Combined Perspective Method

a composite film technique that combines objects of differing scale and spatial position in the same frame to create the illusion of true perspective. The combined perspective method is used to replace constructed sets (or parts thereof) and buildings with drawings and mock-ups and to film drawings and three-dimensional objects in animation. The advantages of the combined perspective method over other composite film techniques are that the composite frame can be seen through the camera viewer in the form in which it will appear on screen, filming is accomplished in one exposure, and no special apparatus is required.

Only those parts of the set that are intended to serve as an immediate background to the action (which may involve people, machines, and other objects) are built or selected in actual size. The remainder of the set, located much closer to the camera, consists of drawings or small-scale mock-ups of the scenery. On film, the same sort of effect is created as when using complete full-scale sets. Moreover, by changing the relative scale of the drawings and mock-ups, the combined perspective method permits a man to be represented as a giant or a dwarf.