A closer look
Before you lean on expensive computers, just remember that moving the camera is significantly cheaper. To make Elijah Wood look three feet tall next to Ian McKellen's Gandalf, the crew relied on 'forced perspective,' a camera trick older than cinema itself. They built bizarre, custom tables and sets where Wood sat several feet behind McKellen, while the camera angle made them look side-by-side. It essentially involved mathematically precise furniture and aggressively lying to the audience's eyeballs.
