History Main / HitlerCam

* The history of ProfessionalWrestling has been one of routinely exaggerating performers' billed height and/or weight to make them seem literally 'larger than life'. One way this is carried over into the onscreen presentation in e.g. Wrestling/{{WWE}} is that during wrestlers' entrances to the ring or when walking backstage they will almost invariably be shot from a low angle to make them look (even) larger and more imposing. Cuts to wide shots occasionally give glimpses of the close-up cameramen scurrying backwards in front of them in a virtual crouch. When it's a wrestler who's TheGiant the angles from which they're shown will sometimes be even more extreme to make the effect still more pronounced. In fact, this trope has [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestlingJargon its own name]] in the business--the "André shot", after [[Wrestling/AndreTheGiant a frequent subject]] of this camera trick.

* Used in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' to make [[CharClone Zechs]] look even taller and more imposing than he already is, especially relative to the protagonists, (and give the fangirls a gratuitous [[FemaleGaze crotch shot]] in the process).

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

[[TropeNamers Named for]] the 5'9"[[note]]175 cm[[/note]] [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Nazi dictator]], who insisted on being filmed in this manner. The Nazi propaganda film ''Film/TriumphOfTheWill'', in which Hitler was shot this way repeatedly, popularized the technique. [[GodwinsLaw Talk about your "significant influence."]] A more {{sesquipedalian|Loquaciousness}} (and palatable) synonym is "subordinated viewpoint." Also, Hitler asked for [[BigLittleMan careful staging]] to [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-5243%2C_Wien%2C_Arthur_Seyß-Inquart%2C_Adolf_Hitler.jpg make the much bigger men around him in ceremonial occasions to appear about the same height.]]

** When Vader makes his first entrance in ''Film/StarWarsANewHope'' the camera is near the floor, as if from the perspective of a defeated Rebel soldier.

** When Vader makes his first entrance in ''[[Film/StarWarsANewHope]]'' the camera is near the floor, as if from the perspective of a defeated Rebel soldier.

* A RealLife example is mined for BlackComedy in one of the ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' books, which says that the Italian people eventually obliged Mussolini's insistance that he always be photographed from below by stringing him from a lamppost.

** In the final episode Daenerys is filmed from this angle during her victory speech after the Battle of King's Landing where she promises to continue her quest to 'liberate' the people and bring them under her rule. It is combined with a shot of her dragon taking flight as his wings spread out behind her to reinforce her adherence to House Targaryen's philosophy of peace through domination, as well as emphasising her pride and ego (her main character flaws) reaching their peak.

* Michael Bloomberg utilized this during his failed campaign to secure the 2020 Democractic presidential nomination. Ads hid his diminutive height this way. When showing him interacting with other people, he was placed in the extreme foreground while everyone else was back further. One ad even showed him standing and handing a piece of paper to someone...who was sitting at a table.

* In ''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]].

* Used in the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films to make the 6'1" Creator/RobbieColtrane look superhumanly tall as Rubeus Hagrid.

[[TropeNamers Named for]] the 5'9"[[note]]175 cm[[/note]] [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Nazi dictator]], who insisted on being filmed in this manner. The Nazi propaganda film ''Film/TriumphOfTheWill'', in which Hitler was shot this way repeatedly, popularized the technique. [[GodwinsLaw Talk about your "significant influence."]] A more {{sesquipedalian|Loquaciousness}} (and palatable) synonym is "subordinated viewpoint." Also, Hitler asked for [[BigLittleMan careful staging]] to [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-5243%2C_Wien%2C_Arthur_Seyß-Inquart%2C_Adolf_Hitler.jpg make the much bigger men around him in ceremonial occasions to appear about the same height]].

* The history of ProfessionalWrestling has been one of routinely exaggerating performers' billed height and/or weight to make them seem literally 'larger than life'. One way this is carried over into the onscreen presentation in e.g. Wrestling/{{WWE}} is that during wrestlers' entrances to the ring or when walking backstage they will almost invariably be shot from a low angle to make them look (even) larger and more imposing. Cuts to wide shots occasionally give glimpses of the close-up cameramen scurrying backwards in front of them in a virtual crouch. When it's a wrestler who's TheGiant the angles from which they're shown will sometimes be even more extreme to make the effect still more pronounced. In fact, this trope has [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestlingJargon its own name]] in the business—the "Andre shot", after [[Wrestling/AndreTheGiant a frequent subject]] of this camera trick.

* The history of ProfessionalWrestling has been one of routinely exaggerating performers' billed height and/or weight to make them seem literally 'larger than life'. One way this is carried over into the onscreen presentation in e.g. Wrestling/{{WWE}} is that during wrestlers' entrances to the ring or when walking backstage they will almost invariably be shot from a low angle to make them look (even) larger and more imposing. Cuts to wide shots occasionally give glimpses of the close-up cameramen scurrying backwards in front of them in a virtual crouch. When it's a wrestler who's TheGiant the angles from which they're shown will sometimes be even more extreme to make the effect still more pronounced.

** His film adaptation of [[Creator/FranzKafka Kafka's]] ''Literature/TheTrial'' used this shot for almost every scene in the movie.

* ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' used this trope and ScullyBox to make the already 6'5" (196 cm) Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan look superhumanly tall as the Kingpin.

** When Cersei approaches Gregor Clegane to be her champion, the camera is kept at a very low angle to make Gregor tower over her even more. This has an element of ForcedPerspective, as while Haftor Bjornsson is very tall (6' 9"); he is much shorter than the character is supposed to be (Somewhere between 7'10" and 8' 1").

* Used in ''Videogame/DayOfTheTentacle'' during Purple Tentacle's TakeOverTheWorld speech, [[https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/0/500/177476-dott_screenshot.pngg as seen here.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[TropeNamers Named for]] the 5'9"[[note]]175 cm[[/note]] [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Nazi dictator]], (average male height was generally 5'8" for Europeans, Churchill was 2 inches shorter) who insisted on being filmed in this manner. The Nazi propaganda film ''Film/TriumphOfTheWill'', in which Hitler was shot this way repeatedly, popularized the technique. [[GodwinsLaw Talk about your "significant influence."]] A more {{sesquipedalian|Loquaciousness}} (and palatable) synonym is "subordinated viewpoint." Also, Hitler asked for [[BigLittleMan careful staging]] to [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-5243%2C_Wien%2C_Arthur_Seyß-Inquart%2C_Adolf_Hitler.jpg make the much bigger men around him in ceremonial occasions to appear about the same height]].

* Stalin's right-hand man and [[StateSec NKVD]] boss Nikolai I. Yezhov was always photographed from below [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Ezhov.PNG in]] [[http://gayecho.com/NewsImages/kolumna/jezov-001.jpg official]] pictures to disguise the fact he was extremely short, a bit above 5ft. His well-deserved nickname had been [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Poisonous Dwarf"]].
* [[http://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/images/queen-victoria.jpg Nearly]] [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Queen_Victoria_by_JJE_Mayall,_1860.png all]] UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria's [[http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/images/uploaded/scaled/Queen_Victoria_1887_s.jpg official]] [[http://www.historyonthenet.com/Historical_People/images/queen_victoria.jpg photos]] and [[http://qvj.chadwyck.com/images/QVcoronation.jpg portraits]] are shot like this, to hide the fact she was extremely short, below 5 ft.

* Used in ''[[Film/HellsAngels Hell's Angels]]'' to portray an anarchist protesting against UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
* ''Film/{{October}}'', is a 1927 Soviet film that pioneered the technique in its depiction of the representative of the Provisional Government. The man even sports a Hitler 'stache twenty years before it became ''chic'' for dictators to do so, hilariously enough.

Named for the 5ft 9in (175 cm) [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Nazi dictator]], (average male height was generally 5'8" for Europeans, Churchill was 2 inches shorter) who insisted on being filmed in this manner. The Nazi propaganda film ''Film/TriumphOfTheWill'', in which Hitler was shot this way repeatedly, popularized the technique. [[GodwinsLaw Talk about your "significant influence."]] A more {{sesquipedalian|Loquaciousness}} (and palatable) synonym is "subordinated viewpoint." Also, Hitler asked for [[BigLittleMan careful staging]] to [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-5243%2C_Wien%2C_Arthur_Seyß-Inquart%2C_Adolf_Hitler.jpg make the much bigger men around him in ceremonial occasions to appear about the same height]].

** Frequently used throughout ''Series/TheLordOfTheRings'' to make the elves look taller than the humans: particularly Creator/LivTyler (who is not model height the way most of the actors playing elves are). This is in keeping with the canonical description of elves being on average taller than humans (the ''shortest'' elves are around six feet tall, a tall elf would be approaching seven). Also used on the already tall Creator/CateBlanchett playing Galadriel: in keeping with her canonical description as being unusually tall for a female elf. Also frequently used on the orcs to make them look both larger and more intimidating.