The Invisible Art FROM THE PUBLISHER
Now available in paperback, The Invisible Art provides an unprecedented retrospective of matte art painting — the unsung hero in the fast-paced world of cinematic visual effects. Until recently, matte-painting techniques were closely guarded secrets kept locked up on studio lots. The Invisible Art flings open the gates to reveal the finest representations of matte paintings from rare examples seen in epics such as Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane to prove that the brush is mightier than the computer, as seen in such blockbusters as Star Wars and Titanic. Lavishly illustrated, the book's tremendous scope unveils a century's worth of fascinating stories, legendary personalities, and cunning movie craft from the first pioneering "glass shots" to the dawn of digital technology. Including a foreword by George Lucas, The Invisible Art conjures a never-before-told story of film wizardry.
Author Biography: Mark Cotta Vaz is the author of 14 books on art and design topics, including The Art of Finding Nemo (0-8118-3975-3). He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Craig Barron is a renowned expert in matte, playing a key role in the effects for films from The Empire Strikes Back to the Lord of the Ring series. A veteran of George Lucas's effects company, Industrial Light + Magic, Barron now heads Matte World Digital. He lives in Marin County, California.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
"The beauty of a matte shot is that you can become God," Alfred Hitchcock said, and it's a fitting epigram to this remarkable study of a little-known facet of Hollywood illusion-the art of painting background scenery on glass. Captured by the camera and merged with live action, a distant galaxy, a lost empire or an impossible landscape can look undeniably real. And yet, among all the masters of filmic art's smoke and mirrors-the fashioners of masks and prosthetic limbs, the pyrotechnic wizards behind giant, slow motion explosions-matte painters remain some of the least appreciated artisans. (It is, note the authors, their very genius that keeps them "unsung": audiences often don't even know that what they're seeing isn't real.) This book represents the first sustained look at the art and technology of matte painting. Featuring over 400 images, plus interviews with many of the greatest matte painters themselves, it tells a story of wildly inventive artifice and myriad man-hours, offering a peek inside a guild of genuine movie magicians. As a feast of technical information and an alternative history of movies themselves, from their frontier days to the global system as it exists today, this book is a labor of both love and intelligence. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
This work explores the invention and use of glass matte paintings in film. Created as backgrounds by talented artists, these paintings were then blended with live-action shots to show, for instance, the burning of Atlanta in Gone with the Wind and the parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments. Cotta Vaz and Barron have done extensive research on this little-known art form, starting with its earliest use and moving to the digital age. Much of the information is drawn from firsthand interviews with artists who have worked on major films, with the chapters on Gone with the Wind, King Kong, and earlier epics proving to be of particular interest. The color photos are beautifully reproduced on high-quality paper, and the accompanying CD shows how glass painting is used with text from the book. This is not only an "invisible art" but also, unfortunately, a dying one as digital technology slowly replaces the artists. Drawbacks to a book like this are its limited appeal, oversized format, and high price. But it is still highly recommended for academic libraries with strong film, art, and digital art programs, and other large libraries should consider it.-Rosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., Pembroke Pines, FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
ACCREDITATION
Mark Cotta Vaz recently completed his 19th book, a biography of Merian C. Cooper, creator of "King Kong"which is scheduled to be published by Random House in 2005. Vaz's books on movie history include "Industrial Light + Magic: Into the Digital Realm," which documents the second decade of George Lucas' famed visual effects house. He's currently working with filmmaker Leslie Iwerks on the istory of Pixar Animation Studios, which will be published by Chronicle in 2005. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Craig Barron has been an innovator in the cinematic technique of matte painting for the last two decades, playing a key role in the effects for films from The Empire Strikes Back to The Last Samurai. A veteran of George Lucas's effects company, Industrial Light + Magic, Barron now heads Matte World Digital. He is currently creating the visual effects for an Imax film on the Universe for professor Stephen Hawking. Barron lives in Marin County, California.
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