Mathieu Raynault

Mathieu Raynault, is a Canadian digital matte painter, concept artist, and VFX art director. He has been producing matte paintings and illustrations for over 15 years. He is well-known for his contributions on film productions like The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix series, Terminator Salvation, The Golden Compass, King Kong, Gangs of New York, and Star Wars saga; as well as many video games and print advertising projects.

In 2011, after five years at RODEO FX, the internationally-known VFX studio he co-founded in 2006, Mathieu launched his own creative studio in Montreal, Canada.

Early life and education

Mathieu graduated from the four-year professional program in Architecture Design at the Laval University Art & Architecture School (1996), as well as the National Animation and Design Center (NAD) in Montreal (1997). Once his studies were completed, he honed his craft on the high-definition TV series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, as well as with Montreal-based FX houses Icestorm Digital and Tube Studios, creating 2D and 3D digital environments, and 3D animations for HDTV series, commercials and 3D rides.

A portfolio of his work on Jules Verne scored him an interview with Lucasfilm in San Francisco in 1999. That led to a staff position with the fabled Industrial Light + Magic studio, where he created matte paintings for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, among other feature films.

Partial filmography

• Immortals (2011 film) - Visual Effects Supervisor (Rodeo FX)
• Incendies - VFX Art Director (Rodeo FX)
• Resident Evil: Afterlife - Visual Effects Art Director (Rodeo FX)
• The Last Airbender - Visual Effects Supervisor (Rodeo FX)
• Twilight Eclipse (film) - Visual Effects Art Director (Rodeo FX)
• Jonah Hex (film) - Matte Painting Supervisor - (Roedo FX)
• Twilight Eclipse (film) (pre-production) - Concept Artist
• Immortals (2011 film) (pre-production) - Concept Artist
• Repo Men - VFX Supervisor (Rodeo FX)
• Mr. Nobody (film) - VFX Art Director (Rodeo FX)
• Terminator Salvation - Matte Painter (Rodeo FX)
• Journey to Mecca - Visual Effects Supervisor (Rodeo FX)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still - Matte Painer (Rodeo FX)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 film) - VFX Art Director (Rodeo FX)
• The Golden Compass (film) - Lead Matte Painer (Rodeo FX)
• Silk (2007 film) - Lead Matte Painer (Rodeo FX)
• 300 (film) - Senior Matte Painter (Meteor Studio)
• Silent Hill (film) - Concept Artist/Matte Painter (Rodeo FX)
• The Fountain - VFX Art Director (Mokko Studio)
• King Kong (2005 film) - Senior Matte Painter (Weta Digital)
• The Day After Tomorrow - Senior Matte Painter (The Orphanage)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Senior Matte Painter (Weta Digital)
• The Matrix Revolutions - Senior Matte Painter (ESC)
• The Matrix Reloaded - Senior Matte Painter (ESC)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Senior Matte Painter (Weta Digital)
• Gangs of New York - Matte Painter (ILM)
• Stuart Little 2 - Matte Painter (Sony)
• Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Matte Painter (ILM)
• The Mummy Returns - Matte Painter (ILM)

Video Games

• Prince Of Persia III - Cinematic - Matte Painter
• Prince Of Persia III - Trailer - Matte Painter
• The Act of War - Cinematic - Matte Painter
• Men of Valor - Cinematic - Matte Painter

TV

• Apocalypse - Season 2 - Matte Painter
• The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne - 3D Artist - Matte Painter
• Discovery Channel - Super Volcano -Concept Artist - Matte Painter
• Discovery Channel - Inside The Space Station -3D Artist - Matte Painter

Recognition, Awards and Nominations

• March 2006: Academy Award. Raynault was part of the Oscar-winning team at Weta digital, in the visual effects category for King Kong.

Credited as Digital Matte Painter.

• June 2005: “Into the Pixel” award winner - E3 2005. The “Babylon on Fire” matte painting created for the videogame Prince of Persia III was selected by The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for its videogame art exhibition at the E3 videogame convention.

• March 2004: Academy Award. Raynault was part of the Oscar-winning team at Weta digital, in the visual effects category for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King..

Credited as Digital Matte Painter.

• March 2003: Academy Award Raynault was part of the Oscar-winning team at Weta digital, in the visual effects category for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Credited as Digital Matte Painter.

• March 2003: Academy Award. In the visual effects category for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

Raynault was part of the nominated team at ILM, credited as Digital Matte Painter.

• February 2003: Art work and matte painting selected and presented in the book The Art of The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings) by Gary Russell (Houghton Mifflin, 2003).

• January 2003: VES Awards winner for Best Matte Painting in a Motion Picture for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Visual Effects Society Awards.

• January 2003: VES Awards nominee for Best Matte Painting in a Motion Picture for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Visual Effects Society Awards.

• January 2003: VES Awards nominee for Best Matte Painting in a Motion Picture for Gangs of New York. Visual Effects Society Awards.

• March 2002: Nominee for Best Special Effects at the Saturn Awards. Nominated for digital matte work on the movie The Mummy Returns.

• June 2000: Nominee for Best Visual Effects at the Monitor Awards for digital matte artwork created for the HD television series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne.

• July 2000: CG artwork selected and presented on the CG Channel “Top CG Elite Gallery”

• April 1996: Third prize for excellence in architecture design, class of 1996 at Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada.

• In the year 2003, he was nominated for VES Award (Visual Effects Society Awards) for Gangs of New York (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

References

1. “His profession: Matte Painter.” Article in Montreal’s La Presse, about Mathieu’career path and his work with Rodeo FX, the company he co-founded in 2006 with Sebastien Moreau
2. Article in “Design your way” Webzine.
3. After 2 years of existence, Rodeo FX the company Mathieu Raynault co-founded gets the attention in this “La Presse” article.
4. Article in the newspaper « Le Journal de Montreal ». Mathieu comes back from New Zealand, just finished work on Lord of the Rings –Return of the King.

External links

• Mathieu Raynault on IMDB
• Mathieu Raynault Website

Books featuring Raynault’s work

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Art of The Two TowersBy Garry Russell

ISBN 0618331301

1. The Art of The Return of the King By Garry Russell

ISBN 0618430296