In Errol Flynn's Technicolor Western DODGE CITY (1939), there's a long
shot of a bustling Main Street beneath a clear blue sky across which
race a flock of spectacular fluffy white clouds. Common sense tells
me that such an impossibly perfect and lively sky was composited in...
but there's no discernible trace of optical-printer jiggle. However,
the standard technique of shooting through a matte-painting on clear
glass wouldn't have moving clouds, obviously. Afaics, the only way to
produce a flawless shot like that in '39 would've been by shooting
live through a clear pane painted with only a horizontal sliver of
town roofs and distant mountains, and behind the top (clear) half of
*that* painting a wide blue opaque strip painted end-to-end with the
aforementioned Pepsodent-white clouds. Thus, the townsfolk etc. could
be seen through the pane's clear bottom-portion, with their
picturesque buildings and horizon completed by the pane's painted
sliver about halfway up, while a stagehand "blows" the clouds by
smoothly dragging the blue strip laterally during the live shot. This
arrangement sounds rather complex, but I can't see how else it
could've been done back then. Anybody know how far off base I might
be?
--
- - - - - - - -
YOUR taste at work...
http://www.moviepig.com
|