Casino

Las Vegas has changed significantly since the 1970's when the film took place, so Matte World Digital was called upon to recreate many of the classic landmarks that had sadly been torn down over the years. To create the scene, MWD worked closely with Lightscape Technologies to adapt their radiosity renderer for use in film. The radiosity algorithms are superior to conventional ray-tracing as they can accurately calculate the realistic bounce light in a scene. This was the first time radiosity was used to create CG elements for a film, an important ingredient in creating the realism of the Las Vegas strip at night.

[MWD]

Live action plate photographed in Las Vegas.
[MWD]

Composite showing the live action plate combined with the digital environment.

For the establishing shots of a secret mob hangout located in the "All American Gas Station", MWD photographed a gas station scene in Las Vegas that was relocated in a nondescript industrial city, somewhere on the East Coast.

[MWD]

The gas station live action plate photographed in Las Vegas.
[MWD]

Digital matte painting techniques were used to add moving clouds and to provide a more industrial background that relocated the scene to the East Coast.

"Working with Matte World Digital was a wonderful experience, the work looks great and I'm excited about the new technology they developed for my picture." - Martin Scorsese