While assembling images and data for today’s blog I was hard pressed to find very much info at all, despite the fact that Russ Lawson was one of Hollywood’s busiest and most productive matte artists. Not through lack of effort on my part, there just isn’t much out there I’m afraid. Universal has always been very poor at releasing back catalogue films on both DVD and even VHS. The huge Universal and Universal-International catalogue still remains relatively untouched with so few titles actually available. Twenty five years ago we’d be treated to many of these old classics on television on a fairly frequent basis, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and a great afternoon’s entertainment was certain – plenty of old pirate yarns and adventures, often loaded with matte shots and fun in general. The current abysmal state of television here in New Zealand has seen all of this old time movie slots vanish, with only recent multi-plex rubbish ever broadcast in movie schedules…
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A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX
Please Note: Now, I am going further back into the archives of Matte Shot – A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX to feature even more articles from this great site.
This blog is intended primarily as a tribute to the inventiveness and ingenuity of the craft of the matte painter during Hollywoods’ Golden Era. Some of the shots will amaze in their grandeur and epic quality while others will surprise in their ‘invisibility’ to even the sophisticated viewer. I hope this collection will serve as an appreciation of the artform and both casual visitors and those with a specialist interest may benefit, enjoy and be amazed at skills largely unknown today.