I like this technique that transforms a real photo into a model look-alike : tilt shift. You know it ?
Here are some examples :
http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1440&bih=752&q=tilt+shift&oq=tilt+shift&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1698.3159.0.3268.10.7.0.3.3.0.142.808.1j6.7.0....0...1ac.1.28.img..1.9.688.10NkDZeuX_0
They just take a global shoot, with a lot of details, and then add blur and saturation. Some of these pics are amazing and work really well !!
Remember when you were playing with trucks in your sandbox, a lonnnng time ago ?
I was wondering : anyone ever thought of using this technique for an AM game ? It's quite easy to create and the result can be awesome !!