Stunning Matte Paintings Behind The Original Star Wars Trilogy

Before the CG era and the rise of Unreal Engine 4, ILM projects were all about oil matte paintings. The master painted sets for the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogy that turned out to be stunningly realistic, all thanks to the team of Chris Evans, Mike Pangrazio, Frank Ordaz, Harrison Ellenshaw, and Ralph McQuarrie.

Matte paintings are fake sets that were made with plexiglass and oil paint on oversized panels for all the little details including thousands of stormtroopers, spaceships, and more. Those fake sets were then combined with live-action sequences that had to match the perspective of the paintings. 

One of the masters behind those sets is Chris Evans who created matte paintings for many legendary movies including The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Titanic, and more.

The other one is Mike Pangrazio who didn’t have experience before joining ILM. Ralph McQuarrie taught him how to create such sets over three years. 

Make sure to check out a stunning article by Gizmodo here to learn more.