Matte Paintings are one of the first widely
used forms of physical visual effects in film,
you’ll have definitely seen these often
in most sci-fi and fantasy films before the year 2000.
The last major film to feature these was The
Titanic in 1997.
This form of visual effect can actually be
done either in film production or post production.
So what is a Matte Painting?
A Matte Painting is a pane of glass then simply
painted on, leaving unpainted areas for real
footage to pass through.
Differing from a painted backdrop due to its
size, it also allows the film set to be smaller
making it more cost effective
Major filmmakers such as Charlie Chaplin used these early on in cinema
With the effects being done in camera, like this scene in Modern Times
Before I move on to how it is done in post
production, it’s pretty simple to do in
camera, on Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times,
the Matte Painting was perfectly placed in
front of the camera so it looks like a seamless
and realistic part of the set.
The company Industrial Light and Magic by
George Lucas utilized and pushed Matte Paintings
in post production to their limit, leading
in to such magical result and unthinkable
locations within their stories.
So to do it post production is the process
is similar, an artist still creates a painting
on a pane of glass.
A projectionist then takes the painting lines
it up in front of a camera and projects the
footage from the scene behind it, the footage
is played frame by frame and photographed
by the 35mm camera.
Matte Painting visual effects in post production
allows more flexibility, as the Matte Painting
can be edited and more footage can be added
than originally planned.
All the artist has to do is erase an area
of the painting for more footage to be projected through.
Matte Painting also allowed Star Wars to cut
down on expenses, by letting them to hire
fewer actors and have less costumes made,
StormTroopers often got the paint job.
So it’s possible that you’ve never noticed
that some of the scenes in your favourite
films are mostly painted
Industrial Light and Magic really pushed the
boat when it came to special effects, they
utilized the magic of Matte Paintings and
also helped advance many other special effects,
now they are a leader at the forefront of
visual effects industry.
Unfortunately, glass pane Matte Paintings
are a thing of the past now, as most special effects
are done in digital, but the Matte Painting
still lives on in the form of a digital Matte
Painting that now most filmmakers now use
instead.
What’s your favourite visual effect?
Comment below and we’ll like our favourites
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I’m Ryan and thanks for watching.
