matte painting research

special effects and matte painting research write-up

matte painting is a video effects process that has been used in the video industry for years in films and tv as far back as 1907 by “norman dawn” when cameras were first starting to show up. matte painting is the simple idea of combining a still image and a video in a shot,, creating a composite, this was done at first by painting on glass and placing it in front of the camera, giving the illusion there was something there that wasn’t, a matte painting could be used to cover a sign for example or to change the entire landscape.

matte painting has been used in great effect in the star wars films for example, here is a matte painter painting a scene in star wars,

the painting is then used as a background for the film, adding other things that may have been shot with green screen for example to put in the finished film, like so

other great example of matte paintings include the statue of liberty as it was destroyed in planet of the apes and and government warehouse in indiana jones, raiders of the lost ark were entire scenes are pained and added in to great effect.