tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post7955433943001452376..comments2024-03-03T15:05:00.965+13:00Comments on Matte Shot - a tribute to Golden Era special fx: TORA, TORA, TORA: Oscar winning expertise recreates day of infamy at Pearl HarbourNZPetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13863364769084676156noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-23447945028403239122019-08-08T06:03:11.824+12:002019-08-08T06:03:11.824+12:00Thankfulness to my father who shared with me about...Thankfulness to my father who shared with me about this web site, this website is really awesome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-3630328623203493132019-07-07T12:28:54.812+12:002019-07-07T12:28:54.812+12:00Hello, I enjoy reading through your article post. ...Hello, I enjoy reading through your article post. I wanted to write a little comment to <br />support you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-75232273728416977632016-12-04T04:59:40.067+13:002016-12-04T04:59:40.067+13:00Hello, I am blogger of motion picture and televisi...Hello, I am blogger of motion picture and television history. I enjoyed your article completely and am about to post on December 7th an article about some films about the Pearl Harbor attack including Tora,Tora, Tora. Pertaining to the Japanese viewpoint I mentioned a couple of films that contain the effects of model maker Eiji Tsuburaya. I hope you have no problem, but I want to link your article to my blog. This is what I was looking for for a comparison of Tsuburaya's work to other effects artists. I can be reached at:<br /><br />grandeurkinescope@gmail.com<br /><br />My blog is on Facebook at:<br /><br />Beware the BLOG<br /><br />or <br /><br />www.bewaretheblog.comTHE HOUSE OF FRADKIN-STEINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05063628614221504879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-7305148225222363712016-03-07T21:50:48.524+13:002016-03-07T21:50:48.524+13:00What a fantastic run down of the beautiful work in...What a fantastic run down of the beautiful work in this great film. I always thought it underrated. I was surprised but really pleased to read that Matt Yuricich did the matte work on this, as the Yuricich brothers were from my home town of Lorain Ohio, and my late father grew up with and knew one or more of them. So thanks for pointing that out. Do you happen to have a scan of the American Cin article on Tora? I would so love to read that. I see this blog post is a few years old, but I just found you're blog, hope you're keeping up the good work. JohnBaumgartner dot com is me.Thanks!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01812776217303494550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-56960577164494929072015-12-11T04:53:58.256+13:002015-12-11T04:53:58.256+13:00Totally with you on thisTotally with you on thisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-65450249209135520172011-10-09T03:28:47.803+13:002011-10-09T03:28:47.803+13:00Interesting you should mention the Toho war films,...Interesting you should mention the Toho war films, Kevin – I’ve got a few on DVD, including the awesome 1969 Russo-Japanese War epic ‘Nihonkai Daikaisen’ (‘Battle in the Sea of Japan’ or ‘Battle of the Japan Sea’), which stars the great Toshiro Mifune as Admiral Tojo, and was Toho vfx supremo Eiji Tsuburaya’s last film. I’ve sent sone screengrabs from the DVD to Peter, which he’s put on this page (around half-way down):<br /><a href="http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/2010/10/cinema-goes-to-war-mattes-and.html" rel="nofollow">Cinema Goes To War</a><br /><br />Judging by the short behind-the-scenes film, the model battleships look to be around 15 or so feet long, much smaller than the miniatures in ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’. Also, where the American vfx men scored was in their technique for simulating shell-splashes in water. Instead of simply laying a charge just below the surface, they would place the charge in a ‘bucket’ with a load of gypsum (plaster powder) on top and a watertight layer over that. When detonated, this sent up a plume of fine powder, much finer than water droplets at that scale, which made for a very convincing shell-splash. I strongly suspect the same technique was used in the superb (and earlier) film ‘Sink The Bismarck!’.<br /><br />I’ve also got the 1960 Toho WWII epic, ‘Storm Over The Pacific’, which depicts the attack on Pearl Harbour entirely in miniature. It’s not nearly as convincing as ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’, partly because the scenes are entirely in miniature, the only full-size elements being cutaways to actors in mock-up aircraft cockpits, but also because I suspect the model battleships are much smaller (in addition, the shell and torpedo splashes are disproportionately large in relation to the ships). Nevertheless, it’s mounted with tremendous verve, and it should be remembered that even big Japanese films were made with a fraction of the budget of their US equivalents.<br /><br />If you want to see some screengrabs from ‘Storm Over The Pacific’, I’ve just uploaded a bunch to a photobucket folder:<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v102/McTodd69/Japanese%20War%20Films/Storm%20Over%20The%20Pacific/" rel="nofollow">Storm Over The Pacific</a><br /><br />BTW, Pete - you've certainly not lost this reader over your tangent, I agree with every word!McToddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06468907025988134640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-43694069153952610432011-10-07T05:34:46.621+13:002011-10-07T05:34:46.621+13:00Hey there Peter,
Great job man! As a kid I always...Hey there Peter,<br /><br />Great job man! As a kid I always thought most of this work was from the lads at Toho. Wasn't till I got a copy of the AC issue you mention was I corrected.<br />Might be interesting to do a follow up article on Toho's work on the subject.<br /><br />Keep up the great work.<br /><br />Kevin O'NeillAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-44558909777209749162011-10-03T14:38:09.930+13:002011-10-03T14:38:09.930+13:00Hi McTodd
Thanks mate..... though I realise that ...Hi McTodd<br /><br />Thanks mate..... though I realise that I got a few Naval details on battleships etc wrong... and I'm sure you're rolling your eyes in frustration!<br /><br />--------------------------------------------<br /><br />Hi Beren<br /><br />No...none of those do I have, as they don't fall within my definition of actual 'matte paintings' (apologies to digital compositors out there... but they aint the real deal). <br /><br />The only way you'd get your hands on the 2000's 'matte paintings' (as they still misleadingly label them.... 'Digital Scenic Enhancement' is closer to the truth) would be to do screen grabs from disc or get a copy of the huge digital file from the fx artist - as no actual tangible "painting" exists... and the closest it would ever come to that would be a high resolution printout. <br /><br />With the digital variant you'll never be able to experience the heart stopping joy of seeing/holding/even smelling a true matte painting (as it's no more than layers of pixels in a hard drive) and having all of your senses activated in the appreciation that one skilled hand created this (traditional matte) - often in a very short time - and maybe one associate photographed the plate and tied the 'real' and the 'fake' together with tools limited to a matte stand, a selection of camera filters, a steady 'movement' and plenty of gut instinct as to what will or will not work in pulling off the trick. You'll never of course thrill to the news of a 'digital matte' fetching tens of thousands of $ in a prop auction as traditionals do on a frequent basis, nor, I'm sure would an institution dedicated to film preservation etc have holdings of digital matte shots.<br /><br />I get frequently annoyed when cruising the web and finding sites filled with what some allege to be 'matte paintings'...... It's not the fact that the work is 100% digital that bothers me, it's the notion that the works (often stunning, magnificent creations) have no connection to film, video or motion pictures whatsoever - but for some irritating reason are branded as 'mattes' by the ill informed who think any artwork created with a Mac/PC is automatically a 'matte painting' regardless of it's intentions.<br /><br />Gee, I do get off onto a tangent - and may lose a dozen readers as a result... but it's the 'hand made' stuff that is pure magic to me - and always will be.<br /><br />PeteNZPetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13863364769084676156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-54880227829353034552011-10-02T21:51:36.275+13:002011-10-02T21:51:36.275+13:0080 GB of matte paintings?!!!!Do they also happen t...80 GB of matte paintings?!!!!Do they also happen to include 2000's matte paintings of films such as LOTR,Alexander,Kingdom of Heaven etc.? I'd really like to get my hands on those.Cheers!Berenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16662780703709097148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063592677187148799.post-71093104479733004922011-10-02T21:06:58.124+13:002011-10-02T21:06:58.124+13:00Absolutely fantastic, Peter! This is one of my all...Absolutely fantastic, Peter! This is one of my all-time favourite war films and you've done it justice. It's great to see these wonderfully ambitious effects and stunts given coverage on the internet, and in such a comprehensive manner - hopefully people will stumble across your blog and realise that not everything has to be built up pixel by pixel in a computer's memory, things can actually be done For Real (gasp!) in the real world!McToddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06468907025988134640noreply@blogger.com