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  • More Buck Rogers matte shots

    Posted on May 22nd, 2009 dstipes No comments
    "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" by Syd Dutton

    "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" by Syd Dutton

    Peter Noble mentioned this matte shot of Buck and Wilma on the walkway. 

    This is again the fine work of Syd Dutton.  Syd told me that he ran the matte split through the guard at the left side of the walk.  The guard is partially painted and partially real.

    This location is the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.

     

    8 responses to “More Buck Rogers matte shots”

    1. Classic. 🙂

      LLP,
      deg

    2. oh wow, i googled the hotel. that’s really impressive, David.

    3. Wow, a really impressive matte painting.
      Mark

    4. Deg and Mark A-C,

      Syd’s matte painting has always blown me away! In addition to a great talent he is also a kind and caring person!

      Matthew,

      The Bonaventura Hotel has been a favorite location for many shoots over the years. I first shot there on a commercial in the 1970’s just before the hotel opened.

    5. Thanks Mr Stipes for putting that one up.

      I’ve just watched the sequence and a tube car does travel along the rail at the back and you can see lights travelling on the roads in the distance on the right.

      It really makes the painting come alive.

      Wonderful stuff.

    6. Hi Peter,

      Feel free to call me David. 🙂

      Syd learned from the master, Albert Whitlock. Al was a big proponent of using moving elements in matte paintings to give life to them.

    7. Happy to finally discover this blog Dave!

      Love Buck Rogers. Below is a link to my own homage of the show by keeping it old school(ish). Using a computer to composite real models and other photo elements onto a background plate. The background is actually a screen grab from the show and only two models actualy existed, just shot from different angles and resized to give the illusion of depth.
      http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/buck-rogers.jpg

      For me some of the best mattes I’ve ever witnessed on film are used in the Empire Strikes Back. They were so good I didn’t even realise they were mattes until watching behind the scenes documentaries.

    8. Hello RKW,

      I like your shot. I remember the “Draconia” warship. Visual Effects Supervisor /cameraman, Peter Anderson and I had fun lighting that wild thing!

      RE: mattes,
      The best matte paintings are the ones you don’t spot! It is often called “The Invisible Art.”

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