Project Focus: Matte/Set Extension

I decided to focus my project on the 'Set Extension' visual effect, often refered to as matte painting.

Mattes are used in special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image (such as actors on a set) with a background image (e.g. a scenic vista). In this case, the matte is the background painting.

The name matte comes from the original matte paintings that had to be created to be filmed in camera, of course these days computers have replaced the paintings (although not always).

A good example of a heavy matte production would be the Alien film series. 

Modern film productions use computers to comp the matte background with the foreground shot (these different shot elements are often referred to as 'plates') This process is modernly called Green Screening.  A studio set might be setup with a complete green screen background, the actors perform the scene in front of camera, later in the composition process the computer can overlay the desired background on the green areas.  

• All these are interesting ideas, however it is often possible to extend a set without the use of a green screen,  I wanted to explore this aspect further, using programs such as After Effects to incorporate a matte background with a pre shot piece of footage.  I had the idea of using one of Cornwalls large beaches that stretches out for miles, the shot would be short, but show an actor reaching the summit of a dune to look out towards the sea.  The beach would be extended to show a sparce environment with a wreaked ship on the sands.  The ship could be produced in 3D and added for a further compositing process.