History Main / LowAngleEmptyWorldShot

Less common these days in big-budget films as a background can be replaced with CGI. For instance, when Creator/TomHanks climbs to the top of the island in ''Film/CastAway'', you can see in the DVD extras that he was in a parking lot, but this was replaced by CGI - this is not the trope because the angle was just for effect, not to obscure the parking lot.

You use a lot of shots from below the actors![[note]]It doesn't have to be from below either. Low is most common, but shots from up high pointing down are used, too - it's just easier to keep the camera low than rent a crane.[[/note]] This way you don't have to worry about the busy street behind the actors or the neatly-mown lawns (that should have been untouched for years) on the side of the road. All the audience will see is the tops of buildings (which would probably still be in okay shape), and treetops. You remove the sounds of traffic in editing and replace it with silence.

* ''Series/FallingSkies''
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Used fairly often in season one to save on having to close streets and dress them with trash and rubble. Later seasons spent more time on sets or in the woods.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Used fairly often to save on having to close streets and dress them with trash.

[[caption-width-right:350:Far cheaper than clearing the busy [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity Manhattan]] Street behind them - and looks good, too!]]You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people, so when you have to shoot in the city you can't have streets full of cars and people in the background. The thing is, clearing the streets of people, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film the characters outside?

* The only outside shot of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', was the scene where the proto-human smashes the skull and bones, shot in a field on a raised platform from down low to get the sky in the shot and to avoid the cars and trucks in the background.

* The only outside shot of Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey, was the scene where the proto-human smashes the skull and bones, shot in a field on a raised platform from down low to get the sky in the shot and to avoid the cars and trucks in the background.

You use a lot of shots from below the actors![[note]]It doesn't have to be from below either. Low is most common, but shots from up high pointing down are used, too.[[/note]] This way you don't have to worry about the busy street behind the actors or the neatly-mown lawns (that should have been untouched for years) on the side of the road. All the audience will see is the tops of buildings (which would probably still be in okay shape), and treetops. You remove the sounds of traffic in editing and replace it with silence.

You use a lot of shots from below the actors! This way you don't have to worry about the busy street behind the actors or the neatly-mown lawns (that should have been untouched for years) on the side of the road. All the audience will see is the tops of buildings (which would probably still be in okay shape), and treetops. You remove the sounds of traffic in editing and replace it with silence.

Of course depending on the angle and how often this is used it can be jarring when used too much or too low an angle, making it feel like everything is being recorded from the angle of a child - but when used with proper planning you barely even notice. Competent directors simply make sure the characters in the foreground or the tall objects in the background are interesting enough and the audience will be distracted.

** ''Series/FallingSkies''
** ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Used fairly often to save on having to close streets and dress them with trash.
** ''Series/TheWalkingDead''
** ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'': When the folks back on Caprica are going through the empty city.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PIC_8598.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:At the top, from a low angle, she could be TheAloner. At the bottom, you see normal traffic in the background on an April afternoon.]]You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people, so when you have to shoot in the city you can't have streets full of cars and people in the background. The thing is, clearing the streets of people, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film the characters outside?

** ''Series/TheWalkingDead''

** ''Series/{{Revolution}}''

Of course depending on the angle and how often this is used it can be jarring when used too much or too low an angle - but when used with proper planning you barely even notice. Competent directors simply make sure the characters in the foreground or the tall objects in the background are interesting enough and the audience will be distracted.

* ''Main/{{Godspell}}'', with its empty Manhattan uses this often, only non apocalyptic.

You use a lot of shots from below the actors! This way you don't have to worry about the busy street behind the actors or the neatly-mown lawns (that should have been untouched for years) on the side of the road. All the audience will see is the tops of buildings (which would probably still be in okay shape), and treetops.

Of course depending on the angle and how often this is used it can be jarring to watch a shot from what can be the viewpoint of where a child would be, but when used carefully you barely even notice. Make sure the characters in the foreground or the tall objects in the background are interesting enough and the audience will be distracted.

Of course depending on the angle and how often this is used it can be jarring to watch a shot from what can be the viewpoint of where a child would be, but when used carefully you barely even notice. Make sure the tall objects in the background interesting enough and the audience will be distracted.

Of course depending on the angle and how often this is used it can be jarring to watch a shot from what can be the viewpoint of where a child would be, but when used carefully you barely even notice. Make the tall objects in the background interesting enough and the audience will be distracted.

You use a lot of shots from below the actors! This way you don't have to worry about the busy street behind the actors or the neatly-mown lawns (that should have been untouched for years) on the side of the road. All you'll see is the tops of buildings (which would probably still be in okay shape), and treetops.

You use a lot of shots from below the actors! This way you don't have to worry about the busy street behind the actors or the neatly mowed lawns on the side of the road. All you'll see is the tops of buildings (which would probably still be in okay shape), and treetops.

[[caption-width-right:300:At the top, from a low angle, she could be alone AfterTheEnd, and first noticing [[ZombieApocalypse Zombies]]. At the bottom, you see normal traffic in the background on an April afternoon.]]You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people, so when you have to shoot in the city you can't have streets full of cars and people in the background. The thing is, clearing the streets of people, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film the characters outside?

[[caption-width-right:300:At the top, from a low angle, she could be alone AfterTheEnd. At the bottom, you see normal 6pm traffic in the background.]]You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people, so when you have to shoot in the city you can't have streets full of cars and people in the background. The thing is, clearing the streets of people, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film the characters outside?

[[caption-width-right:300:At the top, from a low angle, she could be alone AfterTheEnd. At the bottom, your see normal 6pm traffic in the background.]]You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people, so when you have to shoot in the city you can't have streets full of cars and people in the background. The thing is, clearing the streets of people, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film the characters outside?

You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people, so when you have to shoot in the city you can't have streets full of cars and people in the background. The thing is, clearing the streets of people, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film the characters outside?

You're shooting an AfterTheEnd movie where almost everyone is gone, and the world has fallen into disrepair. You're telling the story of TheAloner or the last few people.

The thing is, clearing the streets of people in the background, making sure lawns look unkempt, and other set dressing for the apocalypse can be expensive and takes a lot of time. How do you get around this but still film characters outside?

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead''
* ''Series/FallingSkies''
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}''