Bring toys to life

James Paterson forces perspective to make toys appear larger than life

- James Paterson

THE MISSION

Shoot forcedperspective toy scenes and combine the images in Photoshop

Time needed

Two hours

Skill level

Expert

Kit needed

• Two tripods

• Wooden platform

• Sandpaper

• Toys

• Photoshop CC

Have you ever wished your toys and models were life-size? In this project we’ll look at how to make them appear massive with a combination of shooting skills and editing tricks. One such skill is forced perspective.

Used in all sorts of productions, from fun YouTube videos to big-budget Hollywood movies, forced perspectives enable you to play with scale by combining objects of different sizes into a realistic whole. Best of all, it doesn’t need any fancy Photoshop skills, just a few items and a little time spent perfecting the angles.

Another trick we’ll employ here is the age-old technique of ‘smoke and mirrors.’ The term refers to the old magic trick of creating floating objects with mirrors while using smoke to obscure the tell-tale seams in the trick. Rather than smoke, we’ll use a handful of baking powder to create a flurry of snow. Not only does this add to the atmosphere of the scene, it also helps to distract from the details that give the game away.

An iconic toy like this is ideal, but you could use all kinds of items. Perhaps you have a model of an old classic car, or a life-like action figure that would be ideal for this effect, or maybe you have a kid’s playroom full of toys to experiment on.