miniatuureffect

Miniature effect refers to a visual effects technique in which small-scale models, sets, or environments are filmed to appear as full-size objects or landscapes. The goal is to create a convincing illusion of scale, so that a city, vehicle, or landscape looks enormous when viewed from the camera's perspective.

Techniques used in miniature effects include building scale models, employing forced perspective, and controlling camera movement with motion-control rigs to maintain consistent parallax across shots. Lighting and texture work are crucial to matching the look of real environments, while matte paintings or digital compositing may extend the miniature beyond the physical model. In many productions, a combination of practical miniatures and computer-generated imagery is used to enhance realism.

Miniatures have a long history in cinema. Early techniques relied on detailed scale models and, in some cases, stop-motion animation, as seen in King Kong (1933) and Metropolis (1927). In the Star Wars films, model ships and miniature environments helped create vast spaces. During the late 20th century, advances in motion control and compositing increased the scale and realism of miniature effects; more recently, digital techniques have largely supplemented or replaced physical models, though many productions still shoot miniatures for their distinctive texture and lighting.

Today, miniature techniques are often used for specific shots where physicality matters or are emulated with high-end CGI or digital miniatures. A related photography technique, tilt-shift, can simulate miniature scenes in live action by mimicking the shallow depth of field of a real-scale camera.