Figure 1.

Reaction shots and their antecedent point‐of‐view (POV) shots. In our terminology, the still in panel (b) is a commentary reaction shot, and that in panel (d) is an open‐response reaction shot. Panels (a) and (b) are details from The Philadelphia Story (1940), where George Kittredge (John Howard) scrambles to get on horseback and, in the commentary shot, Uncle Willie (Roland Young) smirks at his ineptness. This reaction tells the viewer to interpret Kittredge as an outclassed interloper. Panels (c) and (d) are details from Die Hard 2 (1990), where John McClane (Bruce Willis) reacts to the explosion of a plane full of international criminals. McClane's response is, given the context of the movie, entirely predictable and is openly readable as joy. Examples of another type, which we call the cryptic reaction shot, are shown in Fig. 4.