Flash back to a time when going to the movies (or as we’d have said here “to the pictures”) was an event… counting that hard earned, scrimped and saved coinage – the result of delivering the evening paper (The Auckland Star – R.I.P) in all sorts of climatic conditions in a dedicated plan to buy as many Airfix model kits and see as many double features as the lean savings would permit – and at 25 cents a seat in the stalls, 30 cents upstairs in the circle at the Capitol Cinema in Balmoral this was a pretty good deal. More classy cinemas such as the beautiful Mayfair in Sandringham, Auckland charged around 50 to 75 cents admission but it was worth the long bike ride to my Grandma’s house nearby to see what The Mayfair had on offer.
This was an era when the movie house was just that, a stand alone old picture palace, usually dating from the 1930’s and generally giving the impression that the date of construction was probably the first and last time a broom ever touched the worn out carpet! Don’t confuse the movie going of today with it’s teflon coated architectural eyesores that claim themselves as cinemas! My God, how depressing things are today – not just in what qualifies as filmed entertainment but also the global corporate entities than operate these cinemas without the slightest idea of showmanship or motion picture exhibition. A cinema lobby nowadays might just as well be a dentists’ waiting room (smells the same) or an airline check in…. it’s that bad. Hell, the last film I actually even saw in a ‘cinema’ was Peter Jackson’s KING KONG. I get a better show on DVD or BluRay on a top of the line 55 inch Samsung monitor at home. The only plus factor at the new age of cinema are the great ice creams!…
…Read the Full Article @ Matte Shot
A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX
Please Note: Now, I am going further back into the archives of Matte Shot – A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX to feature even more articles from this great site.
This blog is intended primarily as a tribute to the inventiveness and ingenuity of the craft of the matte painter during Hollywoods’ Golden Era. Some of the shots will amaze in their grandeur and epic quality while others will surprise in their ‘invisibility’ to even the sophisticated viewer. I hope this collection will serve as an appreciation of the artform and both casual visitors and those with a specialist interest may benefit, enjoy and be amazed at skills largely unknown today.