Eye Open



The theme song ends, or The Teaser starts, or we return from a commercial break, or we simply change scenes. What do we see but a close-up of a character's eye?

This is an Eye Open, a device sometimes used to show that a character is waking up. Of course, sometimes it's just used to show off an actor's good-looking eyes.

Not to be confused with Eye Awaken, which is when a character's eyes suddenly open, but the shot doesn't open with an image of them.

Anime and Manga

 * Canaan: Canaan
 * Shows up a lot in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * Fate/stay night: Saber
 * And again in Fate/Zero.

Film

 * The movie Aeon Flux opens with the title character's eye catching a fly.
 * Next does this with Nicholas Cage's eye twice,.
 * The opening to Blade Runner.
 * Used in the opening  of Avatar.
 * One of the more disturbing in movie history has to be the closeup of Marion Crane's eye in Psycho after she flops over onto the bathroom floor.
 * Apollo 13 does this with Marilyn Lovell after showing her nightmare of losing Jim in space.

Live-Action TV

 * Lost. Quite a lot, in fact.
 * The finale ends with.
 * House
 * A first-season episode of the original The Twilight Zone does this.
 * The 2009 pilot of V does a backwards one: instead of opening on Erica's eye and zooming out, we open on Erica and zoom in to her eye.
 * The opening sequence of Merlin features a close-up of Merlin's eye as it changes from blue to gold.
 * The Criminal Minds episode "The Big Wheel" starts with a shot of the killer's eye opening when he wakes up in the morning.
 * Another backwards one in Smallville. During Lex's first appearance in season 3, we zoom in on his eye.
 * Seen in the opening credits of The X-Files.

Video Games

 * Half-Life 2 opens on the G-man's eye.
 * The opening of Final Fantasy X focuses on Tidus' eye while he lies on his back just before some rock music kicks in and his hometown is doomed.
 * At the end of the credits in Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus,.
 * Kingdom Hearts: In the opening cutscene, and the next one after that.

Western Animation

 * Highlander the Animated Series.