Reflective: compositing

Films are always fakery, but they must be fakery that is convincing and does not disrupt the audience’s suspension of disbelief. This doesn't just apply to compositing effects, of course, but to lighting, sound effects, in short every aspect of the movie experiment continuity, the audience’s immersion in the story is disrupted.

In its earliest form, this was simply a plate of glass I front of the camera lens, with the matte area painted in black paint. This prevented the matted areas from being exposed; then the negative was rewound and a glass plate with the reverse of the original painting was used to expose the previously matted area with another image – usually a painting. Nowadays we can use many software help us to do it.  

Nearly all movies today have special effects created using a digital intermediate, even if the movie was originally shot on 35mm film.