Matte Painting & Environments

Here is how this works in practice. Our team sets up matte painting and digital environment work for shoots connected to Iceland, extending, replacing or boosting backgrounds so a story's visual scope reaches beyond what was practical to film. We manage reference gathering, creative direction and tech integration, working with matte painting and environment artists to produce photorealistic 2D and 2.5D backdrops and set extensions.

Here is the short of it. A key part of this work happens on location: we make sure the Icelandic shoot captures the high-resolution stills, lighting reference and camera data that artists need, and where a production wants to use the country's landscape as source texture for digital environments, we set up dedicated plate and reference photography across the glaciers, lava fields and coastline. The country's domestic skill handles environment work for edit and broadcast projects. For the most tricky feature environments we set up with set up overseas facilities and watch the integration.

We analyse the first photography for lighting direction, atmosphere and lens character so digital environments match the live action, and we keep one revision record so the work stays steady with the cut.

Here is the breakdown. Iceland's terrain is itself a matte painter's reference library. The island gives landscapes that read as primordial, alien or epic with almost no alteration: the rift valley at Thingvellir, the ice caves and lagoon of Vatnajokull, the volcanic Highlands, the Snaefellsnes peninsula with the much-photographed Kirkjufell mountain. Productions including 'Prometheus', 'Oblivion' and 'Rogue One' used these locations as the foundation for digital set extensions, painting beyond the frame to expand worlds that started as real ground.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Building environments from photography of genuine Icelandic landscape is often more convincing than inventing them. This makes location reference capture a service in its own right. The 25 percent reimbursement administered by Film in the country, rising to 35 percent for larger shoots, applies to eligible Icelandic costs, so environment and reference work carried out in the country can be logged toward the claim. We help shoots plan the reference photography during the shoot so the digital environments, wherever they are painted, are grounded in real Icelandic light and terrain.