Surreal tilt shift video makes real derby cars look like toys
- Viewers are mesmerized after seeing a video taken using tilt shift photography
- It makes real-life race cars look like Hot Wheels toys
- It’s proof that a new POV can change your perception
Published on Apr 11, 2024 at 7:21 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Apr 15, 2024 at 7:02 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Viewers have been left mesmerized after seeing a video taken via tilt shift – and it makes real-life race cars look like Hot Wheels toys.
Turns out a new POV can really change your perception of a video.
Taking Reddit by storm earlier today, the footage has amassed over 23K views.
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But the video isn’t all that it seems.
Captioned simply ‘Tilt shift makes demolition derby cars look like toys’ – it does, in fact, appear to show model cars being played with by invisible hands.
Apparently, it’s all down to a videography trick – tilt shift.
The filming technique involves filming from a high angle with a shallow depth of field.
The focal length and frame rate make the subject look slightly jerky and unrealistic.
The foreground and background blur to create the illusion of a small world, per Digital Photography School.
What was actually captured was purpose-built real cars taking part in a demolition derby event.
The high-up perspective was captured by a drone.
And if that’s not camera trickery enough, the world’s fastest camera recently shot at 156.3 trillion frames per second for the first time.
As is often the way with these threads, the comment section is full of surprised Redditor’s reactions.
“I promise you that I really thought they were [toys],” said one comment with over 2,600 upvotes.
“I thought they were hotwheels [sic] until I saw a human. Still think it’s hotwheels,” said a second.
Some seemed to go a little deeper in their observations: “It looks like a dream.
“Like the way things look in focus up close but all the detail is gone in the background.
“At least it’s how my dreams look sometimes.”
“If you lowered the frame rate a bit more people would really think it’s stop-motion,” said a third.
If you’re a fan of optical illusions, this bizarre effect lets you know if you should drive in the rain.
Plus here are our top picks of car-related trompe l’oeil that are fooling the internet.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
