Matte painting
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Matte paintings are used to create virtual sets and digital backlots. They can be used to create entire sets, or to extend portions of an existing set. Traditional matte painting is done optically by painting on top of a piece of glass to be composited with the original footage. This trick is nearly as old as film itself (circa 1911). The first matte painting was made in 1907 by Norman A. Dawn (ASC), who painted for the movie Missions of California.
Originally, matte paintings were painted on glass plates, also known as glasshot. Two plates of glass were set up parallel to each other at a certain distance. The camera was set up in front of them. On the rear plate, there was a background landscape which was relatively rough, for example a painted jungle. On the foreground plate, detail-rich elements are painted, such as small plants, stones, etc. Between the glass plates, one could then film a model live or in stop-motion. Nowadays, matte painting is done in computers with the use of a tablet as a drawing device. In a digital environment, matte paintings can also be done in a 3-D environment, allowing for 3-D camera movements.[1] The first film to use a digital matte painting was Die Hard 2: Die Harder. It was used during the last scene, which took place on an airport runway.
[edit] Books
- Mark Cotta Vaz; Craig Barron: The invisible art : the legends of movie matte painting. San Francisco, Cal.: Chronicle Books, 2002; ISBN 0-8118-3136-1
- Peter Ellenshaw; Ellenshaw Under Glass - Going to the Matte for Disney
