Matte painter Jack Shaw did glass shots for Willis O’Brien on the Oscar winning “Mighty Joe Young” had a long career with Warner Bros though sadly committed suicide upon completion of Irwin Allens’ “Animal World” in 1956.
Painter Byron Crabbe worked closely with O’Brien was largely responsible for the unique conceptual look of the locales and major set pieces in “King Kong” where he and Mario Larrinaga shared glass painting duties along with several other matte artists such as Juan Larrinaga, Zachary Hoag and Henry Hillinick. Regrettably Crabbe died suddenly during production of GWTW and his post was filled by Jack Shaw.
Fitch Fulton was the father of legendary Universal effects head John P.Fulton having started off as a scene painter eventually fell into matte painting and contributed effects shots to many films at RKO, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros…
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A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX
Please Note: Now that I am all caught up with Matte & Effects Films Celebrated, I am going further back into the archives of Matte Shot – A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX to feature even more great articles from this great site.
This blog is intended primarily as a tribute to the inventiveness and ingenuity of the craft of the matte painter during Hollywoods’ Golden Era. Some of the shots will amaze in their grandeur and epic quality while others will surprise in their ‘invisibility’ to even the sophisticated viewer. I hope this collection will serve as an appreciation of the artform and both casual visitors and those with a specialist interest may benefit, enjoy and be amazed at skills largely unknown today.