h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've changed it to 'A system that included the use of matte lines' and deleted all mention of counter-mattes to keep it simple, and avoid going into a complex discussion of the matting system used.

The matting process Harryhausen used involved a sheet of glass positioned between the camera and the model table. To matte out part of the screen, an area of the glass was painted black, so that when each shot of film in the camera was taken, some of each frame was unexposed. The counter-matte was the reverse, with the previously matted-out glass area now clear and the part of glass previously clear now painted black, while the film was re-wound and re-exposed frame-by-frame in a method that made sure the model appeared in front of what was counter-matted, but behind what was matted. It's a little complicated and probably would need an article to fully explain.

If you see pictures of how it is done it is much easier to envisage. There are lots of diagrams in the books that Harryhausen wrote with Tony Dalton which are available in many libraries and good bookshops.

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Oh, and:

Entry: 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' - the Film - A87826486
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

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How about adding a footnote:

"A matte is a device which masks part of the scene, allowing different parts of the scene to be filmed in separate exposures."

or a better wording of your own.

Simple & straightforward - a great addition.

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Ah!

I'd just suggest one more tweak - 'while the beast model was animated in front of it' (avoid using the word foreground for two different things)

I know what you two are up to – you're deliberately suggesting minor changes in the hope that I'll sing again....

Changes made

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I must say you do have a fantastic text singing voice

Made me want to sing my favourite tune *clears throat*

Tweaking it all again
Never wanted to
It's because of SashaQ
We can't help it...

I 'love the article's tweak so' and I have no other changes to suggest

I was watching the 1942 'Superman' cartoon 'The Arctic Giant' yesterday and there are some similarities.

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The Beast resurfaces, and gave me a good laugh at the singing! I'd forgotten about that!

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