Recently, I finished an assignment for a film. I was required to take existing film frames and digitally paint over them to remove certain elements and add others. The intent was to make an old barn look as if it had been burned out by fire. In the film the barn gets burned down, but it was not actually possible to burn the barn down during filming. The entire effect of the fire incident needed to be created with special effects. I had to remove the actors in my matte painting. Using digital techniques, they will be rotoscoped back in over the painted burn damage. Here I show the original film image that I was provided, and the finished matte painting right below it.
Here is a still from the filming.
By the way, The name of the film is “The 12 Dogs of Christmas II”.