Dawn's first film "Missions of California" made extensive use of the glass shot, in which certain parts of the intended image are painted on a piece of glass and placed in between the camera and the live action. Many of the buildings which Dawn was filming were at least partially destroyed; by painting sections of roof or walls, the impression was made that the buildings were in fact, still whole. The main difference between the glass shot and the matte shot is that with a glass shot, all filming is done with a single exposure of film.