The presentations on FX & Matte Painting at the recently held KAVGC Summit 2011 saw a good reception. Presentation on Matte Painting conducted by Steven Albert, Matte Painter, DreamWorks Dedicated Unit in India focused on matte painting techniques used in various films. Presentation on FX conducted by Mitul Patel, FX Artist, DreamWorks Dedicated Unit India focused on Visual Effects’ impact on film making.
Steven Albert, a fine art painter whose award winning photo-realistic paintings have been shown in various galleries and museums around the US and internationally, in his presentation on the history of Matte Painting highlighted techniques ranging from traditional use of oil painting on glass to working in the digital realm to create new matte paintings.
He also gave examples of various films to depict how the art has evolved over the years and how it is used effectively in this new era. Steven has also worked in the motion picture industry, starting as a background painter and concept artist for Steven Spielberg’s Amblimation before becoming part of DreamWorks, working on traditional animated films such as “The Prince of Egypt”. Soon after, he moved into the digital realm working as a matte painter on DreamWorks 3-D films, such as “Antz” and “Shrek”.
Mitul who started his career as a graphic designer in 1996 with over 12 years of experience in VFX and Animation Industry in his presentation utilized his past experience of working on many award winning Indian and International shows with major studios to explain how Visual Effects impact filmmaking and its evolution over time in the CG Animation world.
His rich collection of shots showed different techniques like CG Fire, CG Fluids, CG Explosion, Chroma Screen, Wire Removal, Set Extension and many more exciting processes that are used in the FX world. Some of the major feature films Mitul has supervised include 3 Idiots, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, Golmal, Dabbang etc. He has also worked on various commercials for Cadbury, Himani, Parle agro, Halls, Navratna etc.
