Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Sets and actors were placed at different distances to fake height. The figure is taken from Weta Workshop, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a movies & tv fact?

Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Hobbit scale relied on forced perspective

Sets and actors were placed at different distances to fake height To make Gandalf tower over Frodo, the production placed the actors at different distances from the camera and built sets at two scales, with carefully matched lighting and props. Moving cameras made the trick hard to sustain. Digital scaling took over for shots where the camera had to move. It sits in Mondo's movies & tv collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Weta Workshop

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Movies & Television trivia Technology trivia

More facts like this

Rear projection put actors in front of filmed backgroundsA projector behind the screen threw the location footage behind them Matte paintings extended sets without building themArtists painted scenery on glass and masked the live action around it Mary Poppins used a yellow screen, not greenSodium vapour lighting gave a cleaner matte than blue screens Ray Harryhausen animated monsters against live platesHis Dynamation split the frame so models could sit inside live footage The Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot back to back in New ZealandFilming began in October 1999 and Hobbiton was built near Matamata Weta Workshop makes film props in WellingtonRichard Taylor and Tania Rodger founded it in 1987

Tags: visual-effects, technique, new-zealand

Hobbit scale relied on forced perspective: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Sets and actors were placed at different distances to fake height. The figure is taken from Weta Workshop, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a movies & tv fact?: Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.