It’s often suggested that capturing an effect in-camera usually delivers better, more convincing results than depending on VFX or “fixing it in post.” One in-camera technique in particular that can produce compelling results without the need for VFX is forced perspective. This is a time-tested method that continues to be used today. But what exactly is it, and how can you use it in your projects?
Forced perspective, as the name suggests, is a technique that allows filmmakers to manipulate the scale of objects, making them appear larger or smaller than they actually are without the use of digital effects.
This is achieved by carefully positioning actors or objects in relation to one another, skewing the audience's perception of their true scale. Essentially, the filmmaker 'forces a perspective' onto the audience through an optical illusion.
In the still below from “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” a series that consistently employs forced perspective, both characters are adults and are also played by adults. However, the character Gandalf is twice his size in all proportions.
Throughout Peter Jackson’s entire trilogy, various shots feature adult-sized characters and Hobbits who are much smaller in stature. In many shots where the Hobbits' faces are not visible, the filmmakers used children or actors with dwarfism as stand-ins.
However, there are also other shots where both actors appear in the scene together, talking to each other directly, like in the still above. As a result, they relied heavily on forced perspective techniques.
The behind-the-scenes video below from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy illustrates the extensive planning and engineering needed to execute forced perspective effectively when the camera is in motion.
To demonstrate this further, let’s break down the concept in a storyboard, visually mapping out how the characters' positioning and camera angles work together to create the forced perspective illusion. Like "The Lord of The Rings," we’ll use a wizard character and his ward, but in our story, the Wizard is larger than life, and his companions are of average human height.
If two actors stand and face each other, their height difference will be minimal (depending on their actual heights). The Wizard only appears a few inches taller than his ward in the storyboard below.
Storyboards by Lewis McGregor
If we simply gave the actor stilts or had them stand on a box, it wouldn’t work. While that might make them taller, the perception of their anatomy would remain consistent with their natural proportions, which could break the illusion. It would look like a man standing on something instead of a large individual.
However, moving the ward character back on the Z-axis (which refers to moving forward or backward in the scene) will make the second actor appear smaller. Meanwhile, the actor closer to the camera will look much larger. This is how it should work, but of course, there are complications.
Let’s examine such issues. First, if you shoot with a shallow depth of field, the actor who has been moved back could become out of focus.
Therefore, we must use a narrow aperture (a topic we’ll discuss later) to ensure deep focus. Having both subjects in focus is vital for the effect. However, in this situation, because we can still see the floor along with the ward’s shadow, it gives the audience a chance to build depth perception and ruin the illusion.
Therefore, we would also need a tighter focal length to obscure the distance disparities between the two subjects.
Now, through forced perspective, we have created a visual illusion in which the wizard character appears inhumanly large. After we have completed the filmmaking aspect, the challenge now lies in the actors' ability to convincingly portray that they are directly looking at each other, even though they are several steps apart. In 3D space, it would look like this.
The aperture is an important technical element when planning a shot that may require forced perspective. Aperture, a lens property, dictates how much light enters through the lens to expose the film or sensor. The wider the aperture (lower f-stop), the shallower the depth of field, which causes the background to appear out of focus. This is often a preferable visual aesthetic for video content when filming characters.
When shooting forced perspective, you want to avoid a shallow depth of field because all elements need to be in focus. As seen in the storyboard example, the illusion is immediately broken if the actor or object in the background is out of focus. To achieve this, you’ll need a deep depth of field, which requires closing the aperture. However, this reduces the amount of light reaching the lens.
This might not be an issue in outdoor scenarios like a bright sunny meadow. But when working indoors or in low-light environments, you'll face exposure challenges. To compensate, you may need to increase the lighting on set, which could be costly and impractical, as you'd need two lighting setups; one for standard shots and another for forced perspective shots. Alternatively, you could increase the ISO, but in doing so, you could introduce digital noise into the image depending on how much you had to increase the ISO.
The illumination of a forced perspective shot can often be just as tedious as setting it up!
Additionally, when it comes to movement, we hate to be the bearer of bad news or to potentially dissuade you from trying something, but a forced perspective with an element of movement is incredibly complex and challenging to achieve. As seen in "The Lord of the Rings" example used earlier, many of the elaborate set designs were engineered so that the set and props moved to create the correct level of parallax when the camera moved, maintaining the forced perspective illusion. This level of complexity is beyond the reach of most without significant funding.
While motion-controlled sliders can help set the correct dolly path back and forth without issues, the challenge of parallax still remains. This makes forced perspective with camera movement a very tricky endeavor, and for the time being, we recommend staying with static shots.
You can further enhance the effect by incorporating principles from Ames Room (an optical illusion attraction we’ll touch upon shortly), such as having two different-sized props and set dressing. Using a variety of oversized and undersized props with which other actors can interact can help sell the illusion even further.
Image via Warner Brothers
In the image above, from the making of “Elf,” Property Master Bryan Korenberg explains that they have two different-sized props available. One is for Buddy, the oversized elf, and the other is for the smaller, fantasy elves. While Will Ferrell’s character sits next to the regular-sized Etch A Sketch, the elf actors hold the larger prop to help convincingly sell the forced perspective.
Image via Warner Brothers
Forced perspective isn't just used to create larger-than-life characters or objects; it's also great for miniatures. Miniatures have long been part of the special effects department and are some of the earliest tools in visual media to bring fantastical and magical elements to life.
As the name suggests, a miniature is a small-scale replica that can go from objects and animals to buildings, spaceships, and beyond. In the early days of Hollywood, before CGI was invented, creating otherworldly buildings and vehicles could often only be done in part. Take, for example, the bottom base of this Sandcrawler from “Star Wars” (1977).
Image via LucasFilm
This is great for mid-shots when the crew is near the bottom, but what about establishing shots when the filmmakers need to show the full design? Creating a CGI Sandcrawler in 1977 simply wasn’t feasible. Instead, talented model makers crafted miniatures.
Image via LucasFilm
With the camera positioned correctly and, of course, with immaculate modeling skills, the miniature becomes indistinguishable from its true scale. This often works better with fantastical or sci-fi elements, as audience members are not as consciously aware of physical elements that may need correction.
The magic of miniatures really comes to life when combined with forced perspective. In these cases, however, the approach to filming changes slightly. See, miniatures are, of course, very small, often handheld, yet filmmakers often need them to represent large objects in the background or, at the very least, human-sized objects in the foreground. So, how is this achieved? By positioning the miniature as close to the camera as possible. The closer the object is to the camera, the larger it appears in the frame. Blending the background with the foreground creates a forced perspective illusion, making the miniature appear much larger than it actually is.
Just like creating an oversized character, there are a few practical considerations. The detail and accuracy of the model must be impeccable. As with filming two actors using forced perspective, deep focus is essential to ensure all planes within the focus field remain equally sharp. However, one key difference when filming objects is the inclusion of the foreground space where the vehicle or object resides. Often, the foreground itself is part of the miniature model.
Image via LucasFilm
Filmmakers then skillfully blend these elements to create a seamless perspective between the miniature and real-life footage. This practice can be very beneficial for the low-budget filmmaker, as it allows you to include a variety of vehicle models that may have been too expensive to hire.
Photographer Michael Paul Smith was a master of this. “Oh, this must be a shot from 1950s America?"
Image via Michael Paul Smith
Nope, think again.
Image via Michael Paul Smith
The blend of the miniature road with the full-size environment truly helps sell the forced perspective technique. In both the example images from Star Wars and Michael Paul Smith’s work, where the miniature was blended with the background, did you notice anything? Or perhaps something you didn’t see?
Lights!
While relying on ambient lighting can be risky, it’s key for successfully blending miniature foregrounds with the background. Once you start illuminating your foreground miniatures, discrepancies in shadow direction, specular highlights, and lighting differences can make your composition look like a poor Photoshop attempt, rather than an effective use of forced perspective.
Given that the goal of forced perspective is for it not to be noticeable, you might not be overly familiar with it when it’s been used in films. However, we’re almost certain you’ve likely seen an example of Ames Room. Invented by American scientist Aldebard Ames, Jr. in 1946, this is a distorted room that creates an optical illusion.
Image via Wikipedia
While the room appears normal at first glance, its true shape is an irregular hexahedron, with one corner positioned further from the observer than the other.
The illusion works because the actual shape of the room is hidden from the observer's eye, depending on their viewing angle. These rooms are commonly found in fun fairs, carnivals, and museums, where a family member can walk from one side to the other, playfully appearing to grow or shrink in size. The effect is often enhanced by variously sized props scattered throughout the room, but this is all an example of forced perspective in action.
Forced perspective is an incredibly fun and charming technique that filmmakers of all budget sizes can employ. It can create fantastically large characters or bring small miniatures to life. However, effectively executing it requires careful planning, logistics, and visual precision.
Throughout this article, we’ve referenced “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “Elf,” and we highly recommend checking out the full-length documentaries that accompany both films. They offer fantastic insights and are excellent learning resources for anyone exploring this technique further.
