Ever wonder how they got Frodo and the hobbits to look so tiny? It wasn’t digital enhancements, though they certainly retouched the footage that way. It is a technique called forced perspective.
What makes Lord of the Rings unique in its use of this age-old camera trick is the camera panning. Typically, in a forced perspective shot, the camera is fixed to keep the sizes proportional. In LOTR, they moved the camera and part of the actual scene including actors creating the illusion of a smaller person while the camera pans across the scene. Very impressive.
