{"id":23498,"date":"2016-07-21T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/?p=23498"},"modified":"2016-07-18T17:20:20","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T21:20:20","slug":"5-low-budget-techniques-used-big-budget-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/5-low-budget-techniques-used-big-budget-films\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Low Budget Techniques Used on Big Budget Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obviously a lot of money is spent on big budget films. Otherwise we wouldn\u2019t call them \u201cbig budget films,\u201d correct? Yet, even the more expensive Hollywood productions need to cut corners or find more economic means due to budget restrictions or a lack of time to finish the scene. Sometimes the cheaper, more efficient techniques are the way to go. And you\u2019d be surprised what low budget \u201chacks\u201d are being used on a lot of mainstream, studio features. Here are five examples:<\/p>\n

Shoot during the day, near windows. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"From
From “Inception.” Directed by Christopher Nolan. Image courtesy of Warner Home Video.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A lot of directors who made the transition from mico-budgets to large scale, studio productions often carry over the economic solutions they developed while working on indie films. Christopher Nolan is no exception to this. In an interview on Vice.com<\/a>, Nolan explains how as means to save time and money on his first film \u201cFollowing,\u201d he would intentionally shoot scenes during the day while using natural light streaming through windows. Nolan continued that tradition with his next film \u201cMemento\u201d which also marked his first collaboration with American cinematographer Wally Pfister. And, according to Nolan, both he and Pfister also <\/em>continued to apply that technique in films as epic as the \u201cDark Knight\u201d series and \u201cInterstellar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor Man\u2019s Process<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"From
From “Bad Boys.” Directed by Michael Bay. Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ve seen it many times before. The exciting car chase. The close up on the actors\u2019 faces as they drive those cars. And the world zips on by, thus adding a visual veracity to the action. Or so it seems. In actuality the actors are not only not driving the cars<\/em>, but the cars aren\u2019t moving at all. Instead, an intrepid crew stands outside the frame of the camera while shaking the car, thus creating the illusion of movement. Add to this a little camera shake and maybe some lights in the background slowly shifting from left to right and hey, presto! You\u2019ve just applied the Poor Man\u2019s Process! Apparently blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay is a huge fan of this approach as it turns up in both the \u201cBad Boys\u201d and \u201cTransformer\u201d movies.<\/p>\n

Forced Perspective <\/strong><\/p>\n

Forced perspective is still one of the oldest, in camera special effects being used on even the largest films coming out of Hollywood these days. And the technique is simple: place a scale model or object in front of a lens with a long depth of field while actors move about in the background. The resulting image looks like the subjects are standing right next to that model. Here is a famous example from Steven Spielberg\u2019s \u201cClose Encounters of the Third Kind:\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Image
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although a team of explorers appears to be approaching an abandoned ship left somewhere in the middle of the desert, the boat might be no bigger than that of an actual person whereas the actors are positioned quite a distance in the background. Pretty low tech compared to the abundance of CGI used in today\u2019s movies, correct? And yet it is somehow all the more effective for it. In fact, our very own Daniel Norton and the \u201cOnSet\u201d team provided this experiment with forced perspective.<\/p>\n

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May the Forced Perspective Be with You: The Video Show Ep. 1<\/div><\/div>
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