Comparison of Pastel and Digital Mattes for Wizard of Oz to Oz the Great and Powerful

This blog post is to have a gander and my thoughts comparing the similarities and differences in the remake of the The Wizard of Oz to Oz the Great and Powerful for the case study section of my essay, so consider it bullet points/notes on key thoughts I am going to include in this section of my essay. I apologise if it comes across as ramblings.

Similarities of the two films courtesy of IMDB trivia:

Though this film is ostensibly based only on the series of "Oz" books by L. Frank Baumand not the famous 1939 musical for legal reasons (the Oz stories are public domain, however the 1939 film and all elements original to it are owned by Warner Bros.), the movie does borrow heavily from The Wizard of Oz (1939):
- the film opens in sepia tone and in the old 1.33:1 academy ratio for the Kansas sequences, then switches to 2.35:1 Widescreen and color in Oz
- the Wicked Witch of the West is green, travels via fire cloud, shoots fireballs, and rides on a smoking broom
- Glinda travels by bubble
- multi-colored horses (i.e. the "horse of a different color") appear in a pasture outside Emerald City
- the Munchkins perform a musical number
- the design and constant reference to the road of yellow brick as the "Yellow Brick Road" (Baum never referred to it as such)
- the Art Deco design of the Emerald City, especially the Wizard's throne room and his methods of illusion are all strongly influenced by the 1939 movie
- rainbows appear often throughout the film, an allusion to the signature song "Over the Rainbow"
- many of the costumes, especially Glinda, Theodora (after she becomes wicked), the Munchkins, and the Winkies, are extremely similar to the 1939 versions
- the appearance of Finley is directly inspired by the "bellhop" costume of the 1939 monkeys; the other flying monkeys in this film are a new, "scarier" design based on baboons
- actors from the Kansas sequence also play Oz characters with similar attributes: Frank and Finley (Oz's long-suffering but loyal assistants); Annie and Glinda (Oz's love interests); the girl in the wheelchair and China Girl (both need Oz's help to walk)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623205/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

Mattes from the Wizard of Oz 

I like this matte painting because there's one really similar from Oz the Great and Powerful of the four characters walking through the trees, I love how in the Wizard of Oz the colours when on film are so much vivider than the actually painting. The fields in the background are practically glowing.

I've rambled on at how important lighting is in matte painting, this is the first time I've seen a matte of light shafts used to emphasise a shot, is it just pure magic. So simple, it really works because of the opacity of the paint so they could back light the matte and make it flicker. So simple but great. This isn't kansas anymore, more like hollywood special effects.

What stuns me most about the matte shots from both these films is how little is live action, they are practically backgrounds, into this alternate reality but it works because of how quirky and different the alternate reality is.

This is a still of the film set, you can see how the cartoon-esque nature of the set inspired the pastel paintings, rather than those of photorealism.

This is one of my favourites, the design itself is so simple, there's not much intricity in the corridor but it's so effective because of the powerful colour. The change from yellow to green is so appealing to the audience, especially kids eyes it works so well. I really like how the floor is mirrored in the live action because that adds detail to what could be a less effective shot.

Mattes from Oz the Great and Powerful

I think it it's interesting how white blossom has been used here, against the white background of clouds they don't pop like the red flowers. But I do really like how your eye flows from the castle up the path around to the character walking towards the screen amazing flow of composition.

You can see the difference from the 1939 version to this version what digital matte painting has allowed the artist to achieve. The realism in the tree's is a marvel.  But there's similarity in the emphasis of colour.

I love how in the above shot the red in the trees on either side compliments that of dorothy's red coat, I later discovered this last image was concept art, but I'm still in love with it, it's my new desktop background. I don't even like the film that much it's just the aesthetics are simply stunning.

Mattes by Nicholas Hiatt for Oz the great and Powerful. http://conceptartworld.com/?p=21151

Mattes for the Wizard of Oz by MGM studios.


NB: These two were chosen for comparison over the other 55 wizard of oz films (yes there really are that many and there's three more in production?! They are making an Oz the Great and Powerful 2. As well see source:

http://reeltoreelmovies.com/2013/04/03/how-many-oz-movies-are-there-anyway/


NB: Another after thought whilst going through Nick Hiatt's portfolio look at this one matte painting he carried out for feature film Mirror Mirror so similar to the 1939 Wizard of Oz matte of them travelling down the road, he'd had practice!!!

A really nice shot breakdown by the special effects company Sony Imageworks that worked on Oz the Great and Powerful.


OOO Creeeeeepy: = http://hellogiggles.com/closed-wizard-of-oz-theme-park/