Jack Hawkins, as Quintus Arrius, triumphant return to Rome in BEN-HUR
Unlike the examples I've shown for THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE and CLASH OF THE TITANS, the grand spectacle scene in BEN-HUR takes place outside. It's a combination of live action and matte painting. The perspective in this shot is dazzling. 2/3s of the shot is an actual set while the columns on the left and right were added with a matte painting by Matthew Yuricich. You see Hawkins (on the left) walk up to the Emperor. PEPLUM films were made for the widescreen format.
2 comments:
Thanks,most interesting. I agree fully that the Peplum genre really needs widescreen, at least for its outdoor shots of battles.
I actually prefer static shots of impressive settings, like this one. Today the directors can't seen to help themselves slinging around their virtual cameras in computer generated sets, and that just screams "fake" to my brain. But in a static shot like this you can't tell where the fakery ends and the real set begins. That's real movie magic!
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