# How did they film this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149 "2012-04-18T13:57:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/1 "2012-04-18T13:57:12Z")
[Commercial](http://vimeo.com/26652511) It’s pretty choppy on my computer, which is unfortunate because the actual ‘choppiness’ plays a part. In any case, it appears to be live-action footage; only it’s shown in such a way as to appear to be stop-motion animation of miniatures. In this and another commercial some of the vehicles look like toys. Obviously the top and bottom of the frame were blurred, simulating shallow focus. I suspect that they grabbed every other frame in post to make it look like it was animated. They shot it on the one day ( 😉 ) that there’s full sun, with the light being somewhat high, giving it a ‘tabletop’ appearance. Is that all there is to it? Or did they use techniques I haven’t thought of? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/2 "2012-04-18T14:04:09Z")
Article on [Miniature faking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_faking). ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/3 "2012-04-18T14:05:05Z")
I[t’s a pretty popular technique](http://visualphotoguide.com/tilt-shift-photoshop-tutorial-how-to-make-fake-miniature-scenes/). ETA: _Shakes fist at ZipperJJ_ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/4 "2012-04-18T14:06:06Z")
[Diorama illusion.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_faking) ---
**Author:** ![MobiusStripes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@MobiusStripes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MobiusStripes)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/5 "2012-04-18T14:06:19Z")
It could have been done with a tilt-shift camera, but I’d guess it was done in post processing. It seems to be a trendy effect lately. I’ve seen the feature (the simulated one, not real tilt-shift) on some new point and shoot cameras. > **[Miniature faking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_faking)** > > Miniature faking, also known as diorama effect or diorama illusion, is a process in which a photograph of a life-size location or object is made to look like a photograph of a miniature scale model. Blurring parts of the photo simulates the shallow depth of field normally encountered in close-up photography, making the scene seem much smaller than it actually is; the blurring can be done either optically when the photograph is taken, or by digital postprocessing. Many diorama effect photographs a... ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/6 "2012-04-18T14:16:16Z")
Nifty! Pretty much how I assumed it was done. I’ll have to give it a try when I get a new computer (whenever _that_ will be!). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/7 "2012-04-18T14:24:48Z")
> [@MobiusStripes](#): > > It could have been done with a tilt-shift camera, but I’d guess it was done in post processing. I was going to say that’s just tilt-shift, but reading your post and looking at it more closely, I think you’re right that it’s just post-process blurring to simulate tilt-shift. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/8 "2012-04-18T14:43:39Z")
the top-and-bottom blur can be accomplished with [tilt-shift photography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_shift_photography), or it can be done in post-processing. The stop-motion animation effect looks like it was done with [time-lapse photography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_lapse_photography), i.e. shooting the film at maybe 15 or 10 frames per second and playing it back at 30 frames per second. This makes objects appear to move faster than they would in real life (as if they were miniature), and also provides the jerkiness that we have come to associate with stop-motion animation. Keith Loutit has a bunch of movies on Vimeo utilizing these effects. [Here’s a really good one.](http://vimeo.com/3156959) One of the cool things about the time-lapse action is that you can see the bobbing of large boats (see at 2:25); this normally happens on a very long time scale so that it’s difficult to observe, but with the action sped up, it becomes obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/9 "2012-04-18T15:09:04Z")
The thing with the movement is that the objects/people appear to be moving at a more-or-less normal speed. If you reduce the frame rate and play it back at normal speed, then they would appear to zip around. But I think that if you film at normal speed, grab ever other frame, and repeat each frame, then you would get a sort of stop-motion effect like the one in the video. In a motion picture camera (which I’m more familiar with than video) you would retain the shutter speed and exposure for 24 fps, but you’re effectively getting 12 fps in post before you double each frame. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/10 "2012-04-18T15:15:31Z")
It is just a timelapse. Look at the speed of the people walking. You’d have to play it back at whatever frame rate the camera recorded the scene, perhaps 5 or 10 FPS? Frischluft’s [Lenscare](http://www.frischluft.com/lenscare/index.php) is a really popular post-DoF plugin for compositing applications like After Effects. I’ve been using it for years, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/11 "2012-04-18T15:19:55Z")
Don’t underestimate the effect of the camera angle too; the most effective scenes in that commercial are all shot from an angle visibly higher than ground level, as if you’re looking down on a model. The colors have all been saturated a bit more than normal as well. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/12 "2012-04-18T15:28:09Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > It is just a timelapse. Look at the speed of the people walking. You’d have to play it back at whatever frame rate the camera recorded the scene, perhaps 5 or 10 FPS? Or they are just walking really fast to get out of the 60 mph winds, based on how the flags are flapping 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/13 "2012-04-18T15:33:47Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Don’t underestimate the effect of the camera angle too; the most effective scenes in that commercial are all shot from an angle visibly higher than ground level, as if you’re looking down on a model. The colors have all been saturated a bit more than normal as well. Yep. This technique was also used in the opening theme to Whedon’s Dollhouse. > [@Baracus](#): > > Or they are just walking really fast to get out of the 60 mph winds, based on how the flags are flapping 🙂 Nothing like a brisk wind to get those senior citizens to haul ass. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/14 "2012-04-18T15:38:30Z")
The angle is critical. I’ve [played around with the miniature mode on my camera](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbNCNG3NvuI) and composing the scene is critical to the illusion - you can see that some of the shots work well there and some don’t. Essentially, you need to trick the brain into mistaking blurring along the top and bottom of the image as blurring due to being too far and too close from the focal plane of your eyes. So you need the blurred areas to line up with areas that should be distinctly near and far. Getting a high angle really helps. [In another video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxeCeWDcCk)I didn’t get enough height over my target and it doesn’t quite work well. Since your depth of field when focusing increases with distance, to have a narrow depth of field convinces your brain that you must be looking at something that’s close for the focal planes to be so small and clearly seperated - but since your brain knows the size of things like cars and trees, that must mean that those objects must be small, if they look like that while being close - hence the look of small models. It’s a cool trick that works basically off fooling how our brain’s image processing works. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/15 "2012-04-18T16:00:51Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > The colors have all been saturated a bit more than normal as well. This seems fairly important to my (non-photographer but former occasional model-builder) eye. Saturating the color not only makes the colors look a little more artificial, it will wash out some of the fine shading and detail in the middle of objects, while preserving a sharp outline, which makes things look more like a model. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/16 "2012-04-18T16:53:35Z")
How do we know there’s not a real mini version of Westport Marina? Eh? There could be a [serial killer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miniature_Killer) working for the Westport Marina Travel Bureau! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/17 "2012-04-19T05:39:32Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > The angle is critical. I’ve [played around with the miniature mode on my camera](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbNCNG3NvuI) and composing the scene is critical to the illusion - you can see that some of the shots work well there and some don’t. Based on the videos I’ve seen, the effect seems to work best when there’s no horizon visible. Without the horizon you can imagine the scene playing out on a tiny set. It’s not universal–water scenes seem to work ok, since water is somewhat nondescript and you can’t really tell how far out it extends. But to my eye, roads ruin the illusion since you can see them extend out to “infinity” via perspective. Shallow angles are ok if the horizon is blocked by hills/trees/etc. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/18 "2012-04-19T06:49:38Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Keith Loutit has a bunch of movies on Vimeo utilizing these effects. [Here’s a really good one.](http://vimeo.com/3156959) I’ve seen some of his previous work. I do hope that guy that got washed into the water by the rocks was alright! ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/19 "2012-04-19T08:20:19Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Keith Loutit has a bunch of movies on Vimeo utilizing these effects. [Here’s a really good one.](http://vimeo.com/3156959) One of the cool things about the time-lapse action is that you can see the bobbing of large boats (see at 2:25); this normally happens on a very long time scale so that it’s difficult to observe, but with the action sped up, it becomes obvious. [Here’s another beautiful](http://vimeo.com/37157187) and at times grotesque example that made the rounds when it came out a month or so ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149/20 "2012-04-19T15:22:08Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I’ve seen some of his previous work. > > I do hope that guy that got washed into the water by the rocks was alright! Given that the whole film followed the helicopter rescue of the guy, and they showed him hugging his family towards the end, I’m pretty sure he was. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-film-this/619149.md?page=2)