Mattes Go High Definition

Matte Shot – a tribute to Golden Era & Traditional Special Effects

I’m only a recent convert to the BluRay realm of high def home movie viewing, though have been collecting screengrabs from many films containing traditional matte shots since the process kicked off however many years ago it was. There are a number of excellent sites out there where BluRay discs are reviewed and rated, both in terms of the actual movie itself, as well as the quite stringently assessed technical quality of vision and audio aspects of the disc. These prove most useful to the connoisseur and reveal much in the way of compression, video and audio artifacts and usually offer eye popping comparisons with other release formats of the same film, with even different BluRay editions from other countries looking surprisingly different in terms of fidelity and so forth.

The quality of the actual BluRay transfers does in fact vary considerably I’ve found, with results ranging from utterly magnificent at the top end of the scale to surprisingly poor at the other end of the range. Some titles are so exquisitely mastered and transferred – I just viewed HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962) an hour ago and it’s a razor sharp, pristine eye opening treat that gave me a whole new appreciation of the film! A stunner of a transfer, with even the 3-panel ultra wide screen Cinerama photography being surprisingly well mastered and smoothed out for BluRay. Just while on that film, the process work in the rapids sequence remains as mindblowing as it was then! Outstanding blending of MGM’s tank with Buddy Gillespie’s large RP screen (only sequence in the film not shot as 3 strip Cinerama, with 65mm used here)…though as usual, I digress. Being a Warner Home Video release comes as no surprise, as those folks seem to corner the market in top shelf transfers in the format, much as they did in the DVD realm…

…Read the Full Article @ Matte Shot

A tribute to the artistry and ingenuity of traditional matte painters, this collection celebrates the hand‑crafted movie magic that once shaped cinema — from grand, epic vistas to invisible effects even seasoned viewers might miss. It’s designed for both casual fans and dedicated enthusiasts, offering a renewed appreciation for skills largely forgotten today. I’ve also reached deeper into the Matte Shot archives to bring even more of this remarkable work forward, and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do.