"Cliffhanger" Matte Painting to Academy Museum

Michele Moen, matte painting from Cliffhanger, 1993. Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Gift of Michele Moen

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has been given a matte painting on glass used for the 1993 Sylvester Stallone action pic Cliffhanger. Glass matte paintings had been used by Méliès and Hitchcock but were rapidly being supplanted by digital techniques in the 1990s. The Cliffhanger mattes, created by Michele Moen, are admired as late masterpieces of their kind. Moen's painting is photo-real in the center, taking advantage of the absence of a canvas' weave. An area in lower center is clear glass to allow rear projection.