1. Michael Pangrazio
He is an American art director who is best known for his matte painting work on Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes. He created some of the most famous matte paintings which is served as traditional and digital matte paintings in the movie history. He was born in California; USA and he was notable due to his work on “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars”.
Figure 1: Raiders of the Lost Ark – Matte Painting (Vashi, 2014)
This painting seems little vague about the concept of the drawings. However, the drawings are based on lots of boxed carts and it looked quite mysterious.
Figure 2: Matte Paintings in Star Wars and Indiana Jones (Lussier, 2014)
The drawing is beautiful and eccentric and seemed like the drawing is clearly showing every detail of the drawing. I will say this is quite an extensive detailed drawing and definitly it will grab viewers’ attention towards every detail of the drawing.
2. Walter Percy Day
Walter Percy Day O.B.E. (1878–1965) was a British painter best remembered for his work as a matte artist and special effects technician in the film industry (Wikipedia, n.d.).
Figure 3: A stationary matte for Thief of Baghdad ( (Borger, 2009 – 2017)
This matte painting of the statue seems quite natural and it seems every detail of the drawing exhibits the artist’s unique way of design. I love this drawing because if its uniqueness it has offered.
Figure 4: A stationary matte for Black Narcissus (1947) (Borger, 2009 – 2017)
This is another black and white drawn matte painting done by Day and the painting is done clearly with every detailed information that we can view in the picture. This is an exquisite drawing in black and white and it is an amazing picture that leaves the viewer with vivid impression of the nun in the picture who was standing under the big bell. The artist’s irascible temperament will fraught the audience about the image from start till end, taking them to a world where the visual effects are exploited through the virtuosity of the artist.
3. Norman Dawn
Norman O. Dawn (25 May 1884 in Argentina – 2 February 1975 in Santa Monica, California) was an early American film director. He made several improvements on the matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was the first director to use rear projection in cinema. Dawn combined his experience with the glass shot with the techniques of the matte shot. Up until this time, the matte shot was essentially a double-exposure: a section of the camera’s field would be blocked with a piece of cardboard to block the exposure, the film would be rewound, and the blocked part would also be shot in live action. Dawn instead used pieces of glass with sections painted black (which was more effective at absorbing light than cardboard), and transferred the film to a second, stationary camera rather than merely rewinding the film. The matte painting was then drawn to exactly match the proportion and perspective to the live action shot. The low cost and high quality of Dawn’s matte shot made it the mainstay in special effects cinema throughout the century (Craig Barron, Vaz Cotta, 2002).
Figure 5: Norman Dawn. Card 5, June 1907. (DIETRICH, 2010)
Special effects in film are most often associated with monsters and space aliens, explosions and gunfire. While such features certainly fit into that category, often special effects are used to make something look real and normal that would otherwise be too difficult or expensive to photograph. Fair weather, for example, can be unpredictable; exotic or imaginary locations may be inaccessible or may not exist at all. But both can be realized using matte paintings, glass shots, or other special effects techniques. Each display card documents one of his special effects, most often a refinement or improvement of a matte shot process. This card illustrates a very early special effect Dawn created and can attract any audience to sense of warmth and serene.
Figure 6: Tundra by Norman Dawn (North, 2011)
This card of Tundra Created by Norman Dawn illustrates the array of techniques used in the process of creating this card convincing that amazing illusions were possible. With their miniature watercolors, oil paintings, sketches and handwritten notes, they stand as testament to the artisanal, hands-on nature of early special effects the artist tried to baffle anyone making them believe that amazing arts can be magical.
4. Albert Whitlock
Albert Whitlock was one of the most skilled matte artists in the history of motion pictures, with his work seen in more than 500 films and television shows. His very long career began in London in 1929, when, at the age of 14, he was a fetch-and-carry fellow at Gaumont Studios. He went on to build sets and worked as a grip. Trained as a sign painter, Whitlock began a life-long association with Alfred Hitchcock, doing all of the signs for The 39 Steps (1935) and then assisting in the miniature effects for The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). The two maintained a close personal and professional relationship, working together upon several films through Hitchcock’s final film, Family Plot (1976) (Greenhalgh). He was born in September 15, 2015 in London, England and he died in October 26, 1999 in Santa Barbara, California.
Figure 7: Whitlock matte for The Sting (1973) (Lensman, 2015)
This matte painting is showing a vivid description of the mid 90’s and the way the world looks different. One of the most effective effects shots Whitlock created was the skyline of 1930s Chicago for The Sting. The shot included an elevated train, and the lower live-action part of the picture included traffic, buses and pedestrians. Director George Roy Hill was very happy with the result calling the shot “one of the best in the film.”
Figure 8: The Birds (1963) (Lensman, 2015)
The drawing looks illusive and explicit in showing how the wonders of matte painting works. Every detail from the drawing can be used to make the drawings look so real and artistic. It will surely lure the attention of the viewers and make them lost in this beautiful picture.
5. Peter Ellenshaw
William Samuel Cook “Peter” Ellenshaw(May 24, 1913 – February 12, 2007) was an English matte designer and special effects creator who worked on many Disney features. Born in London, he moved to America in 1953. His first worked in matte painting for producer Alexander Korda on such films as Things to Come (1936), and later on such Powell and Pressburger productions as Black Narcissus(1947) assisting his mentor W. (Walter) Percy Day. A few years later, while still based in Europe, he began to work for Hollywood studios. He worked for MGM on Quo Vadis(1951), but his most extensive association was with Walt Disney Studios beginning with their first completely live action feature film, Treasure Island (1950). He went on to work on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Mary Poppins (1964), for which he won an Academy Award. He retired after his work on The Black Hole (1979), but contributed matte paintings for Dick Tracy (1990). His son Harrison is also an Academy Award-winning effects designer.
After Peter Ellenshaw retired from the film business, he dedicated his life to his passion for painting. Numerous works were created, of both Disney and non-Disney themed subjects, which have been highly collected. He was named a Disney Legend in 1993 (Wikipedia, 2018).
Figure 9: Spartacus – 1960 Matte Painting by Peter Ellenshaw (HORTON, 2016)
This is a clear image of Rome that has been done by Ellenshaw and it shows the clear image of Rome. The vivid image of Rome from Spartacus is quite catchy and will draw any viewers attention.
Figure 10: The Island at The Top of The World – Viking city (Wicks, 2009)
This matte painting of the Island at the Top of the World is beautiful in tone and have everything a viewer would want. The artistic and rich description of the beauty is what a young boy would want. It will immediately transport to a time and place where everything and anything could happen, and grand adventure waited beyond every turn.
References
(n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Percy_Day Borger, L. (2009 - 2017). walterpercyday. Retrieved from walterpercyday.org: http://www.walterpercyday.org/bioeng.html Craig Barron, Vaz Cotta. (2002). The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting. In The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting (pp. 54-57). San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Dawn DIETRICH, A. (2010, February 2). Special Effects: Norman Dawn creates earliest techniques. Retrieved from http://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/2010/02/02/special-effects-norman-dawn-creates-earliest-techniques/ Greenhalgh, B. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926087/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm HORTON, H. P. (2016, MAY 7). Brush with Greatness: Peter Ellenshaw’s Matte Paintings for ‘Spartacus’. Retrieved from https://filmschoolrejects.com/watch-brush-with-greatness-peter-ellenshaws-matte-painting-for-spartacus-30fefc410fd4/ Lensman, S. (2015, January 7). Albert Whitlock - Hollywood Matte Artist. Retrieved from HubPages: https://hubpages.com/art/Albert-Whitlock-Hollywood-Matte-Artist Lussier, G. (2014, December 31). Retrieved from FILM.: https://www.slashfilm.com/video-indiana-jones-star-wars-matte-painting/ North, D. (2011, August 15). Norman O. Dawn Collection. Retrieved from https://drnorth.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/norman-o-dawn-collection/#jp-carousel-7932 Vashi. (2014, May 06). Retrieved from VashiVisual: http://vashivisuals.com/raiders-lost-ark-warehouse-matte-painting/ Wicks, S. (2009, June 23). Retrieved from http://cinemascope-blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/peter-ellenshaw-art-directorvisual.html Wikipedia. (2018, April 1). Peter Ellenshaw. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ellenshaw
Creative Writing by Milton 