10 More Movie Scenes You Didn't Realise Were Tricking You
5. Forced Perspective Was Used To Drop A Human Elf Into Class - Elf
It's somehow been a whole two decades since Will Ferrell's Buddy the Elf burst into the world for the very first time.
And arguably one of the most iconic moments to tumble out of Jon Favreau's Christmas delight came early on, and involved the significantly larger Buddy learning some elf lessons with his much smaller pals.
Though you may have initially presumed so, the director didn't just have Ferrell placed into the scene via some digital technology. Instead, Favreau actually decided to use one of the oldest tricks in the book.
As the director revealed to Empire, forced perspective was used to convince audiences that a massive Buddy was squeezed into a desk beside his classmates.
In reality, Ferrell was actually a few meters closer to the camera than the rest of his fellow actors, with the folks behind the equipment choosing specific angles to help give off the illusion of Buddy towering over everyone else.
This wasn't a Christmas miracle, it was just good ol' fashioned filmmaking.