This sounds like a goddamn nightmare to figure out.

I love that Ian McKellen casually sticks the prop pipe in his mouth even though they aren't filming.

This video stopped so abruptly I thought I was about to receive a phone call.

why do the actors always get all the recognition. these skilled super craftsmen are fantastic

I've watched this 3 times, and my brain still can't figure out how to beat the perception. Absolutely incredible.

Now this is movie making and special effects.

Cgi is really really good sometimes but practical affects is just badass

This is how they make Tom Cruise look regular height. Costs studios an extra 5-10 million, but they do it.

lotr= shot in the best locations of new zealand hobbit= shot in the best locations of new zealand's computer labs

Without a doubt one of the best practical effects in the LOTR movies. Which is saying a lot, considering the amount of practical effects mixed with visual effects used in these movies.

I liked that Ian McKellan is called Ian McKellan, but Elijah Wood is called Frodo. In the same sentence.

And this shows why the LOTR movies were so damn good, this shows the passion put in. And also makes you see why The Hobbit couldn't live up in any way.

"Taken by Isildur from the hand of -" END from the hand of what Gandalf, _FROM THE HAND OF WHAT_

Incredible. And to think, when you're watching the film you don't even realise what has happened. Cinemagic!

I thought it was CGI. So everything midget is just this illusion? Bravo LOTR and Hobbit crew!

from this to Ian McKellen crying in front of the Hobbit greenscreen

This is so amazing that even after it's been fully explained I'm still not quite sure how it works

It's quite hard to believe that LOTR was made between 1998-2001 Waaaay before the advancements we have in video technology today. Truly amazing work they did on that first film

I always wondered how they did it without CGI. Michelle Gondry has used these technique in certain shots of movies and music videos. But doing a whole movie based around this technique is nuts. Another reason to love LOTR

These guys are geniuses

I love the technics of these films. It really make you wonder if it might've actually been easier to hire 4 shire hobbits, a dwarf, an elf, 2 guys, and a wizard.

Take two mirrors, put one where Gandalf is supposed to look and one where Frodo is supposed to look, and face them at each other. Now the actors can look each other in the eye.

When ever something in life ever looks too large or too small, I always tell my friends "Maybe they lord of the rings'd it".

Best trilogy of all time. Nothing will ever top LotR

Is this why insects are small?

I still don't get how this shit works. It's literally like magic. Fuck sake.

I'm too lazy to even understand it. I really appreciate their hard work

Anyone who comes up with such ideas and implements them in this way more than deserves the Academy Award.

2:05 smokin the pipe lol. He is gandalf irl

Wow. This is beyond incredible. I’m Legitimately mind blown by the level of technical skill and basic knowledge it takes to pull this off so well. for the last 15 years I’ve been watching the entire extended edition trilogy at-least 5-times a year but I’ve never watched the bonus features. all this time I thought it was computer tricks. This is ingenious. Gives you goosebumps.

I just pulled out my old LOTR dvd and watched it and I was wondering how the heck they did this specific scene. So glad this was the example they used. I wish they still worked this hard and made this sort of quality. It's so much better than CGI.

That. Is phenomenal.

My favourite scene using this illusion (apart from the kitchen table scene) is Gandalf and Frodo in the cart in Hobbiton. Totally seamless and believable.

clearly filmmaking takes a lot of innovation, creativity and even some math/physics! so cool!

These movies are timeless. There's just one small scene that comes to mind that looks a bit off now, almost 20 years after they were made. Incredible!

This is one of those things that once you've chosen to do it in one scene, you just have to repeat it in all other scenes since the ratios otherwise would not make sense. Sounds like hell! Respect

2:01 “Gandalf” utterly on his role sucking his pipe whilst none cameras are roling.

This is one of my favorite special effects in the movie.

This is simply one reason why these films will be cherished for many, many years to come.

I swear it must have been an absolute privilege to be a part of the LOTR production, Everything, from the music, to the cast, to the cinematography to the enormous battles, they're all beautiful.

This is the real magic right here.

Way better than The Hobbit, imo

20+ years later I finally got around to finding out how they did it👏

Like my girlfriend once said, " I liked it but it could've been longer. "

Sounds like a lot of work for a quick shot. the attention to detail in these movies is impressive

From now on, everytime I re-watch LOTR it will never be the same Damn the hobbits were actually talking to air lol

Oh my God, I had no idea this kinda stuff was involved, it all looks so seamless I barely thought about it. Practical effects never cease to amaze me.

The sheer amount of effort that went into making these movies is astounding.

2:22 the shadow of his right hand (holding the tea pot) suddenly appears near the cup. One second before, there was only his left hand shadow.

This is what will always separate this absolute masterpiece of a movie from playstation cutscenes that are being passed off as movies these days

Even after they explain the trick at length, it’s still seamless on scene. These are the men who built my childhood.

Maaaan, making movies back then must've taken some real creativity. Nowadays, people just throw money at blockbusters until everything's done with CGI.

STuff like this is fascinating - but then again, it's kind of like magic, I don't always want to know how it's done.

I am in awe of the skills applied in making such excellent movies.

This was so seamless people didn’t even think about it at the time. TFOTR and TT should have won Academy Awards for this stuff, deserved it just as much as ROTK.

All that just to have the camera be moving for a few seconds talk about dedication

"Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks!"

I don't know why, but I find all of the forced perspective stuff just SO impressive! So genius!

I'm starting to see where this big mobile spending goes. Amazing, I had no idea so much work went into this scene. Bravo

The harder/technically more difficult methods always ALWAYS yield better results.

I use it in photography, very clever to use it in live action.. a lot of head scratching I bet..

10,000 hours of effort for a 3 second scene that could just as well have been shot in 10,000 other ways, but they went with the hardest one.

I love this because I dont have any idea what any of this means but you can tell these guys are excited about having figured this out and that makes me excited.

Moral of watching: 2:26 It worked!

Ha, I always thought they used real hobbits

I can't even wrap my head around this. Genius!

When I look at their rig it looks like it wouldn't work right, but it does. Kudos to the people who figured this out!

From the hand of who!? Don't leave me in suspense!

And now in The Hobbit they have "Gandalf" crying on a green room regretting taking the role back for such shitty cash grabbing trilogy.

That's a pretty creative solution to a difficult problem. Perspective is a powerful tool when used correctly.

This is what love and care for a film and look at it? It doesn't look fake and it still is beautiful than the horrendous CGI

Why is everyone shitting on CGI? Half the time you’re watching something with CGI you don’t even know it because it is done very well. I’ve been learning for four years and have still barely scratched the surface of what is possible. It’s an art of its own and has made things possible in film that would never be possible without it. Don’t get me wrong these practical effects are really cool and interesting but I don’t think a lot of people understand that the only reason CGI “saves time” is because HUNDREDS of people are working on it simultaneously and sometimes are even half of the crew

re:View brought me here.

you can plainly see it's so much more fun and joyful in this clever way of doing it than just doing green screen with all the actors separated. that B roll of ian mckellen breaking down on the hobbit green screen set haunts me.

Most amazing trilogy ever made and the compassion that went into it, if only peter jackson made more... id absolutely melt if i heard hes making silmarilion

It would have looked like crap in CGI! This was the time where CGI looked wonky!

Nowadays we only got forced inclusion

These movies really did showcase some next level film wizardry. It simply boggles my mind how someone spent the time to figure all of this out.

Truly the genius of film makers, love this stuff sooo much!

CGI destroys cinema! LOTR best! Modern movies all CGI....boring.

2000ish: Man this movie is so great, even with low technique the movies were produced perfectly 2019: Man if this movie doesn't bash on white people it won't be accepted by Hollywood

Truly amazing, throughout the whole analysis I was amazed at its product but confused in the process, must of taken some physics and a keen eye to make this illusion

This has to be revolutionary, never nor heard anything like this before. Peter has always been heavy with practical effects, but this is a different level

this is actually incredible and wow, what innovative filmmaking to solve this problem practically.

This is true genius. No CGI, just brilliant creative people.

Those were the days... When CGI augmented “real” special effects and camera trickery. In this case CGI wasn’t even used! I often think about this “moving forced perspective”. I had TLOTR extended versions with all the bonus content, and I was absolutely amazed.

I've known how they did this kind of trickery for years now, but every time I watch, it's completely unapparent and my suspension of disbelief remains intact.

I've seen this video many times. Still blows my mind.

I understand the perspective that because cg can do pretty much anything now, there is no point into putting this much effort, time, and money into practical effects. The audience will just assume it is cg anyway. To me the classic example is the shot of Dorothy exiting her house in the Wizard of Oz - they had to use a sepia-painted wall with a stunt double wearing sepia-toned dress & makeup to accomplish it. Nowadays anyone can achieve the same effect with their iPhone in seconds. But it is sad how much of the magic & awe of the movies has been lost. There are uses of cg that still floor me - de-aging of actors (or reconstruction of dead actors), but even these technologies are available for people to play with on their phone.

Serious respect to those involved in figuring this out. To hell with over-reliance on CGI.

I still only understand half of what they're saying here but these people are geniuses. The fact that they did so much with practical effects and camera tricks instead of always relying on CGI has meant that these movies are 20 years old but the visual effects still look amazing.

THIS IS FRIGGIN GENIUS!!

Wow! Now I know why did they look like, they don't look each other in the eye. Amazing!

Never could get into this series, but this is art, that was amazing to watch.

the video I never knew I needed but absolutely do ❤

Holy amazeballs! This is amazing!

Wow, this is done SO WELL I can't see it even after being told what the trick is

WOW, I never thought it was done this was. Very impressive!!

Brilliance at its BEST!

The amount of work that went into the movie amazes me.