History Main / HitlerCam

The inverse of the Hitler Cam is to shoot the figure much higher than normal, looking down on them to make them appear smaller or more insignificant. The two varieties are often combined to emphasize the extreme difference in size or power between two people.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Film/TheMansionsOfTheGods'': Various camera tricks are employed to make Obelix seem that much more terrifying, sometimes appearing to be three meters tall.

* UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini would always be photographed from a slightly low angle, as visible in [[http://maximus.pl/pliki/grafika//historia/mussolini.jpg the photo he used for his autobiography]]. He was only 5' 6"...although he still dwarfed the diminutive, 5' 0" Vittorio Emmanuel III.

* A large number of newsreels from [[TheNineties the presidency]] of UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush are shot from this angle to make him appear [[SelfDemonstratingArticle like a giant]]. At 180 cm, he is slightly above average for American males.

* Bashar al-Assad also used this, and he could easily pass out as an Arab Hitler.

Named for the [[AdolfHitler Nazi dictator]], who insisted on being filmed in this manner. [[GodwinsLaw Talk about your "significant influence".]] A more {{sesquipedalian|Loquaciousness}} synonym is "subordinated viewpoint".

* David Miscavige, the leader of [[ChurchOfHappyology a different kind of army]], seems quite fond of this. Other tactics to not make him look like a midget include wearing very high shoes, posing in group shots with the shortest members of the church surrounding him and the tallest members standing ''way'' in the back, and standing next to Creator/TomCruise a lot (which only helps so much: though Cruise is only 5'7" himself, Miscavige is still noticeably shorter).

* Used and subverted, both to great effect, in ''Film/CitizenKane''. In one notable shot OrsonWelles as Kane looms over the camera and seems to be of a height with the windows behind him -- until he walks towards them, when we realize that the room has a thirty-foot ceiling and the ''sills'' of the windows are higher than Kane's head. Welles would go to extreme lengths to set these up in ''Kane''. One day a studio executive wandered into the set to find Welles tearing holes in the floor so he could get a satisfactorily low angle.
* Speaking of Welles, the film adaptation of [[Creator/FranzKafka Kafka's]] ''Literature/TheTrial'' used this shot for almost every scene in the movie.

* ''Film/TheGreenMile'' used this trope and ScullyBox to make the already 6'5" (196 cm) Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan look superhumanly tall as John Coffey.

* JosefStalin, another vertically-challenged dictator of the 30s, used this technique as well to disguise his true height.

* David Miscavige, the leader of [[ChurchOfHappyology a different kind of army]], seems quite fond of this. Other tactics to not make him look like a midget include wearing very high shoes, posing in group shots with the shortest members of the church surrounding him and the tallest members standing ''way'' in the back, and standing next to TomCruise a lot (which only helps so much: though Cruise is only 5'7" himself, Miscavige is still noticeably shorter).
* BenitoMussolini would always be photographed from a slightly low angle, as visible in [[http://maximus.pl/pliki/grafika//historia/mussolini.jpg the photo he used for his autobiography]]. He was only 5' 6"...although he still dwarfed the diminutive, 5' 0" Vittorio Emmanuel III.

* A large number of newsreels from [[TheNineties the presidency]] of GeorgeHWBush are shot from this angle to make him appear [[SelfDemonstratingArticle like a giant]]. At 180 cm, he is slightly above average for American males.

* Portraits of Napoleon, as you might expect, were usually flattering, and often made him look taller than he was. Painters sometimes shortened objects near him or cut off his legs while increasing the size of his coat. In reality, Napoleon was of average size for his time. His reputation for shortness originated from a confluence of misconceptions (his bodyguard consisted mostly of 6' or greater strongmen, and Napoleon's official height was given in French feet and inches, which were somewhat longer than the corresponding English units) and perpetuated enthusiastically by his archnemesis, Britain.

*** The Gateway Arch really ''is'' the tallest structure in St. Louis, but not by the degree to which a lot of photographs of it seem to imply. In pictures taken from ground level on the Illinois side of the river, the Gateway Arch in the foreground appears nearly twice the height of One Metropolitan Square (the second tallest structure in St. Louis) further back, though the actual difference in height is less than 10%.

** Unless you're shooting from an aircraft (or a nearby, taller building), any photograph of a building is going to be from a low angle. If you're specifically shooting ''that'' building, you're likely to be fairly close to it as well, which only makes the angle steeper.

* StephenColbert's old opening had a Hitler Cam shot, with him pointing derisively at the camera for being shorter than him, followed by a dove's-eye-view shot where he gives a sour grapes look to the camera.

* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil President and BigBad Satsuki Kiryuin from KillLaKill is regularly shown from this angle (it helps that her favorite perch on top of the highest point of the academy.)

* Spoofed in ''KamenRiderDecade''. When [[KamenRiderDenO Momotaros]] gets his body back thanks to a Final Form Ride card, it's shot like a monster-growing-giant scene (even though Kamen Rider doesn't normally use giant monsters). Then we cut to show Decade standing right next to him, showing that he was just being his usual hammy self.

* Portraits of Napoleon, as you might expect, were usually flattering, and often made him look taller than he was. Painters sometimes shortened objects near him or cut off his legs while increasing the size of his coat. In reality, Napoleon was of average size for his time. His reputation for shortness originated from a confluence of misconceptions (his bodyguard consisted mostly of 6' or greater strongmen) and perpetuated enthusiastically by his archnemesis, Britain.

!!Examples:

!Examples:

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* ''{{Triumph of the Will}}'' was not the first use of this technique, but it was the first famous use of it.

* Speaking of Welles, the film adaptation of [[Creator/FranzKafka Kafka's]] ''TheTrial'' used this shot for almost every scene in the movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': Evil dictator Lord Farquaad is introduced with dramatic music and a Hitler Cam... and then he walks by a pair of guards, [[BigLittleMan revealing him to be about three feet tall]].
* Referenced in the movie version of ''HighFidelity'', where one of Rob's ex-girlfriends is talking at a school cafeteria, apparently about Gene Simmons and his use of this trick.

* Appears in ''SurfNinjas''.

* Clu in ''Film/TronLegacy'' is shot in ''TriumphOfTheWill'' style when he gives his speech on the Rectifier, and he stands on a levitating platform so all his soldiers can see him.
* Used in ''TheGoodSon'' to make Henry seem more intimidating

* ''{{M}}'' includes a sequence where a man bumps into a very large, scary man on the street. The tall man is shot very low to emphasize his height, and the normal man is shot very high to seem much shorter than he is.
* In ''TheSuper'', Joe Pesci's character comes face to face with a very tall basketball player, "the Milkman." From Pesci's perspective, the Milkman is shot using a Hitler Cam to seem incredibly tall. From the Milkman's perspective, Pesci is shot from above to look puny.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:MusicVideos]]

!!Examples:

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': Evil dictator Lord Farquaad is introduced with dramatic music and a HitlerCam... and then he walks by a pair of guards, [[BigLittleMan revealing him to be about three feet tall]].

* The various Japanese ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' shows that form the basis of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' use the HitlerCam on the [[PeopleInRubberSuits rubber-suited actor]] as he stands to show the MonsterOfTheWeek growing to skyscraper size.

* StephenColbert's old opening had a HitlerCam shot, with him pointing derisively at the camera for being shorter than him, followed by a dove's-eye-view shot where he gives a sour grapes look to the camera.