The Digital Matte Painting Handbook

Matte Painting Defined

The matte in matte painting refers to the section of the filmed image that’s blocked, or matted out. These blocking techniques have been abandoned with the advent of digital special effects, but for nearly 80 years some amazing work was done using these tools.

The Glass Shot

The earliest way of producing a matte painting was to place a sheet of glass between the camera and the scene to be filmed. An artist would then paint an image on the glass that blocked and replaced that part of the scene. Instead of building a set or carting in a mountain range, the needed elements were painted on the glass on location (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1: Diagram of a glass painting setup

Credit: Based on a diagram in The Motion Picture Cameraman ...