AQUiLA MAGAZINE
FRIENDSHIP GIANTS!
Forced Perspective Tomfoolery
If you enjoyed creating the size illusions on pages 16-17 of our Giants issue , then give these extension activities a go !
HARVEY ’ S MISSION
Check out the photo top right on page 2 . It ’ s a classic tourist snap of a person holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa using nothing but sheer brawn . Or is it ? Of course it ’ s not ! It ’ s photographic trickery and it ’ s incredibly easy to achieve using something called forced perspective . If you stand in the right place , you can appear to interact with the tower in a whole heap of interesting ways . There are loads of ways to have fun with photography and scale , all you need is a little bit of imagination ( and a camera , obvs ). Harvey wants you to have a go at creating some optical illusions of your very own . Experiment with distances and heights in a safe and adult-supervised manner please .
GET STARTED
Here are some ideas for simple illusions to try :
ACTIVITY SKILLS
30 minutes +
DIFFICULTY the giant : Take your photo from the ground pointing upwards , with your ‘ giant ’ ( a normally proportioned human being ) towering over you in a terrifying pose .
floor me :* Make sure you ask your helpful adult to assist with this one . Ask two friends / family members to lie down on the floor with their arms outstretched . Place an object between them . The aim is for it to look as if the two people are standing up and playing catch with the object . You ’ ll need to take your photo from up high . Careful now though – no balancing on furniture .
cloudy with a chance of ice cream : For this one you need to be outside on a sunny day . Wait for a fluffy cloud to pass by and see if you can hold up an empty ice cream cone as if your cloud is a massive dollop of ice cream . Ask your model to pretend to lick it . For maximum effect , position your camera slightly lower than your model ’ s hand , looking up .
YOU WILL NEED o A helpful adult o Camera / smartphone o Other humans o Stepladder ( optional ) o Ice cream cone ( optional ) o Slide ( optional )
Sliding doors : Go to a park where there is a tunnel slide . Get one friend to slide down the slide but keep the top half of their body hidden within the tube
with just their feet and lower legs poking out . Get your other friend to sit at the top of the slide with the bottom half of their body hidden within the tube .
Take your photo and TADA ! Look how long your friend is !
Now it ’ s time for you to try something of your very own ! What wonders will you create ?
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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