Star Trek matte paintings, by Syd Dutton. Romulus; the First City of the Klingon Empire; Ocampa Underground City; Cardassia Prime; and Gagarin IV. All except the third one (Voyager) are from TNG/DS9. (Matte paintings were often re-used across the different series.)
I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on matte paintings used in films. If you are unfamiliar of what a matte painting is, it is a painted landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is not real or at present filming location. While many famous matte paintings come from Star Wars, here are some from Star Trek. I encourage to click on these and look at the wonderful detail.
Voyager, Ocompa
Ds9, Cardassia Prime
Ds9, Ferenginar
TNG, Klingon First City
TNG, Ventax
TNG, Romulan Capital
Star Trek matte painting, by Albert Whitlock
Star Trek TOS Matte Paintings by Albert Whitlock
Before the computing era, ILM was the master of oil matte painting, making audiences believe that some of the sets in the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogy were real when they weren’t. They were the work of geniuses like Chris Evans, Michael Pangrazio, Frank Ordaz, Harrison Ellenshaw and Ralph McQuarrie ! Forever thank you, to their handmade art and the work of their colleagues, that made us dream of impossible worlds and fantastic places across Earth and the Universe.
I want this job
How they did it before CGI
Star Trek TOS Matte Paintings by Albert Whitlock
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