Some fun posts on the visual effects technique
The Rise of Skywalker production designer Kevin Jenkins today posted on his Twitter page a fantastic image of the miniature Jawa Sandcrawler used for one of the final shots in the film.
The approached relied on forced perspective, a technique for filming characters or objects with essentially ‘in-camera’ compositing, by placing them closer or further away from the camera lens and therefore making them appear bigger or larger in the frame.
Jenkins mentioned the miniature was “placed on a dressed table at height and the Jawa extras were shot at the same time a calculated distance back from the mini. A very fine powdery sand was dressed around for scale. We even made a roller to make mini track prints!”
In the spirit of Jenkins’ post (and you should read his whole account for more on this and other aspects of the film), I thought I’d take a quick look on Twitter for other mentions of forced perspective miniatures. Here are some below. You can also get a good handle on how forced perspective works with this post by editor Vashi Nedomansky.
Enjoy!
https://twitter.com/kev_jenkins/status/1221108983638974472
🎥 FORCED PERSPECTIVE SHOT 🎥
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
20-foot model boat in foreground
actors & helicopters 1/4 mile away
wide lens practical in-camera shot
more: https://t.co/6GDWiiKv6z#Spielberg #filmmaking pic.twitter.com/Fn6PSqrSO2— Vashi Nedomansky, ACE (@vashikoo) February 21, 2019
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)
This forced perspective miniature helicopter
shot is a classic in-camera practical effect. pic.twitter.com/LOLabmVa2t— Vashi Nedomansky, ACE (@vashikoo) September 13, 2018
STAR TREK IV (1986) – Forced Perspective Miniature Helicopter
More practical #VFX: https://t.co/6GDWiiKv6z#filmmaking #incamera pic.twitter.com/C2fji4Ttaz— Vashi Nedomansky, ACE (@vashikoo) August 25, 2017
@refocusedmedia @LaFamiliaFilm Rob Legato often uses miniatures with Scorsese. Forced perspective from The Aviator. pic.twitter.com/Fw6oN9zKzx
— Vashi Nedomansky, ACE (@vashikoo) January 11, 2014
The forced perspective miniatures of “Close Encounters”. https://t.co/eONbDjT7f7 pic.twitter.com/2Z1ZhBx4xi
— Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) September 10, 2017
THE TERMINATOR.
This frame is all in-camera.
Forced perspective skulls & rear projection.My dating app profile. pic.twitter.com/QmGPGeKVAc
— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will) June 12, 2016
The church In the background was a forced perspective miniature standing only 4 feet. pic.twitter.com/EXBHKhRS8k
— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will) October 20, 2018
There was no CGI in Coppola's DRACULA but in-camera FX's like this 13ft force perspective diary & miniature train. pic.twitter.com/3ywyQLnroc
— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will) October 6, 2015
The bus was a hanging force perspective miniature. pic.twitter.com/qtJlBV4u1o
— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will) February 25, 2018
In this shot from WRATH OF KAHN Kirk and Spock are real but the entire set is a force perspective hanging miniature. pic.twitter.com/4AaxLpxjh3
— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will) March 24, 2015
For the last 25 years, Michael Paul Smith has spent some of his spare and much of his professional time making miniature models and photographing them, using optical illusions and forced perspective to make them look real https://t.co/PbkZ4e4lN4 pic.twitter.com/FtRnAbbd5x
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 8, 2019
Behind the scenes of David Lynch's DUNE (1984) #scifi pic.twitter.com/Xj5H0OOExj
— Humanoid History (@HumanoidHistory) May 20, 2017
The whole scene was created using a forced-perspective miniature built on a 15ft x 8ft table. The detail comes mainly from rows and rows of acid-etched brass silhouettes created from photos taken of towers, pipes, tubes, and other industrial skylines. pic.twitter.com/7yw92N5Ouo
— Quintin Lake (@QuintinLake) January 6, 2020
the cliff at the end of tremors was a miniature and the last shot in this gif where u can see kevin bacons character standing on the cliff is actually a forced perspective shot. so the mini cliff was placed close to the camera w/ the character on a scaffold back in the distance. pic.twitter.com/nJX77hW9EI
— R.W. Martin (@BadIdeasMovie) September 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/themattprov/status/1162784053554274309
One of my fave #JamesBond effects, in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987), by John Richardson. There's a real bridge here, which men on horseback are riding across, but what we're seeing is a forced perspective miniature (4½ft high, 23ft from the camera) of a much more elaborate bridge. pic.twitter.com/OnoDcNN4jx
— Look- (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) (@Dene71) October 5, 2019
Have you seen others like this? Let me know and I’ll add them.
Is there any info on the Wolf of Wall Street boat and helicopter shot? The boat is rocking and the helicopter is moving in sync, on the upper deck/pad? How did they rig that? It’s so well done.