Forced perspective is a great trick. It was used extensively in the Lord of
the Rings films to make the Hobbits and Dwarfs appear a lot smaller than the
other characters. In the "Special Features" section of the DVD's they show
how it was done. Really impressive results. Pieces of the sets and props
were made different sizes so two actors could be interacting in the same set
and appear significantly different sizes.

The most common way of making two actors appear the same height is to just
put one on a platform and shoot from waist up. I understand that Alan Ladd
was pretty short, but none of his fans ever knew it.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America

"Trent Moorehead" wrote in message
...

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...

Common tricks, going back to the very first movies, include designing
set
pieces (such as doorways, windows, and other everyday reference points)
to
be lower than real life, to make the actor(s) appear larger than life,
as
well as elevating one actor (e.g. Winslet) to make her appear nearly as
tall
as another (e.g. DiCaprio).

I think it's at least as likely, and probably more so, that the truth
Hollywood is stretching is what you see on the screen, not what you read
in
a bio (though, I'll admit the bios may or may not be accurate as well).

Pete

To see examples of these tricks, look at any Tom Cruise movie. He's rather
short for a guy, but he plays these larger-than-life type characters. One
of
the major tricks to make people look taller than someone else is to film
from behind the shorter person and position the camera low, looking up at
the actors' faces. I guess they may also film above and behind the taller
actor.

-Trent