The Lord of the Rings film series captivated audiences not only with its gripping story but also with its revolutionary special effects. Peter Jackson faced many complex technical challenges, and at times, the director solved them with remarkable creativity.
There’s a huge height difference between the wizard Gandalf and the tiny hobbits, while in reality, actor Ian McKellen wasn’t much taller than his co-stars. Many viewers still believe that CGI was used in these scenes, but the filmmakers took a different — and far more inventive — approach.
Instead of shooting the actors against a green screen and assembling the frame in post-production, Jackson turned to a classic Hollywood technique: forced perspective.
The method is simple: actors are placed at different distances from the camera, and carefully chosen angles and props convince the audience that the characters are standing side by side — even though one of them may be much farther away.
But the characters were riding in a moving cart. To solve this, the crew developed a synchronized motion system. One rig controlled the camera, while another moved the platform with the actors and props. Every element moved with perfect precision, preserving the illusion of perspective even in dynamic scenes.
