reflections would
appear.

Ridley himself discusses how they did it

here:

https://youtu.be/IpzFOHEO8Sc

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edited Oct 6, 2017 at 13:50

answered Oct 5, 2017 at 2:03

Max P Magee
131 2

5 Can you summarize the info found in the

video? As written, this is effectively a link-
only answer. Please see the meta discussion,
Your answer is in another castle: when is an
answer not an answer? – scottbb ♦ Oct 5,
2017 at 3:15

Hi Scottbb, I should have clarified, the other

answer above is correct, and nearly complete.
This video is additional verification that that is
indeed how they did it, and provides just a bit
more detail (it's also just fun to hear it from a
primary source). – Max P Magee Oct 6, 2017
at 13:51

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