Short Gets Shorter

When diminutive Alan Ladd made movies like “Shane,” fellow cast members stood in a trench to make the star look taller. In “Clifford,” with Martin Short, everyone else stands on apple boxes and elevated walkways--to make the star look smaller.

The 40-year-old, 5-foot-8 actor is playing a 10-year-old in the Orion comedy, which revolves around young Clifford’s quest to visit a popular theme park, his attraction to a pretty adult (played by Mary Steenburgen) and his revenge against her fiance (Charles Grodin).

Among the other strategies the film’s production team is using to downsize its star:

Casting tall: Steenburgen is 5 feet, 8 inches tall--and wears heels during shooting. Grodin is 6 feet, 1 inch tall; supporting players and extras are also above average in height.

For rear shots of Short, the filmmakers employ a double barely five feet tall. Pictures are being hung higher when Short stands in front of them. Chairs are lowered, a bed is enlarged. For a scene in an airplane, Short’s cushion was removed. He’s being filmed at downward angles, and shots from his point of view are angled upward. Makeup, lenses and lighting are also being used for a more youthful look.

“We’re doing everything we can to sincerely say this character is 10,” Short says. “Before, when adults played children, like Pee-Wee Herman and Jerry Lewis, there wasn’t any attempt at sincerity.

“We’ve seen Dustin Hoffman aged to play 121 in ‘Little Big Man.’ Why not me as 10?”