5 movies that played with our perception: Hagrid was not so tall in “Harry Potter”

In the film industry, technology has advanced so much that actors can be digitally updated for a role, but when it comes to making them look taller or more practical methods can be used that are very effective, such as playing with perspective or the visual perception of what you see on the screen.

‘The Lord of the Rings’

Many coercive methods were used in this film to make the actors playing the Hobbits, a small race, look like a child next to human characters.

In real life, Ian McKellen is only 2 inches taller than Elijah Wood, but on screen it looks like Wood is the height of a child as Gandalf looks much taller than him.

To accomplish this visual trick in the film, the production had to make two versions of the same sets of different sizes, place the actors closer or farther from the camera, and use stuntmen of different heights.

‘Harry Potter’

Rubus Hagrid is half giant and half magician, so he is 8 feet and 6 inches tall. The production managed to make the actor Robin Coltrane look much taller in the movies, since in his real life he is 6 feet tall.

To make Hagrid look like a giant, perspective tricks were used, such as the use of wider lenses. shoot from different angles or place the actor closer to the lens. create small props or scenes so that the actor looks great when interacting with them. For some shots, a stuntman taller than the actor was used, with platforms and an animatronic head of the character.

‘Avengers’

For Marvel movies, characters like Tony Stark / Iron Man and Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow had to increase their height to keep up with their teammates.

In the case of Scarlett Johansson for movies like “Avengers”, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and others in which she shares scenes with Chris Evans, she had to use platforms to raise her 5 feet 3 inches and get closer . at 6 feet of actor Steve Rogers.

Robert Downey Jr., in the role of Tony Stark, received a height increase to look taller and reach other actors and even surpass his pepper Potts partner (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is 5 feet 8 inches, an inch more by the actress.

‘Fast and Furious’

In “Fast Five” (2011) Dwayne Johnson made his franchise debut as agent Luke Hobbs and although he is taller than Vin Diesel, in the scenes they shared together they both look the same size.

To achieve this effect in the movies, they resorted to the technique of forced perspective so that on the screen Vin Diesel with his 5 feet and 9 inches looks the same size as the Rock with his 6 feet and 5 inches.

‘The green Mile’

In this 1999 film, based on a Stephen King novel, the character of John Coffey, played by the late Michael Clarke Duncan, looks like a giant. Although he is actually very tall at 6 feet and 4 inches, standing next to Tom Hanks does not make much difference because the actor is 6 feet tall.

Different camera angles were used to make him look much taller than all the actors, and even for the scenes where they stand together, Clark Duncan stood on a board while Tom Hanks stood in a ditch to look shorter.