Recently I began watching episodes of the original Twilight Zone series. I just recently watched the episode The Eye of the Beholder, one of the most famous episodes in the show's history. The episode is about a woman who wakes up in a hospital. Her face is covered in bandages as she has just gone through surgery to fix her face, which has been hideously deformed since birth. It is made evident that if the surgery was unsuccessful the woman will be removed from society, for the societies own good. The doctor who had gotten to know the woman, laments that he has seen under the mask of her hideous face and seen the true person underneath. He remarks at the shame of the woman's deformity for without it she would most likely live a profound life. In the end of the episode the woman's bandages are removed to reveal a beautiful face. The doctors and nurses shriek in terror. The doctor screams "No change! No Change at all!" the "normal" people are then revealed to have hideous deformed faces.
The genius in this episode is seen through the writing but also through the camera angles, blocking and lighting. In order for the reveal to be effective, each person's face must be hidden. this is achieved by well placed props, dim rooms and unorthodox camera angles.
This episode of The Twilight Zone is a triumph in film making and it reminds us all that beauty is in "The Eye of the Beholder".
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