
For a start, the small hut with smoking chimney is made from metal, looks nothing like any other building in the game (AFAIK - feel free to correct

There is certainly something there, but we'll have to wait for story changes to involve it.
BTW, screenies like that can be taken by editing your config file, for zoom setup. Just as you can set a huge maximum value for zoom, you can also set a huge value for minimum. Once you've done that, look straight forwards, and zoom zoom zoom - solid objects and other hindrances will be removed as the camera passes through them

I guess the 'shot of the branches' is achieved with the opposite - look down, and zoom out real far - if you're in the right place you'll see the tops of the branches...