I have been following information, on how to become a matte artist. A matte artist is responsible for creating the illusion of a background that could not be built, or actually filmed on location. Matte artists have created backgrounds for many movies and have left the viewers of the movie in awe and wonder.

Matte artist started doing their work with paintings and props in the backgrounds of set during filming. The famous ending scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” when the ark is being stored in the warehouse, is a classic example. The warehouse was not actually that big. In fact, a matte artist painted the rest of the warehouse on a big pane of glass, giving the effect that the room was much larger than it actually was.

Now, matte artists do their work with digital images made on the computer. Matte artists can usually be found making backgrounds for space movies, such as making a couple of planets and millions of stars for the ship to fly by. It is very time consuming, and leaves no room for mistakes. They need to map and fill in the images to make sure it fits with the theme of scene being shot.

To become a matte artist, you need to obviously have some higher education. Schooling in digital art would defiantly be a must. After schooling, you would just need to provide portfolios and look for anybody that is willing to hire you. I could not find any information about how much a matte artist actually makes. I guess it really just depends on what you are working on, and who you are working with. Bigger budget, may lead to a better pay.

I honestly feel that being a matte artist would be a fun career. It would allow you to get creative and to really branch out with your abilities. I also feel that with all the new movies and technology that is coming out, that matte artist job will become both exciting and fun to experiment with.