Look at it from this Perspective

Although the phrase "forced perspective" sounds intimidating, chances are you've already utilized it in your photography. If not, you've definitely seen it used before.

These two pictures use forced perspective in it's most basic form. One subject stands very close to the camera, while the other rests much farther back. This creates the illusion that the subject in the foreground is much larger than the background subject. This exaggerated size is something we love to play with (especially around historic sites).

Some examples of forced perspective in photography:

Still, forced perspective is not confined to photography. I stumbled across this walk through while researching. A small, independent group of filmmakers wanted to create a scene that involved a man discovering a huge block of ice. Unfortunately, there was no room in the budget to create a 6' by 6' block of ice. Not only that, but the weight of said block would be completely impractical; especially since they wanted to load it into a truck. 

So what did they do? Just a little forced perspective magic. First, they got a block of ice. However, instead of the 6' by 6' dimensions they were originally pulling for, the filmmakers settled on a 7" by 7" ice cube. 

Here's the little guy in front of the green screen: 

 And here it is on set:

Then, using the minds of master illusionists, the filmmakers came up with a floor plan that would make the ice block look much larger than reality. Apparently, 216 feet was the magic number.

The floor plan:

Here's a still of the achieved look:

I'll embed the video here but I'm warning you now: it looks low budget. It's not actually very good. But, they did achieve the look they were going for through the use of forced perspective. 

Here it is:

Although primarily used in low budget movies where CGI and other special effects are unavailable, big blockbusters too have been known to incorporate the use of good "old-fashioned" forced perspective. I use the word "old fashioned" very loosely. Nowadays, although it's done physically, moving cameras have caused things to get a little more complicated. 

Take for instance this example from The Lord of the Rings:

So although the rigs are getting more and more complicated, this example proves that CGI doesn't have to be the answer. What I like about the moving rig method for moving camera shots is that although the machinery is semi-involved, the idea of forced perspective remains a simple constant.

Single Point Perspective

Film and photography by definition are a two dimensional medium. They are flat. Half of our jobs as film makers is to break that view and bring our audience into the picture as if it is happening right in front of them.One of the ways we can do this is by changing the perspective of the shot, adding depth of field to our image. One specific technique for adding depth of field is using a single point perspective. For those who don't know what single point perspective is, think about standing in the center of a railroad track and watching it disappear into the distance.
One of the greatest film makers of all time used single point perspective in many of his films. Stanley Kubrick has been regarded as one of the best directors in the history of film. His films include, The Shinning, Full Metal Jacket, A Space Odyssey 2001, Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and many more.The single point perspective is apparent in all of these films. But what I have been taught many times is don't make a symmetrical shot. Set the eye line just off from center. By watching great film makers we see that being the best, means breaking all the rules.

Kubrick // One-Point Perspective from kogonada on Vimeo.