Matte Shots & Paintings
- A process shot in which two photographic images (usually background and foreground) are combined into a single image using an optical printer. Matte shots can be used to add elements to a realistic scene or to create fantasy spaces.
- Matte shooting is one of the most common techniques used in studio filmmaking, either for economical reasons (it’s cheaper to shoot a picture of the Eiffel tower than to travel to Paris) or because it would be impossible or too dangerous to try to shoot in the real space.
- A shot in which only a part of the shot, usually the area immediately surrounding any of the characters present on-screen, is a live action shot. The rest is a painting, most often used to portray a non-existent vista. Rather than build a vast set, they shoot the actors on a plain set with a few background elements, with parts of the camera frame matted off by opaque cards.
- -A matte painting is often a painted glass pane that is used to show a landscape or a larger artistic piece. Matte paintings are either filmed on set, where they are framed to look more physical, or they are merged with live Art in post-production.
- -This concepts matter because many films have used this technique. Using glass panes to create matte paintings became the standard for VFX Backgrounds, and used in almost every motion picture(s). VFX masters at ILM would use many matte paintings to bring motion films to life. As advancements we made technologically, matte paintings became digital renderings.
- -If this form of painting and film making didn’t exist majority of paintings and scenes we know from past and present films would be the same or even exist. This invention has been pivotal for the art industry. It is the basis to studio filmmaking , and with the discontinuation of this method would cripple the art industry.
Sources
- https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/mise-en-scene/(Links to an external site.)
- https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MatteShot(Links to an external site.)
- http://screenprism.com/insights/article/cinema-terms-how-are-matte-shots-created-in-cinema
Hello! I found it really interesting reading about the use of matte painting in films. I wasn’t even aware that that was a special effect being used.
I found a great example of it in the 1898 film Un Homme de Tetes, or in English it’s Four Heads Are Better Than One. The filmmaker was also a magician named Georges Melies. He used a simple glass pane that he had painted black to give the matte appearance. When this was used in filming the black matte would keep the camera from reaching any light. Due to part of the film not having light exposure it would appear empty in the frame. He then would rewind the film and create another matte painting. When Georges removed the original matte black piece and blacked out everything else the film would end up filling in all the blanks. To see what I mean there’s a video attached to this link down below.
https://www.rocketstock.com/blog/visual-effects-matte-paintings-composited-film/
Thanks for your sharing! I got a lot of new ideas about the Matte shooting as well as matte painting. It’s so interesting to see how to use vast set to enrich the story.