Many film classics like The Lord of the Rings still look quite good decades after their release, often even better than many new movies. This is also due to an effective but labor-intensive technique behind the scenes.
What technique is being referred to? The old trilogies of Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings are still considered classics today. They shape pop culture even now and are still appreciated as films. This is also because these old movies still look quite good decades later.
This is partly due to many techniques that were used back then, as there were no CGI capabilities like today. One of these elements is miniatures. Since the beginnings of films, they have been an important part.
Miniatures have been present since the dawn of film
What is meant by miniatures? In a YouTube video, the film and series channel Nerdstalgic explains why miniatures were so effective. Miniatures refer to structures that have recreated a specific scene or environment on a smaller scale.
Although stop-motion films like The Humpty Dumpty Circus (Source: scriptandshutter.blog) already used miniatures in 1898, one of the first films to use miniatures with real actors was Le Voyage dans la Lune (in English: A Trip to the Moon) from the year 1902. It was one of the first sci-fi films to use miniatures, costumes, and drawings to depict a journey into space. You can watch the nearly 13-minute film in its entirety on YouTube.
Over the years, miniatures were then used in various films in different ways. As Nerdstalgic explains, the size of the miniatures varied as well. For example, the model for the capital of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings, Minas Tirith, according to MiddleEarthUpdates (YouTube), was up to 7 meters tall. This allows for impressive scenes that highlight the size of such a city.
You can watch the YouTube video by Nerdstalgic here:
A common technique for many films
In which films were miniatures also used? In many major films, miniatures were an important factor in highlighting scale relationships, but also in impressively portraying locations:
- For the scenes with the monkey, multiple models of the creature were used in King Kong from 1933 (Source: YouTube). Through the mix of stop-motion, real actors, and miniature constructions, the creature could be brought to life.
- The first Star Wars trilogy consists of many small miniatures. Especially the various ships and the Death Star were built to shoot many of the impressive scenes (Source: YouTube).
- The large cityscape of Los Angeles that you can see in the first Blade Runner (1982) is also a miniature. The lighting effect was produced using small lamps (Source: YouTube).
Why are miniatures so good? As a commentator under the Nerdstalgic video notes: Miniatures look realistic because they are real. There is no CGI that doesn’t look good after years because it is filmed on a real existing set that just happened to be small. The trick lies in working with perspectives and effects that make the miniatures look realistic.
The problem is: Miniatures are expensive. Not only do you need the materials and labor time, but you also need many employees and the space to use the miniature as a set. In addition, you must carefully plan how to use and implement the miniature in the film. Additionally, such a filming method is also error-prone. Greenscreens and CGI effects are cheaper and save time and money, even if they don’t always look better. Nerdstalgic itself points out:
Why spend millions of dollars to build a tiny model house or castle to shoot it for a few seconds when you can create it digitally for just a tenth of the cost?
Although CGI effects are now the big standard, there are still filmmakers who rely on miniatures, including stop-motion. However, they are not as present as they used to be and are more often seen in the background. Even with the lightsabers in Star Wars, tricks had to be used back then: The old lightsabers from Star Wars and street signs have something in common, and the trick is brilliant
