Special Effects: Titanic and Beyond

Student Handout

Putting It into Perspective

American psychologist Adelbert Ames created several famous optical illusions. One was a room that wasn't exactly what it seemed to be. But what was it? Do this activity and find out!

Procedure

1. Assemble your Distorted Room using the template provided.

2. Look at the room through the hole cut into the side.

3. Now place the models in the corners. Move them around and observe how they look placed together and apart in different parts of the room.

Questions

1. What does the room look like through the hole?

2. What happens to your models when you put them together in each of the two far corners? What happens when you place them apart in each far corner?

3. Why do you think the models look the way they do when placed apart in the far corners?

4. What is it about the room that makes the models look the way they do?

5. What kind of special effect might this technique be good for?