From Blade Runner to GTA V, part of what makes blockbuster movies and video games so immersive is the incredible visuals. Even though it's made up, the scenery looks so real, so palpable, it's as if you're almost there. Sometimes, however, you are. If only for a moment.
Our world is so diverse that there are places where you can actually feel like you're in a different galaxy or even a 3D render. The surroundings, the lights, and a few random coincidences can make it look almost identical to your favorite productions.
So, to give you a well-deserved five-minute break, Bored Panda has decided to take you to these locations and we've collected the best photos that were taken there. Enjoy.
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These Clouds Over This Abandoned House Look Like They’re Out Of Courage The Cowardly Dog
Oh hail no. I'd be in the cellar with the survival kit if the sky looked like that. I've never seen it quite THAT green ---- but close enough we hid for hours until it was safe.
There Is A House Near Me That Looks Like It’s Out Of A Fairytale
To learn more about what goes into producing such images, Bored Panda got in contact with Feed-the-good-wolf, the person behind the dreamlike photo of an altar inside an underground church which had over 24K upvotes on Reddit. "I took it with an iPhone 4 at the salt mines in Poland," they said.
"There was an eerie medieval vibe in the church but it was very surreal too. It's a mixture of the textures and lighting as well as the fact that there were so many right angles that make the pic look like a video game," Feed-the-good-wolf explained. "This altar is entirely carved out of salt."
Amazing Shot Taken At The Right Time And In The Right Place. These Antennas On Top Of The San Francisco Sutro Tower Look Like A Ghost Ship
And the chimney on the right looks like someone is saluting the ship O.O
The Emperor's Corridor In The Czech Republic Looks Like A Real Life Skyrim
This Forest With Trees Covered In Green Moss Right After All Of The Colorful Leaves Fell To The Ground In Basque Country
Next day, the dawn was a brilliant fiery red and I wandered though the weird and lurid landscape of another planet; for the vegetation which gives Mars its red appearance had taken root on Earth. As Man had succumbed to the Martians, so our land now succumbed to the Red Weed...
We also looked at some tips online and learned that pretty much everyone can take cinematic photos.
To start, ask yourself what makes something look picturesque in the first place. Study your favorite movies. But don't just watch them, try to identify how you can interpret their essence visually.
You don't have to stick to one particular genre when looking for cinematic inspiration. Yes, you can learn a lot from watching action movies but there's also animation, documentary films... the list goes on. You can broaden your influences by researching lists of films online, such as IMDb's Top 50 Most Beautiful and Visually Stunning Movies.
The Sun Hit This Freshly-Paved Tarmac Just Right And Made A Real-Life Rainbow Road Through Polarized Lenses
Volcanic Ash Cloud In Chile Looks Like A Giant Monster Summoned From The Underworld
Oppstryn, Norway Looking Like A Dreamland
If you find a movie you really like, write down everything you love about it. Observe how every shot is composed, and pay attention to how the lighting establishes the mood of each scene. Filmmaking and photography may be different platforms, but they share many rules. Subsequently, you can easily apply what you learn from watching movies to your photography.
Next, capture images with a prime lens. Movie cameras rarely use zoom lenses since a lot of cinematographers actually prefer using fixed prime lenses—they're a whole lot sharper than lenses with variable focal lengths. Plus, they also provide incredible bokeh that helps isolate the subject from the background.
Then, learn to shoot raw. JPEG is a type of file that you can readily use right out of the camera but having the ability to edit it broadens the scope of possibilities with the image. RAW files allow you to make significant changes to them without destroying their overall look.
This Photo Of My Son Looks Like A Horror Movie Poster
This Looks Like A Screenshot From A Video Game But Is Actually A Real Altar From An Entire Church Carved Underground In A Salt Mine In Poland
This Old Town In Japan That Looks Like A Movie Set
Explore angles. Every element of an image influences how the audience feels when viewing your work, and this includes using angles to establish different moods. Just by changing your camera position, you can change how people perceive your photo as well.
For example, the eye-level shot replicates how we usually see other people and helps us connect with the subject on a more intimate level.
You can also set the mood with lighting. The two main types of lighting you can begin with are soft lighting and hard lighting. Movies often use soft lighting to make scenes look dreamy and heavenly, and apply hard lighting to set a more dramatic tone.
I Drove Into A Deep Winter Forest At Night, And It Looks Like In Some Stephen King Story
Long Exposure Photo Of Drones Circling Mountains Makes Them Look Like Sci-Fi Landscapes
This Cemetery Fire From Yesterday Looks Like A Horror Movie's Climax
San Francisco Is Looking Like Blade Runner 2049
Lastly, get creative with color grading. It's a subtle enhancement that you can use to complete the movie look you are going for. This process is used to manipulate the tones and hues, emphasizing its overall mood.
So you can slide the temperature to the yellow side if you want your photo to look and feel warmer and to the blue end if you want to evoke a colder response. Adjust the values of your hues, saturation, and luminance (HSL) until you achieve the color palette that you want.
Follow these steps and who knows, maybe your picture will end up in our next list!
"Earth Pyramids" In South Tyrol, Northern Italy Looks Like An Alien Movie Set
This Is What An Empty 787 Looks Like
Space Needle In Seattle Over Clouds Looks Like The Cloud City From Star Wars
These Lights On The Ground That Look Like The Start To A Video Game Quest
And nobody's going to point out the characters walking towards the first quest?
Mont-Saint-Michel In France Looks Like The Disney Logo In Real Life
My Orange Toolbox Looks Like A Real Life Pickup Item Under My Room's Blue Light
The Fog Made The Stadium Look Like An UFO
This Spot Looks Like A CGI Render To Me. Seriously One Of The Craziest Places I've Ever Seen. Oregon Coast
If you have ever seen the animated Oregon Travel commercial, then know that it's really not that far off from the real thing! Oregon has some really beautiful sights. I will miss it here.
I Covered A Door In Mirror Paper Squares And Now It Looks Almost Like Some Sort Of Portal
Frozen Water And Waves Of Lake Michigan Makes Something That Looks Like It's Straight Out Of Game Of Thrones Or Saw
My Picture Of Today’s Sunset Looks Like It Is From GTA
A Friend On Social Media Spotted This One Pixel Glitch In The Matrix, India
Photo I Took On My Phone Looks Like Live Action GTA
A Quest!
Shot This Photo Of A Neighbor Kid As A Giant Storm Was Passing The Other Night
My Picture Made It Seem Like I Was A Locked Character
This Tower We Found In An Irish Forest Looks Like Something Out Of A Fairytale
The Reflection Of The Lights In The Room Behind Me Make It Look Like The Sky Has A Trap Door
Fire In East St. Louis Last Night Looks Like A Scene From A Movie
Cloud From The Storm Today Looks Like A Horror Movie
Just another few seconds and the house will be sucked into the clouds.... I could totally imagine that happening!
The Corridors In My Hotel Look Like A Retro Fps Game
A Picture Of My Kids At The Zoo Turned Out More Like A Scene From A Horror Movie
Hong Kong Protests Look Like A Dystopian Future
I've Been Told My Photo Of Half Dome Looks Like A Videogame Render
So Last Night's Fog And The Street Light Made My House Look Like A Scene From A Horror Movie
Lena Pillars, A Natural Rock Formation In Yakutsk, Russia Looks Like The Wall From Game Of Thrones
Ice Storm Makes North Georgia Look Like Something Out Of An Apocalypse Movie
The Massive Underground Cathedral Protecting Tokyo From Floods (This Isn't A 3D Render)
This Photo I Took Of A Building In San Antonio Looks Like It's Straight Out Of An Alien Invasion Movie
I Genuinely Thought My Car Was Hovering Over The Parking
A Creepy Little Christmas Tree Fully Decorated In The Middle Of The Woods. Powered By What Looked Like Mini Solar Panels
My Front Porch View Looks Like A Scene Out Of Stranger Things
Apartment Hallway In Dallas, TX Looks Like A Scene From The Titanic
The Way The Snow Melted In My University's Courtyard Makes The Floor Look Like A Video Game
Photo I Took On My Phone Looks Like Live-Action GTA
I Lost 170 Lbs, Then Had 9lbs Of Excess Skin Removed. My Scars Make Me Look Like An IRL Sally From The Nightmare Before Christmas
I Live In A Pretty Boring Neighborhood In Japan So Decided To Try This App. Went With The Intention Of Something Interesting. Found A Garden Of Giant Trees Looking Like This
Fall Colors From An Abandoned Fire Watchtower In Minnesota
Enchanted Forest In Oregon Looks Like The Gates Of Hell At The Moment
This Sign Feels Like The Start Of A Video Game
I Took This Pic 2 Years Ago, This Is A Metro Station (Solna Centrum) In Stockholm. I'm Fascinated By The Design, Looks Like A Gate To Hell
I Got My GF A New Bike Helmet, My Brother-In-Law Got Her A Drake Face-Print Balaclava And Now She Looks Like A Custom Video Game Character
The Angle At Which My Dad Took A Picture Of His Car Made It Look Like It Was From A Video Game
This reminds me of that game, Need for Speed. Is that still a thing?
Lake Bursol With Working Railroad Looks Like From Ghibli Movie
Reflection On Window Looks Like Massive Spaceship Landing
Interior Of An LNG Ship Cargo Tank
Guy Working On Japan's Giant Gundam Looks Like A Scene From A Movie
This Is Not A Set From A Movie: This Is The Super-Kamiokande, An Observatory In Japan Intended To Detect Neutrinos, A Subatomic Particle
The gold-hued detectors are so sensitive to light they can detect a flashlight shone all the way from the moon.
yep thats neutrino detection chamber - its flooded with deuterium, and when neutrino passes by it may collide with heavy water creating photon, this can detect single photon
Tried To Take A Night Photo On GoPro. Looks Like Game Rendering
Lightning Storm On Long Exposure Made It Look Like A Nuclear Fallout
This Roof Looks Like It Belongs In A Nintendo Game
A Top View From PNB 118 (2nd Tallest Building In The World In Construction In Malaysia)
I Came Downstairs And Noticed My Dryer Looked Like A Portal To Another World
Seagulls At Bondi Being Very Particular About Their Personal Space
My (Handless) Clock Makes It Look Like The Wall Is Buffering
The View Of A Cemetery From My Tokyo Hotel Window Looks Like A Cityscape
Looks Like I’ll Be Joining You In The Upside-Down World
A Picture I Took At The Airport A Few Days Ago, It Looks Really SciFi-ish, Like A Battlestar Galactica Spaceport Or Something (Human Perception Is Fun)
Went With The Intent To Find A Glitch In The Matrix. Brought Us To This Door That Hasn’t Queued Up Yet
This Building Got The Invisibility Upgrade
This Building Is A Monument To The Former President And Looks Straight Out Of A Sci-Fi Movie
This Puddle Reflecting The Sun Looks Like A Portal To Space
This Cool Ice Formation I Found In The Woods Looks Like A Portal
A Photo Of A Friend From Poland Looks Like It Was Taken Inside The Witcher Game
When You Reach The End Of The Game's Map. Just In Real Life
This Shot Looks Like A Still From A Video Game
Smoke Blown Into A Flower Pot Looks Like A Horror Movie Set
Almost Dropped My Phone While Taking A Panorama When I Was On A Walk Earlier. The Result Made Me Think Of That One Scene From Inception
The Lens Flare Made It Look Like I Can Generate Anti-Chicken Force Fields
Todaiji In Nara - Japan On Super Bright Sunny Day. Almost Feel Like It Just Came Out Of Ghibli Movie. One Of My Lucky Shot Too
Photo I Took Through My Scope Looks Like A Video Game
A Whole House Covered In Neon Yellow Spray Paint. For Some Reason
This Photo I Took On A Safari Looks Like A Pokemon Battle
Taipei 101 Looks Like It Should Be In A Sci-Fi Movie
Glitch In The Matrix Spotted In Atlanta
I Took This Pic Of My Apartment "Business Room" And It Looks Like A Videogame
This Snapshot I Took Of An ROTC Formation Via Drone Kinda Looks Like It's From An RTS Game Because Of The Bright Sun And Camera Quality
The Lighting On This ATM Make It Look Like A Game Objective
This McDonald's In Roswell, Nm That Looks Like An UFO
Nah, they just gutted the actual spaceship and then built a Mickey D's in it! ;)
The Flash From My Phone Made It Look Like My Fiancee’s Legs Were Animated
This Photo My Brother Took Of The Sun From A Philly Rooftop Looks Like The Sunset On Tatooine
This Morris Minor Taken In Central London Which Looks Like It Was Taken On A Film Set
Oregon Wildfires Are Making My Friends College Campus Look Like A Post-Apocalyptic Movie
Night Street In Russian Village Looks Like Location In Some Game
The Reflection On My Hotel Rooms Window Looks Like A Portal To Somewhere
Tsunoda Going Past Turn 11 In Bahrain Looks Like Something Out Of A Sci-Fi Movie
Scene In The Swiss Alps That Looks Like A Riddle From A Video Game
The Air Pollution Makes It Look Like Playing A Video Game At Low Settings
This is "low"? Back in my day "low" was solid cloud that didn't dissipate until you were right smack on top of something.
California Sunset Looks Like A Loading Screen From A Game
This Manhole Cover Near My Work Looks Like A Video Game Texture That Hasn’t Loaded Yet
Real Photo Looks Like From GTA V Game
Don't Know If It's Glitchy, But A Coincidence For Sure. April 2, 2020. I've Been To Clean Up My House The Sunrays "Traced" My TV Remote
Someone's telling me to dig myself on Netflix, or to accomplish a quest... Dunno.
Eating Lunch In The Car With My Wife And She Looks Over And Says "Honestly For A Second I Thought There Was A Treasure Chest Up There"
Took This Video Game Looking Photo On My iPhone 6 In Utah Like 3 Years Ago
This Underground Skate Park In An Abandoned Factory. Like Something Out Of A Tony Hawk Video Game
Lol this place is teeming with people who think so highly of themselves but are yet so easy to upset. The photos were cool. And video games are cool as well.
A lot of these were really neat! Some of them struck me as kind of backwards though. No, the picture you took does not look like GTAV. GTAV looks like the picture you took of the real world- that’s the point of good graphics. If you want to complement the art department of a video game company, you might as well just do it directly.
No, they're saying that the photo looks like a very well-done rendering rather than real life--as in the photo actually looks almost-fake.
Load More Replies...It's probably more accurate to say video game graphics are getting more realistic that it is to say reality "looks like a video game"
Because video games and movie sets are created by people who have seen places like these?
You've def proved that you don't play haha. Some of these pics were pretty on point with looking like videogames. How can you say you don't play them then say none of them looked like renderings? You just negated your comment.
Load More Replies...Lol this place is teeming with people who think so highly of themselves but are yet so easy to upset. The photos were cool. And video games are cool as well.
A lot of these were really neat! Some of them struck me as kind of backwards though. No, the picture you took does not look like GTAV. GTAV looks like the picture you took of the real world- that’s the point of good graphics. If you want to complement the art department of a video game company, you might as well just do it directly.
No, they're saying that the photo looks like a very well-done rendering rather than real life--as in the photo actually looks almost-fake.
Load More Replies...It's probably more accurate to say video game graphics are getting more realistic that it is to say reality "looks like a video game"
Because video games and movie sets are created by people who have seen places like these?
You've def proved that you don't play haha. Some of these pics were pretty on point with looking like videogames. How can you say you don't play them then say none of them looked like renderings? You just negated your comment.
Load More Replies...