Considered one of Hollywood’s finest matte artists, MATTHEW YURICICH was allegedly introduced to the studio backlot by his friend pin-up star Betty Grable. From here, Yuricich led an illustrious career involving Hitchcock, GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) and BLADE RUNNER (1982)
Yuricich started at Fox, but wound up at rival studio MGM under mentor Henry Hellick. Here he did work for BEN-HUR (1959), including having to adjust paintings for the anamorphic ‘squeeze’ of CinemaScope.
At MGM, Yuricich assisted on various projects including the iconic FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956), including drawing audiences towards the tiny live-action figures surrounded by huge painted environments.
Another big MGM film was Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), with Yuricich creating the famous Vandamm House exterior (alongside Lee LeBlanc) alongside the tense chases with a crop-duster and atop Mount Rushmore.
Yuricich worked independently for a while, but with LOGAN’S RUN (1976) he won an Academy Special Achievement Award for the futuristic utopian society and the delipidated, moss-covered world outside its walls.
He was also nominated for a VFX Oscar with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977), shaping the monolithic mountain that Spielberg’s characters are drawn towards.
Yuricich’s work on GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) included the main headquarters, possessed skylines and tying together bluescreen shots with painted rooftops in-between the ‘Busters and Marshmallow Man.
BLADE RUNNER (1982) is an exemplar of world-building, with many of the futuristic neo-noir streets and landscapes painted by Yuricich himself, another project in a long-spanning and vital career.
Credit to NZPete for their research on – and interview with – Yuricich, which can be found here.
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