A miniature effect is a

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

created for motion pictures and television programs using

scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...

s. Scale models are often combined with

high speed photography High-speed photography is the science of taking pictures of very fast phenomena. In 1948, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) defined high-speed photography as any set of photographs captured by a camera capable of 69 ...

or matte shots to make gravitational and other effects appear convincing to the viewer. The use of miniatures has largely been superseded by

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...

in contemporary cinema. Where a miniature appears in the foreground of a shot, this is often very close to the camera lens — for example when matte-painted backgrounds are used. Since the exposure is set to the object being filmed so the actors appear well-lit, the miniature must be over-lit in order to balance the exposure and eliminate any

depth of field The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus (optics), focus in an image captured with a camera. See also the closely related depth of focus. Factors affecting depth ...

differences that would otherwise be visible. This foreground miniature usage is referred to as forced perspective. Another form of miniature effect uses

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

. The use of scale models in the creation of visual effects by the entertainment industry dates back to the earliest days of cinema. Models and miniatures are copies of people, animals, buildings, settings, and objects. Miniatures or models are used to represent things that do not really exist, or that are too expensive or difficult to film in reality, such as explosions, floods, or fires.

From 1900 to the mid-1960s

French director

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in th ...

incorporated special effects in his 1902 film '' Le Voyage dans la Lune'' (''A Trip to the Moon'') — including double-exposure, split screens, miniatures and stop-action. Some of the most influential visual effects films of these early years such as ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' (1927), ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'' (1941), ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

'' (1954) '' The Ten Commandments'' (1956). The 1933 film '' King Kong'' made extensive use of miniature effects including scale models and stop-motion animation of miniature elements.

From the mid-1960s

The use of miniatures in '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' was a major development. In production for three years, the film was a significant advancement in creating convincing models. In the early 1970s, miniatures were often used to depict disasters in such films as '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972), ''

Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

'' (1974) and '' The Towering Inferno'' (1974). The resurgence of the science fiction genre in film in the late 1970s saw miniature fabrication rise to new heights in such films as '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', (1977), ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' (also 1977), '' Alien'' (1979), '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' (1979) and '' Blade Runner'' (1982). Iconic film sequences such as the tanker truck explosion from ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in t ...

'' (1984) and the bridge destruction in ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a U.S. government agent, who struggles to balance his double life as a spy with his familial duties, ...

'' (1994) were achieved through the use of large-scale miniatures.

Largely replaced by CGI

The release of ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'' (1993) was a turning point in the use of computers to create effects for which physical miniatures would have previously been employed. While the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) has largely overtaken their use since then, they are still often employed, especially for projects requiring physical interaction with fire, explosions, or water. ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

'' (1996), ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' (1997), ''

'' (1998), the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy (1999–2005), ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003), '' Casino Royale'' (2006), '' The Dark Knight'' (2008), '' Inception'' (2010), and '' Interstellar'' (2014) are examples of highly successful films that have utilized miniatures for a significant component of their visual effects work.

Techniques

* Acid-etching metal *

Carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

Fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

* Kit-bashing *

Laser cutting Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...

Machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...

* Miniature lighting and electronics * Mold Making and

Casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

* Motion control photography *

Painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

* Plastic fabrication *

Rapid prototyping Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design ( CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printing ...

* Vacuum forming *

Welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

Notable model-makers

* Brick Price: '' The Abyss'' * David Jones: ''

'', '' The Hunt for Red October'' * Grant McCune: ''

'', '' Battlestar Galactica'', '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture''. * Greg Jein: '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' * Ian Hunter: '' The Dark Knight'', '' Live Free or Die Hard'', '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' * Leigh Took: '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' * Lorne Peterson: ''

'' Episodes 1 - 6, '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'', '' Battlestar Galactica'', '' War of the Worlds'' * Mark Stetson: '' Blade Runner'', ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart (writer), Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel ''Nothing Lasts Forever (Thorp novel), Nothing Lasts Forever'' by Roderick ...

'', ''

The Fifth Element ''The Fifth Element'' () is a 1997 English-language French science-fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, and co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, an ...

'', ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' * Matthew Gratzner: '' The Aviator'', '' The Good Shepherd'', '' Pitch Black'', '' Alien Resurrection''. * Michael Joyce: ''

'', ''

'' * Patrick McClung: '' The Empire Strikes Back'', '' Aliens'', '' The Abyss'', ''

'' * Richard Taylor: ''

'', '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' * Steve Gawley: ''

'', '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''

Miniature effects companies

* Vision Crew Unlimited * Weta Workshop * WonderWorks

References

External links

Howard & Theodore Lydecker, miniature effects pioneers
{{Special Effects Scale modeling Visual effects Cinematic techniques Film and video technology Special effects