Painting the light is possibly a paradox since
we do not see the light, but what it illuminates. When we see rays of light, it
is the dust in the air what we really see illuminated. These rays of light have
been a recurring theme in the history of universal art.
The use of smoke on the set to show the light
is of common use in the film industry.
Creating rays of light is not always possible,
especially filming on exteriors. On many
occasions, it was necessary for matte artists to paint those lines of light to
produce dramatic effects, or simply to create spectacular images.
Let’s see some samples of those ray light
paintings.
The Crusades (1936)
Special
effects: Gordon Jennings
Matte
painting: Jan Domela
Garden of Allah (1936)
Matte
painting supervisor: Jack Cosgrove
Matte cameraman: Clarence Slifer
La guerra gaucha
(1942)
Matte painting: Ralph Papier
Ines de castro (1944)
Matte painting: Pierre Schild
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
Matte
painting: Peter Ellenshaw
Kompozitor glinka (1952)
Matte shots
designer: L. Aleksandrovskaya/ I. Gordienko/
F. Krasny
Matte
photographer: Grigoriy Ayzenberg
Dracula (1958)
Matte
painting: Les Bowie.
Matte
assistant ( Derek Meddings/ Ray Caple)
From the terrace (1960)
Special
photographic effects: Lb. Abbott
Matte
painting: Emil Kosa Jr
The Birds (1963)
Matte
painting: Albert Whitlock
Matte
photography: Roswell
The Gnome-mobile (1967)
Special
effects: Eustace Lycett/ Robert A. Mattey
Matte
painting: Peter Ellenshaw
Candleshoe (1977)
Matte
painting: Cliff Culley
The blue brothers (1980)
Special
visual effects: Albert Whitlock
Matte artist:
Syd Dutton
Matte
camera: Bill Taylor
The Ewok adventure (1984)
Matte
painting and camera: Jim Danforth
The adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
Matte
painting: Doug Ferris
Matte
camera: John Grant
