Contextual Influences - Matte Painting

Matte Painting is the use of simple sketches and photoshop painting along with found imagery to generate a single composition to use as a back drop for films or games. A good example of this is from Lord of the Rings as they used a painting of an army instead of having millions of people stood there, this is as it was cheeper and quicker to make and produce as a main scene. A Matte Painter could produce a single shot in a matter of weeks where as the set would take months maybe years for build and to be produced.