Controlling the point of view

[locomotive]

Were you ever a diver?

Witnessing a creature change in front of your eyes, from red to blue to green to "sand" and back, within a few seconds, is something you'll never forget.

I can't even swim, let alone dive.
Well, I suppose I can dive… but most would call it drowning.

 

[Airborne01!]

Were you ever a diver?

Witnessing a creature change in front of your eyes, from red to blue to green to "sand" and back, within a few seconds, is something you'll never forget.

It's a different world below ...
Steve

 

[BarleyBop]

a different world

... I can't claim to be a diver, but did get PADI certified 25 years ago on a small island between Malaysia and Thailand. Managed 7 or 8 dives, including a wreck and a drift dive in Malaysia and Bali.

But the brightest coral and sea life diversity I've witnessed was snorkeling... on one occasion, an octopus about 5 feet long swam past me and wedged itself into a crevice.
As I approached on the next dive, all I could see was a big eye peering through a crack in the reef.
Later, when the tide went out, the area I had seen him transformed into myriad tidal pools, and an octopus fisherman, 'taco tsuri', came down the beach inspecting the pools. No wonder that octopus was so wary!

That was in 1982, on the Japanese island of Iriomote, in the East China sea, spitting distance from Taiwan.

(From a slide scan)

 

[Rimmer]

Very interesting discussion indeed chaps - I've nothing to add especially other than that I've found it very thought provoking.

 

[airdave]

LittleMarten and BarleyBop

Trompe l'oeil has nothing to do with forced perspective.
Trompe l'oeil is about realism. Painting something that appears realistic, like painting flowers on a wall.
Sure, perspective can be used in a painting to add more realistic effect, like with architecture, but it's more about the photo-realism of the artwork.

Drop shadows to create a 3D floating effect are more trompe l'oeil and not about forced perspective.

Forced perspective is when you elongate an object to make it look longer, deeper, and/or farther away.

Now who's being pedantic?
oh wait...thats me.

 

[BarleyBop]

Good examples of visual illusions... fake shadows, textures, and in some murals I've seen, the appearance of objects receding into the background that appears to fit the perspective of the environment. Sometimes on the ground, and very convincing from the right angle.

Then there are anamorphic images, which really depend on literally controlling the point of view.

 

[blakeh1]

Those are really cool!

As far as the forced perspective bit in regards to photography/cinema

definition

Forced perspective is a photographic and cinematic technique that uses optical illusions to make objects appear larger, smaller, closer, or farther away than they actually are. This is achieved by manipulating the viewer's perception through strategic placement of objects and camera angles.

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-forced-perspective/

"Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation between them and the vantage point of the spectator or camera."

https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/mrs-yelenick-s-room/digital-photo/forced-perspective

Perspective, by definition, is a particular view of something. If a picture is taken from a "bird's-eye-view" it means the picture is taken from the bird's perspective.

In a forced-perspective photograph, you are intentionally changing the perspective of the photo by placing a small item close to the camera, and a large item further away behind it. In the 1950's this was how they produced dinosaur movies, by placing a small plastic dinosaur near the camera lens, and the actors further behind it.

A whole world can be created by just changing the angle and focus of the subject...

i.e. it generally is dependent on viewing from a certain angle, or "controlling the point of view"

View a smaller scaled model behind a larger scale mode works, but not the other way around. Like the anamorphic images the illusion is shattered if you look at any other angle than "intended"

Interesting bit on using forced perspective in LOTR where they developed some in camera techniques to allow the cameras to move instead of being locked into one angle without ruining the illusion

 

[urumomo]

^^^ anything to avoid just hiring real hobbits , I guess .
Hollywood is gross .

 

[Potaka]

Really interesting tips on controlling the point of view in photos! It's amazing how much the angle can change the whole feel of a model shot. Does anyone have favorite angles or setups that always work for them?

 

[BarleyBop]

Does anyone have favorite angles

I'm still experimenting, but you can learn a lot just by looking at magazines and forums like this for inspiration, focusing on the type of model you build: auto, armour, air, ship, fantasy, sci-fi etc.

Car advertising is a great source especially if you build cars: the thing is, we have all seen so many adverts in our lives, and this has actually shaped our expectations what a good car shot should be.
Replicate it in your model shot, and you are already adding realism, just by how you photograph it!

We have had many discussions about the merits of photographing indoors or out, with neutral backgrounds like a cyclorama or location based images to set context. Some bench shots can be interesting as they show the fabrication and scale.

 

[airdave]

I can't even swim, let alone dive.
Well, I suppose I can dive… but most would call it drowning.

"Swimming" is shallow drowning.
"Diving" is deep drowning.