When director Robert Zemeckis decided to make a movie adaptation of the novel Contact by Carl Sagan, he turned to the cinematographer Don Burgess to help him. Together, they shot for five months using Panavision cameras and also VistaVision for the special effects shots.
Within this shoot was a shot that has become iconic. It does not need to be there for the story to work. However, Zemeckis and Burgess had begun discussing a mirror shot that would take the scene to a legendary status. Through the use of innovative camera design, they created that shot in Contact.
In this interview, the film’s cinematographer Don Burgess breaks down exactly how they crafted this specific shot that endures to this day.