Summer Magic and Johnny Tremain
I’ve been getting a tad irritable not being able to ‘express my inner matte’ with the blog lately, so I’m delivering a somewhat smaller article today and may do many more of similar scale for ease of preparation and less hair pulling – (although I must point out that the same blogger tech problems are still occurring and it seems that nothing has changed).
Anyone who frequents these pages will know how much I love classic Disney photographic effects work and today I celebrate a pair of films from the Mouse Factory which beautifully demonstrate the significant matte work carried out in two totally different pictures.
That classic of Americana, the timeless story of the Revolutionary War of 1773, JOHNNY TREMAIN was filmed in 1957, almost entirely on the Burbank studio lot and through the magic of the glass painting a great many vistas of period 18th Century Boston.
The other Disney picture I have selected for this retrospective is a pleasantly warm hearted family musical, SUMMER MAGIC made in 1963. Also a period picture set in Boston, though this time it’s supposed to be 1912. As well as a spirited cast and at least one great song by Burl Ives (The Ugly Bug Ball) SUMMER MAGIC has a number of beautiful pastoral mattes of rural heartland America that are wonderful…
…Read the Full Article @ Matte Shot
This blog is intended as a tribute to the ingenuity of the traditional matte painter where movie magic was created entirely by hand. 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
I have gone further back into the archives of Matte Shot – A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX to feature even more articles from this great site, so I hope you enjoy this wonderful journey we’re on together.
PJ Max
