Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 7 37 in print the Scenic Artist, must render these worlds to be believable to the audience. Until the recent advent of computer-generated images (CGI), the painted backing and the matte shot—a technique where the first shot is combined with new information from a second shot to create a third image—have been the primary ways to accomplish such realism at the scale required by a fully developed movie set. Integrating a backing into a set requires an intimate understanding of how the camera records the painted image. Artists must consider the distance between the backing and the camera; the greater the distance, the better the effect. Cinematographers, as a rule, will avoid shooting directly at a backing with nothing between it and the camera. Three-dimensional elements like trees or rocks are placed between them to break up the painted image and create a clear foreground, midground and background. A scrim, or gauze, is often introduced directly in front of the backing to help soften the image. The backing is lit with one set of lights, the scrim with another. As the light on the scrim is increased, the image on the backing behind it begins to fade, replicating the hazing effect of dust and moisture in the atmosphere. Lighting instruments placed behind the backing are able to re-create the effect of the sun or moon, or small practical fixtures can be integrated into the backing to make it appear as if windows have real lights in them. Some backings, painted on both sides, leave areas of the surface opaque and other sections translucent. Lights are then placed both in front of and behind the drop. When the light shifts between the two, the backing radically changes appearance—a bright, sunny day can change to a nighttime sky filled with ominous storm clouds with a simple transfer of light. ADG errata In the November/December 2016 issue, PERSPECTIVE inadvertently printed an incorrect biography for Kevin Thompson, the Production Designer of The Girl on the Train. We sincerely regret the error, and would like to provide the correct information here. KEVIN THOMPSON was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, and received a bachelor's degree in architecture and art history from the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota. After working as an architect in Minneapolis and then New York for more than a decade, his longtime interest in film led him to Production Design in the early 1990s. His earliest projects included Party Girl, Kids, Little Odessa and Flirting With Disaster. Continuing his interest in working on director-driven projects, Kevin also designed The Yards, Birth, Funny Games, Stranger Than Fiction and Michael Clayton. Kevin continues to work on both big-budget studio movies and smaller independent films, choosing projects based on the script, but even more so, on his desire to work with specific directors. Just prior to the recently released The Girl on the Train, Kevin designed The Bourne Legacy, Money Monster and Trainwreck.