10 Bizarre Ways Directors Tricked Audiences

Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings trilogy was a landmark in the history of cinema. Not only did it change how the fantasy genre was regarded, but it made leaps in filming techniques, both in terms of CGI and practical effects. With dwarves and hobbits sharing the screen with elves, men, and orcs, conveying scale was exceedingly important.

Shots that didn't require close-ups often utilised the help of scale doubles. But several more intimate scenes required characters like Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to be shown together.

Jackson used an in-camera technique known as forced perspective to sell the illusion. If Gandalf and Frodo had a scene where they were sat opposite each other, Wood would be positioned further away from the camera and McKellen would be closer. The actors would be given props according to their size; some would be larger in scale and others smaller. Providing the camera was positioned correctly, this would have the effect of making the characters appear as if they were different sizes.

But as soon as the camera moved, the illusion would fall apart. The production team therefore devised a motion control rig, which allowed them to pan the camera, while also moving the actors on a dolly, and maintaining the sense of scale.