50 Cent Is Really Big In Europe

April 12, 2016 5:12 AM

This is our Really Big Coin. It is big because it makes other things look small when photographed next to it.

DIY and Howto

posted by moody cow (26 comments total)

I absolutely love everything about this.
posted by schmod at 5:18 AM on April 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

Is it just me or does the coin look real and everything else look fake?
posted by Literaryhero at 5:22 AM on April 12, 2016 [14 favorites]

That'll be the tilt-shift effect that's been applied to the photos.
posted by pipeski at 5:27 AM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

I adore tiny things and this is all like big things which just look tiny and my (tiny) mind is blown
posted by billiebee at 5:30 AM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

The tilt-shift photography completely blows the effect. Plain snapshots would make it obvious that the coin is huge.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:30 AM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

A for effort, however.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:31 AM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

That's the little man that makes Euros? Cool.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:40 AM on April 12, 2016 [6 favorites]

The tilt-shift photography completely blows the effect. Plain snapshots would make it obvious that the coin is huge.

Erm.. isn't the effect supposed to be that the tilt-shift tricks our brain into thinking that the coin is a normal-sized one and the objects are tiny? Even when we're told that it's a big coin, it's hard not to see it this way, which is great. Only the one where someone's holding it above his head breaks the illusion.
posted by rory at 5:41 AM on April 12, 2016 [19 favorites]

Ah. I hadn't considered that. Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:44 AM on April 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

Plain snapshots would make it obvious that the coin is huge.

I thought that the point of these was exactly to make other stuff tiny and toyish in comparison? When you think about it, this huge 50 cent has quite a lot in common with the 50 Cent In Da Club: they both want to show those standing next to them as fake and insignificant, but, at closer inspection, it's just that they've managed to trick us for a moment.
posted by sapagan at 5:45 AM on April 12, 2016 [5 favorites]

Now you're just making me feel bad for my lack of insight about the artistic kids these days

/goes off to shake fist at cloud
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:50 AM on April 12, 2016 [5 favorites]

Don't be sad. You really had me scratching my head for a sec to see what I was missing.

This is awesome. I see myself doing this and having my friends and loved ones rolling their eyes within a week. "Really? The giant coin AGAIN??"
posted by nevercalm at 6:03 AM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Is it just me or does the coin look real and everything else look fake?

That's called capitalism.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:15 AM on April 12, 2016 [39 favorites]

Tiny Elvis: Hey, Sonny, Red, you boys having a good time?

Red: Count on it, Tiny Elvis.

Sonny: Takin' care of business, Tiny E!

Tiny Elvis: Well, that's good man, that's real good. Hey, Sonny, Red! Look how big that 50 cent coin is, man! That's hu-u-uge! That's one big half-euro!
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:16 AM on April 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

Still not as large as our old 50 escudos coin, nicknamed "the terror of referees".
posted by lmfsilva at 6:21 AM on April 12, 2016

They are correct: that is a Really Big Coin.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:31 AM on April 12, 2016

It is big because it makes other things look small when photographed next to it.

I don't follow their logic. Surely it makes other things look small when photographed next to it because it is big, not the other way around.
posted by a car full of lions at 6:37 AM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

DIY: take photo of coin; witness it MAGNIFY.
posted by sapagan at 6:45 AM on April 12, 2016

Conversely, I've heard that the secret personal injury lawyer supply store carries miniature rulers to provide scale when photographing potholes.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:51 AM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Count me on team anti-tilt-and-shift.

The problem with tilt-and-shift is that it does a great job of making things look tiny all on its own. With things already looking tiny from tilt-and-shift, the giant coin isn't actually adding anything to the illusion. It's wasted potential.
posted by yeolcoatl at 7:06 AM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

They are correct: that is a Really Big Coin.

Well, it's no Big Nickel. Much more portable, though.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:57 AM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Well, the Big Nickel is no Ningi.
posted by Devonian at 8:35 AM on April 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is very dangerous and foolish. They are just begging for Two-Face to come and steal it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:08 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

I thought that the point of these was exactly to make other stuff tiny and toyish in comparison?

Yes, but that's why the tilt-shift effect is a cheat. Using that camera technique would make all these things look tiny even without the big coin next to them. The real achievement would be to create a huge coin so convincing it makes you doubt the scale of other things without any camera tricks.
posted by straight at 1:49 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

The trick, though, is intended to reproduce the actual shallow depth of field you get innately when you actually photograph small things. So it doesn't seem like a cheat, just making it look correct; it's the actual effect you'd get from photographing at the scale they're implying and the illusion couldn't work without it.
posted by churl at 4:24 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ironically people serious about macro and small model photography spend a lot of effort and money to light and focus stack their images to mitigate the limited depth of field.
posted by Mitheral at 4:42 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]