How to use a MODEL CAR to make your film (forced perspective trick!)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- ►► Watch my FREE WEBINAR here: My Top 10 Tips for making your passion project on a budget www.diymoviema...
►► Check out my courses and learn how to make your best film on a budget at www.diymoviema...
🔥 Instagram: @diy_moviemaking
🔥 Facebook: @diymoviemaking
Steve Ramsden here with DIY Moviemaking and this week I’m going to show you how you can use a model car to make your low budget film look much more expensive! So let’s say you want to get some shots with an expensive car in your film - you can’t afford the real thing, but maybe you can afford a scale model. If so, you can use forced perspective to make it appear full size. To demonstrate this I’m going to be using this model of a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, which is the famous car used by James Bond, first seen in with Sean Connery in “Goldfinger”.
Now this is a totally ‘in camera’ method of filmmaking which requires no tricky editing or compositing at all, but if you fancy a more advanced method which does require some editing, you can check out my other video on that as well.
So for this basic in-camera version, all you need is your model and a camera. When choosing a model car to use, the bigger the better, and a popular size is 1:18, as this gives a lot more detail than smaller models.
Once you have your model, you need to pick a location with enough space so you can line up a real background behind it, and put your model on something low near the camera.
This is one of the oldest Hollywood tricks in the book and is known as ‘forced perspective’ where you simply put something close to the camera to make it appear larger.
When lining up your model with your real background, the easiest method is to not show the ground at all, and basically just put the car’s tires along the very bottom of the frame. But this can also be a big giveaway that you are looking at a model. So if you want to be a little more advanced, then you could also build a fake section of road, such as what I did here just using a wooden board and some scenic scatter from a model shop to look like tarmac or gravel. This way you can raise the camera up a little bit higher and this can help fool the brain that the car isn’t a model - because otherwise the road would have to be a model too, and guess what - it is!
You also want to look for the edge of the real road and try and line this up with your fake road. If can be tricky to get the angles right here, but it will really help disguise the join.
You will also want to film in ‘deep focus’ meaning you’re trying to get the foreground and the background both in focus at the same time. If you’re using a phone and you’re in bright sunlight it might do this automatically, but I would suggest doing it manually so that nothing changes, and if so this means you’ll need to change your aperture to the highest f-number you can see displayed. And if you want to see lots more tips on filming miniatures to make them look full scale, then I have a dedicated video on just that.
Now assuming you want to appear in the shot next to your car like I did, you also need to try and line yourself up at the right size. This is much easier with two people - one to film and one to appear in the frame - but If you are filming this alone like I did, then you’ll probably need a way of monitoring your shot yourself. I did this using an app on my phone called Canon Camera Connect, that lets me use my phone as a monitor to see my camera’s view, as long as I don’t walk too far away. This way I could see if I was in the right place, and then I could put my phone away while I filmed the shot.
I also tried an option where I made it look like I was leaning against the car. Now obviously you can’t interact with it much or move in front of it, but can look like you are standing behind it or even looking in the windows. Again, after some trial and error if you get the angles right, this will all help.
One of the best things about a fully practical in-camera effect like this is that your model and your scene behind will perfectly match. As long as your model isn’t sitting under any shade, no matter what the weather is doing on the day, your light on the foreground will be the same as the background. So will the direction of your shadows - this car is still being lit by the sun and from the same angle as what’s behind it. And if the car is shiny, it will even have all the correct reflections of its actual surroundings. It’s little details like these that make our minds just accept that this car really is in this location - because of course it is, it’s just smaller than it looks! So always remember that in-camera practical effects can add a lot of their own free realism without you even realising it!
#diymoviemaking #filmmaking #behindthescenes
Your channel is quickly becoming my favorite! Thanks for the great video.
Many thanks, very kind 😀
@@SteveRamsdenTH-cam don't know if you know this already, but someone is pretending to be you. I thought I should let you know just in case.
Assist me you 📱 number.
@@SteveRamsdenTH-cam can you use something free like dafenci resolve
Man, you’re such a boring, non-trendy, straight-to-the-point, no nonsense, no time-wasting, no jargon, non-joking old fashioned presenter... thank you!
Huge compliment haha
@@SteveRamsdenTH-cam hehe
This is the kind of movie magic that is missing today
Well, mayb not, as this technique was used multiple times in The Lord of The Rings, of course!
@@timbeaton5045 which was not made today
@@yourmum69_420 No, But it was made in the current era of CGI. Just down to the choices made by Jackson.
@@timbeaton5045 point is people don't use those techniques any more. Those films are 20 years old and filmmaking has gone downhill in the last 20 years. Among other things, we've been getting more and more cgi and less practical effects in the last 20 years. Even those hobbit movies from the same director had much worse effects.
Two decades ago is not "today"
we don’t need this crap anymore. we have computers and cgi and stuff. we also have more scools whitch is why acting is more better.
Very cool. If anyone is interested, the car used here is the SOLIDO 1/18 - ASTON MARTIN DB5 - 1964 - Model # 1807101 - Goes for about $60 US or about 60 quid in the UK.
Great technique here. What I would do it park my real car at the road side, then align up the model and shot such that the model matches the dimensions of the real car and mark the correct distance to stand or move about. Then move my car out of the frame and do the final take.
Olhando seu video. Sinto que o CGI tirou alguma coisa da magia do cinema.
Video maravilhoso. É magia pura.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I love the breakdowns you do on these videos. A lot of channels make these tutorials confusing, but you go in depth in a way that's a lot more understanding, and it makes it more entertaining to watch other than it just being a tutorial. I've made about two long films now, and I've used a few of your tricks for my movies and they've worked like a treat. These tips and tricks are really great to follow along, and they help a whole lot! Keep it up, this is some real quality stuff man.
Great to hear! Hope your projects go well
A simple trick that could add some precision to the effect would be to mesure the distance from the camera to the desired place of the car, then divide this distance by the scale of the model and make sure the toy is placed at the right spot!
Very good video oserwise! 👍
For sure, that would probably get you a much more accurate result
Bro hire me as your assistant, can learn a lot....you are just outstanding 🙏
I have learnt a lot from your videos
How do I pull out from a toy car..am working on a video ..I seriously need the effect ..you just earned a lasting subscriber
This is so cool Steve, I wanna make a short film with this technique now. Keep it up with the innovations!
Best of luck!
I’ve always loved your use of miniatures! Keep it up, Steve!
Thanks, great to hear!
Looks great! The final shot was a bit off in my option. The car seemed a bit small in that shot and you could have simply stood further away to make it seem bigger. Nonetheless practical effects are really good to use and you did a great job!
Yes, I didn't have long to try this one - definitely hard to get the sizes and distances spot on!
@@SteveRamsdenTH-cam The easiest way to get the sizes right is a bit of Math. Distance from lens to model 2ft (scale 1/18) 2 x 18 = 36 Feet.
@@SteveRamsdenTH-cam also the road wasn't really lined up straight either. Anyway, great tips and video thank you
Nice, I didn't have these fancy cameras back in the 1970's but did the same forced perspective shots
This is very cool.
it's a little off because of the shadow of your body which is non existing
You're absolutely right. it is so obvious, I'm surprised nobody else noticed this !
The shadows!!! I couldn't figure out what was throwing me off. Thank you!
I’d love to see something along these lines using a model house. That’d be quite cool to pull off!
Time for a Buster Keaton falling house / window stunt haha!
A great little video to show this fun technique. I have been doing this with all my 1/18th scale models for a year now and it is constantly challenging. More and more, I try to include myself and also some real cars in the background. I often go to the trouble of looking up the dimensions of the real version of the model being used and set my tripod height accordingly depending on what part of the model I am lining up on. All my work is on flickr and if anyone wanted to look, just get on flickr and look up any of the model car groups. I liked your fake road here. Very good! Thanks for sharing this Steve!
That sounds amazing! Keep up the experiments 👍
Useful for using realistic aircraft models without using CGI.
i love ur vids
Careful, the tires can can ruin the illusion when not seated into the ground. They are only perfectly round on the store rack. Look at the light under your right front tire in the road side shot. You can improve the appearance by heating the tires to flat spot and push against them when warm to bulge them, giving the vehicle weight. On a 1/16 model I built, the kit tires were hollow so I used small bolts to secure the model to the base. When I tightened the nuts under the base, they pulled the model to the base and bulged the tires.
Thank you very much for nice Technical Explanation with Miniatures
Hi Steve, great stuff! I am trying to find the same driver by footage on Artgrid you are using, but cannot find it. Does the clip have a title? Thanks!
Porsche perspective shots have been done since the days Flash Gordon in bags there's a few shots where because of the women were taller than he was where they had to make him look that tall I. Guess what you blew it.
You look like you're 8 feet tal most of the shot. In Shanghai with 6 foot 2.
4:26 in my opinion, just to be more precise, you:car ratio isn't perfect. according to this shot you're standing ~1 meter away from car. should've made the car a bit bigger.
❤
You can even think of it mathematically. If you want the car to appear a certain distance from your camera, place the model at that distance multiplied by its scale, which is 1/18 in this case. Start measuring from the entrance pupil (the nodal point). You can even pan by rotating the camera around this point. In theory...
U need a 0,75x speed for this video ! But absolutely lovely one !
Thanks bro
this is pretty much really Good incredible IDEA which you shown us👀
to make a Short budget Movies like you said, Grate JOB , it's creative 🔥
Glad you liked it!!
Hello Tommy Martin
Moustapha artist from Belgium.
I'm not a professional photographer
I need to learn more about this.
And specifically the choice of the camera and objectifs
Can you give us more informations about your camera and objectifs please?
I have a miniature model of an art gallery exhibition 1/6 and i tried to take a picture with a camera amateur and even a my smartphone. The result is disappointing. It's still look like a miniature model on picture.
Merci beaucoup pour la vidéo 👍👍👍👍👍
Most directors nowadays, "But I don't wanna. Just pay some digital effects firm $20,000 for the same shot that'll look worse and take a week."
What camera lens did you use? I have a Sony A6400 crop sensor, which would be an equivalent lens to the one you're using?
What was your focal length for this shot? is it 24mm?
But for all that, you didn't get the model road in line once, I thought the gap was so obvious that you would corret it to show the difference, but you didn't lol. I get what you're trying to convey, but maybe you have to demonstrate it as well.
That’s very simple and clever, I will have to try this with my RC planes. Thank you for sharing 👍🏻
No problem 👍
This was absolutely BRILLIANT. Thank you!
I can't even afford a cheap nasty car never mind an expensive posh one haha.
Haha same here
Loved the bit at the end when the real size car goes past. Brilliant
Yeah it was a happy accident and left it in to show the real scale 😂
I'm really not fooled by the shot because you can see right through the bottom of the car, and see your feet. There's no way we'd be able to see that in reality because that angle is just off, and your shadows obviously aren't being cast onto the hood of the car, which makes it even more obvious that its a miniature. Some things to take into consideration.
I'm making miniatures for a collab with another creator and this helped so much, thank you.😊
Does look real! This way of shooting models works really well.
But how to shoot driving car... Please make video on this
I might do this next! :)
Unfortunately this doesn't fix the shadow problem
4:40 there is your real size. if car drive 2 meter closer you it would not be size of your model. its wrong size. move camera closer. thats why you look too big
Hello, is the osmo pocket 2 camera a good camera for making movies from miniature models? Do you have experience working with this camera?
Think I might use this trick for my next Tinder profile picture.
Fun Fact: I love your tutorials bro! Another tip for any after effects user is down....
I subscribed you bro!
More coming soon!
DIY Ant Man movie with this kind of stuff. So funny when you run back to the car and the scale changes
So what I understand is that the most important thing in 'forced perspective' is that the focus of the front object and the background is the same.
So,very nice.i like your good suggestion.have a nice day . Dear.....
Someday I'm going to buy your course.. sadly too poor right now to do so
Watch the free webinar on the link below and you'll get a discount code 👍
How every objects no matter big or small , near or far are focused perfectly ?
Wow great. Which focal length do you taken for this shot? Great stuff I like it so much.
how do I create this effect but also have something in front of me that is larger than, such as a dinosaur ?
Superb quality!
Shadow perspective is different to your Shadow 😢
If ONLY they (ie: NASA / Kubrick /...) had access to this video... their 'moon landing' video footage would have been a WHOLE lot more convincing / less problematic... Especially with regard to the shadows... 🤔
Flat-earther convention is down the hall, up the stairs, second door on the left. Don't forget to flush.
thanks Steve... we can learn from your channel..
Hi.
А как можно в видео реализовать взаимодествие между двумя персонажами одного актера (как в ролике про клонирование самого себя)?
This kind of practical film making techniques are what I've been looking for in a channel. Great work! Keep it up!
More to come and lots to see!
Good 👍 but you can't make a human shadow on a car 🤣
YOU FOOLED ME MAN hahahaha,,thank for the tutor
Great job! 👍
Many thanks 😄
What objects can I use other than a car just asking
your alignment is off you should remind peole to take multiple shots of the fake gravel road so you can snip them and move then in post
I am from India and I make a movie name Vikram I know Vikram is a real movie but I make it first but using toy thanks
I’d love to see one done on having model vehicles behind the subject in a parking lot shot. Guess that might be easier with chroma key, but I’d be interested if there’s a practical way of doing it.
Yes, probably need to chop out the figures with green / blue screen or rotoscoping to make them move in front of the car. Might try that another time!
Love it!
Thanks a lot
Can you make money making these videos and can you give an example
Kudos to for adding in that gigantic car that crosses right aacross the scene at the end! How on earth did you get THAT shot?😁😁😁
It took hours to animate 😂
Steve Steve Steve, what do l have to do with you Twinny💪🏾😄
I remember reading that’s how the actors whom played as Hobbits in “The Lord of the Rings” look short without using CGI.
Yes, some shots were done with forced perspective, and some were done with compositing. A mix of both to keep you guessing!
Now I'm gonna have all the shots with expensive cars for social media XD
Yes much cheaper haha
Nice DB5 and old school Derek Meddings process. What's the brand of the model?
Meddings was the best! This one was from Model Car World www.model-car-world.co.uk/
Nah, car in foreground needs to appear larger.
It looked like you were peeing on your car
Thank you mate! Now i know how to make a shot with my de Lorean time mashine
Wow, good job, and I'm a film pro!
OT but damn 2:26 idk but that eyes one of the best I've seen
That's extremely interesting. Can't tell it was just a toy car had you not revealed the filming technique.
Great to hear!
Steve could you please recreate the mirror scene in Mr Nobody movie. It's a Masterpiece and I would like to know how they did it. Thanks in advance
Hey Steve, do you have a video on filming miniatures like for example lego guys in a green screen and then putting it in the shot but making him bigger? Im trying to make a PVZ movie with my friends and thats how I want to make the plants is with toys and making them bigger. Thanks
Justo el canal que necesitaba 😱me encanta como usa maquetas u objetos reales para hacer efectos , era lo que necesite por mucho tiempo, gracias 🤗🥰
Amazing (Y) Thx for it !!
I’m gonna try this!
Butiful (iam Assam Guwahati)
one thing can make it more real inperfection you need to make tyers dirtly and and some dirt coat on color suface car now looking fake due to clean !
Yes for sure
Awesome stuff! You sir get a like and subscribe from me.
Thankyou kindly - there's lots to see!
You are showing me what most white kept as a secret
I really love your videos, I hope one day I have the money to take one of your courses, unfortunately here in Brazil it is very expensive because of the euro conversion
Cool, unless a real car drives by.
Brilliant video sir
Very talented young man...
Bro what are used when edit this video
that toy car needs a hell of a polish
A really great video as always. Always fantastic for inspiration! Look
Forward to the next one. Thank you.
please help me i need it
u amazing ty
That's very cool!
Love from pakistan
Loooooove ur tutorials😊Thx u🖤