PRODUCTION CINEMATIC: Matte Painting Pt.1

This week I began matte painting, taking one of the layouts Michelle C did, and simplifying it a little to make it less cluttered in the shots, as a concern was that too many objects on the shelf may be distracting.

I simplified it down onto a list, and tweaked a few of the designs of the objects and placement.

Michelle C's Layout I referenced

I did a rough layout of how the shots could be composed, and ran it by the team, who agreed with my choices. I also got feedback from Keat, about the positioning of the grapes, as in a feedback session Dane mentioned his preference for the grapes being in the foreground of the shots.

Quick Layout I drew to use as reference for myself, and to show my group my intentions.

 I asked Jerwin and Michelle C if they could export an image of Butter and the plate for me to put into the matte painting shot, so I could keep the perspective consistent as well as the proportions of the objects in the fridge in relation to Butter. After this I began blocking in the objects, most importantly on different layers. I originally began to paint all on one layer, when I remembered Thaw's tutorial and that for composition the objects have to be individual!

These were originally all together, but with a quick fix they're correct now.

After completely blocking in the objects in this shot (Shot 5), I moved onto blocking the other three shots, getting the perspective changes as exact as possible. I started with Shot 8, as it was a simple zoom shot, with the slightest change in perspective, to the point it is hardly noticeable.

Blocked in Shot 5

Blocked in Shot 5 with butter for size reference

Shot 8, without Butter

Shot 6 was harder to complete, as it was a reverse of Shot 5, and I had to flip the perspective. The angle in this shot is higher too, and it's important that the objects don't block Butter. I had to talk with the group on how we wanted to approach it. Considering Butter is left screen side for Shots 5, 8 and 10, when it is reversed for Shot 6, should it remain on the left or move to the right? The issue with placing Butter on the right is that the rules of screen side is being broken.