What is the origin of the "face behind a wall of equations" shot?
So, Hollywood really likes to make scientists and mathematicians write on Plexiglas (or mirrors, or windows, or other transparent or reflective surfaces). Presumably it's so they can get shots like this one:
With a face behind a wall of equations - no mathematician or scientist I have ever known has done anything even remotely like this.
I'm curious to know how this got started. The oldest example I've been able to think of is the scene the image is from, in Sneakers (1992), but that's still pretty recent...
This TVTropes page is tangentially relevant (and has a few examples buried throughout).
Best Answer
They can't have the main actors turning his back from the camera for a long time, so they do this to give them more face camera time. Also, it looks that the characters can't contain the urge to display his intelligence.
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Answer 2
I'm sure that particular shot is fairly new. I'm sure I've seen it used in Good Will Hunting (1997) and A Beautiful Mind (2001), but that particular shot definitely increased in popularity after Breaking Bad. That perspective shot is definitely used very well several times throughout the series.
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