Why Does This Iconic Forced-Perspective Shot Still Look So Amazing?

The Corridor Crew Goes to Work

If you haven’t been following the Corridor Crew and you work in any industry that’s adjacent to visual effects or filmmaking in general, then you’re missing out. They both really know their stuff and are very entertaining. This latest video is a blast as it’s a fun romp through this specific shot that they’re trying to recreate, but also through their journey to figure out what’s happening and why.

It’s a similar vibe to those early MythBusters seasons, except a bit more focused on filmmaking and visual effects rather than just pure science.

Still, in this video, the crew might have bit off a bit more than they thought they could chew, as the shot in question from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring might appear simple, but it absolutely is not.

Lord of the Rings Forced Perspective

As you can see in this video above, the behind-the-scenes featurettes have well documented many of the approaches which Peter Jackson took to create the world of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s been well-covered over the years, and it’s certainly not the only film to use this technique.

Forced Perspective in Motion

However, what is unique is just how technically intricate the one-shot highlighted by the Corridor Crew is, and how ridiculously hard it must have been to pull off. For many forced-perspective tricks, the camera is stationary—it’s almost like a hard rule that most filmmakers follow when trying to pull off trick shots like this, as it makes things so much easier.

What’s unique about the forced perspective trick in the particular shot that the crew reviews is that the camera is in motion, which means the perspective changes and the trick must change as well.

And that’s pretty much the crux of what the crew has to solve in the video. How do you match the motion of the background to the camera’s motion against the elements in the foreground—and how do you do so in a controlled way that keeps the perspective consistent throughout?

As you can see, the crew does figure things out in the end, but it wasn’t easy, and it’s certainly a nice reminder of how moviemaking magic, while it may change and evolve, is an essential part of the filmmaking process that will always be better (and more fun) than just doing everything with CGI (or now AI).