Like those time-lapse videos in which people string together a series of photos of themselves taken every day for a whole year, tilt-shift photos and videos, in which real-life subjects appear miniaturized / toylike through clever lens-work, have become all the rage, cropping up all over the interwebs over the past year.
Basically, the effect is achieved in one of two ways--either with a rather expensive tilt-shift camera lens, or on the cheap using a quick tool sequence in Photoshop, and involves blurring the outer edges around a central image or field of view to make it seem like a macro photo of a miniature object.
Here's my favorite example to-date: a time-lapse video made by photographer Keith Loutit of tilt-shifted scenes from around Sydney, Australia, including an exciting sequence of a fisherman getting swept off a ledge into the sea! How charming!
Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
Here are some other tilt-shift videos by Loutit...
Mardi Gras, 2008
Mardi Gras from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
"Helpless" (Sydney, Australia)
Helpless from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
"Bathtub II"
Bathtub II from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
"The North Wind Blew South" (Syndey, Australia)
The North Wind Blew South from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
"Metal Heart"
Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
And there's an entire Flickr group dedicated to tilt-shift work if you're interested in seeing more. Really great stuff...
(via Keith Loutit on Vimeo)
"Metal Heart" is just awesome. The music is by My Robot Friend (http://www.myrobotfriend.com/).
Posted by: Fernando Rizo | April 06, 2009 at 01:07 AM
i only watched the first two, but the second one works because he makes the people look like fake plastic people. i think that's cheating! vote for me at http://www.mynumberonelady.com/?p=1769
Posted by: kristina | April 07, 2009 at 11:54 AM
they use this for the opening credits of "dollhouse" -- http://www.viddler.com/explore/activedollhouse/videos/2/
Posted by: Joel | May 09, 2009 at 12:50 AM