tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post3011041769740018045..comments2024-03-27T23:06:28.849+13:00Comments on Matte Shot - a tribute to Golden Era special fx: Creature Feature Special Visual Effects - Universal's 50's monster epics.NZPetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13863364769084676156noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-52987042222656337072013-05-02T09:50:57.298+12:002013-05-02T09:50:57.298+12:00I'm glad that I found your blog. it's very...I'm glad that I found your blog. it's very interesting! you have a new fallower :-)pcnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03364309808155101183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-72412991761292505932013-04-01T11:50:05.104+13:002013-04-01T11:50:05.104+13:00Hi Spencer
Good to hear from you after a long abs...Hi Spencer<br /><br />Good to hear from you after a long absence. Thank you for the more precise technical description for 'density matting'. I'm sure you are quite right. Universal was, I believe, well known for this practice - no doubt set in place by John Fulton as far back as THE INVISIBLE MAN and even earlier silent pictures where Fulton's mentor, Frank Williams was involved.<br /><br />On beam splitter cameras, I understand that Disney turned to blue screen on their rare anamorphic scope shows like THE BLACK HOLE for the exact reason you outlined here so well.<br /><br />Bleed through is always 'interesting' to see - though the optical guys like yourself no doubt cringe at that comment. The disaster epic THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK is ghastly in this regard, with poor old Spencer Tracy's silvery hair often turning translucent and bleeding bits of background through!!!<br /><br />All the best<br /><br />PeterNZPetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13863364769084676156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-28027136329818790832013-04-01T05:24:48.849+13:002013-04-01T05:24:48.849+13:00I'm pretty darned sure that they used density ...I'm pretty darned sure that they used density (luminance mattes in the digital world) mattes in all of the black and white films. The quality of matte work had improved immensely by the 1950s due to better film stocks, more experience, and possibly aided by then-new cheap, big sheets of acetate polorizers which would … when used on the lights and and on the camera lens) eliminate all reflections from the black velvet. <br /><br />The tarantula in TARANTULA was obviously shot on a white cloth and the image of the tarantula yielded the matte which was run with the background. The lighter portions of the tarantula also were thin parts of the silhouette matte and the "bleed-through" would read as highlights on the spider but if you single-framed through a Blu-ray copy you might be able to see part of the background "bleeding through" the lighter sections of the spider. we did a similar gag for A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5 but we did it on a whole bunch of spiders and did a second pass to put in some brown color on the spiders. Happily my boss Peter Kuran supervised the spider element … spiders … YUCK!.<br /><br />In another forum I speculated that in THE LAND UNKNOWN they might have used a beam-splitter camera (an old Technicolor three-strip camera) to shoot composites since they looked so good to me. <i>However</i> (a friend of mine reminded me of this) in order to have room for the prism (beam-splitter) between the rear end of the lens and the film the lenses would have to be retro focus and no 'scope lens is retro-focus. Ooops! I have looked at some of the frame grabs here and it may be a case simply designing the shots well and shooting them very well.<br /><br />Spencer Gill (opticalguy1954@yahoo.com)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-34511283778748583362010-09-09T04:07:15.209+12:002010-09-09T04:07:15.209+12:00Beautiful website and excellent overview of the ma...Beautiful website and excellent overview of the matte art... thanks a lot! I know all these movies almost by heart, but never had the chance to compare all these wonderful scenes before.<br /><br />Greetings from Switzerland - where Jack Arnold also shot a movie*, although not one of his masterpieces... ;-)<br />- Juan<br /><br />* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073774/Juannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-1533061299226138102010-08-22T04:26:45.961+12:002010-08-22T04:26:45.961+12:00FYI, RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN is tentatively due...FYI, RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN is tentatively due out in early October. Of course, you can always pre-order it. :-)<br /><br />http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4216-4Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-4959349703414475612010-07-23T16:57:01.728+12:002010-07-23T16:57:01.728+12:00Bravo for your nostalgic and informative appreciat...Bravo for your nostalgic and informative appreciation of these Universal classics (and some not-so-classics), especially my old favorite, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. I've seen this one umpteen times, and still feel that the effects hold up beautifully today, not just for their time but when stacked up against many subsequent films as well. There is, of course, talk of a second comedy remake (after THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN), but if it does get made, it will presumably be just another CGI-fest, losing all the charm of the original. If you're interested, check out my forthcoming book RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN.Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com