Norman O. Dawn was an early American film director. He made several
improvements on the matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was
the first director to use rear projection in cinema.Dawn's first film
Missions of California made extensive use of the glass shot, in which
certain things are painted on a piece of glass and placed in between
the camera and the live action. Many of the buildings which Dawn was
filming were at least partially destroyed; by painting sections of
roof or walls, the impression was made that the buildings were in
fact, whole. The main difference between the glass shot and the matte
shot is that with a glass shot, all filming is done with a single
exposure of film.Dawn combined his experience with the glass shot with
the techniques of the matte shot. Up until this time, the matte shot
was essentially a double-exposure: a section of the camera's field
would be blocked with a piece of cardboard to block the exposure, the
film would be rewound, and the blocked part would also be shot in live
action. Dawn instead used pieces of glass with sections painted black
(which was more effective at absorbing light than cardboard), and
transferred the film to a second, stationary camera rather than merely
rewinding the film. The matte painting was then drawn to exactly match
the proportion and perspective to the live action shot. The low cost
and high quality of Dawn's matte shot made it the mainstay in special
effects cinema throughout the century.Dawn patented his invention on
11 June 1918 and sued for infringement of the patent three years
later. The co-defendants, matte artists who included Ferdinand Pinney
Earle and Walter Percy Day, counter-sued, claiming that the technique
of masking images and double exposure had long been traditional in the
industry, a legal battle which Dawn ultimately lost.
improvements on the matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was
the first director to use rear projection in cinema.Dawn's first film
Missions of California made extensive use of the glass shot, in which
certain things are painted on a piece of glass and placed in between
the camera and the live action. Many of the buildings which Dawn was
filming were at least partially destroyed; by painting sections of
roof or walls, the impression was made that the buildings were in
fact, whole. The main difference between the glass shot and the matte
shot is that with a glass shot, all filming is done with a single
exposure of film.Dawn combined his experience with the glass shot with
the techniques of the matte shot. Up until this time, the matte shot
was essentially a double-exposure: a section of the camera's field
would be blocked with a piece of cardboard to block the exposure, the
film would be rewound, and the blocked part would also be shot in live
action. Dawn instead used pieces of glass with sections painted black
(which was more effective at absorbing light than cardboard), and
transferred the film to a second, stationary camera rather than merely
rewinding the film. The matte painting was then drawn to exactly match
the proportion and perspective to the live action shot. The low cost
and high quality of Dawn's matte shot made it the mainstay in special
effects cinema throughout the century.Dawn patented his invention on
11 June 1918 and sued for infringement of the patent three years
later. The co-defendants, matte artists who included Ferdinand Pinney
Earle and Walter Percy Day, counter-sued, claiming that the technique
of masking images and double exposure had long been traditional in the
industry, a legal battle which Dawn ultimately lost.
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