Albert Whitlock, Master of Matte Painting

I stumbled onto my decorative painting career when I roomed with a film scenic artist. Her home was right out of a movie set (with props, too) and to this day I smile at the memories of my time living there. She taught me how production designers and scenic artists work to create a particular mood and how spaces are truly tailored to fit their characters. If only everyone adopted that theory and brought it to their own homes.

Since then, I’ve paid attention to the sets and design of the movies I watch. I also love to know about the artists that create so much of this work. One artist was Albert Whitlock, one of the film industry’s most skilled illusionists. Here’s a fascinating 1-minute excerpt from the educational film, Albert Whitlock: A Master of Illusion.

His specialty, Matte Painting, refers to the visual effect of creating the background scenery of a film. For instance, these visuals:

Painted Mountains in the Background (Movie - Earthquake)

Can you see where the set ends and the painted background begins? It's tough! (Movie - History of the World: Part 1)

Albert Whitlock’s painted backdrops can be seen in over 500 films and television shows and he is a two-time Oscar winner. He is generally known to have been the best of all the matte painters. He was able to create scenery that was impossible to film realistically, such as periods in the past (like 1930′s Chicago), disasters (the Hindenburg) or because they were too expensive to build (a mountaintop city). The trompe l’oeil work had to be masterful since the better you were, the less your work was able to be detected when seen with live-action photography. In fact, directors used to check with him first before they took on a project — they wanted to make sure the visual effects could be achieved within the budget and scope of the production.

Incredibly, Mr. Whitlock referred to himself as a craftsman rather than an artist. He was unassuming and sought to demystify his craft, saying that it was “something that could be learned by anybody willing to make the effort”. Syd Dutton, who used to be his assistant, says “I remember one beautiful landscape Al painted that was supposed to be a whole bunch of weeds, chaparral in California. When I looked at it up close, it looked like Persian writing — just squiggles — but when you stood back, it looked just like chaparral. Al always said, ‘Paint is the effect of light, not the object itself.“

Mr. Whitlock passed away in 1999. Here is an 8-minute tribute to him created by Craig Barron, of the Visual Effects Society. It’s educational and inspiring (and has Mel Brooks, another fave of mine prominently featured as well). Rest in Peace and Beauty, Mr. Whitlock.

Interested in learning more about the art form? Check out The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting. Many thanks to the following blogs and sites for information and visuals: Rays in Blue, IMDB, Film Reference, The ASC and YouTube. I hope you’ve enjoyed this feature!