The Rescue (2020) poster
The Rescue — the studio's own key art, shown for identification
2020 · Film & television

The Rescue

RoleDigital matte painter
Year2020
StudioPostModern Digital
ProductionChina
StreamingPrime Video
ServiceDigital matte painting
DirectorDante Lam
Released18 December 2020
Runtime138 minutes
CinematographyPeter Pau
DistributorEmperor Motion Pictures (英皇电影)
Production companiesBona Film Group, China Communications Press, China Modern Film And Television Development, Tencent Pictures, Autonavi YunMap Technology, Maoyan Weying Culture Media, Emperor Film Production Company Limited
Filmed atFuzhou, Guangxi, and Xiamen, China; Mexico
VFX vendorsScanline VFX, Digital Domain, Macrograph VFX
IMDbThe Rescue ↗
SourcesWikipedia · Chinese Wikipedia (zh) · The Hype Magazine

The environment and effects work covered burning oil-rig, aircraft and ocean disaster settings; Chumak contributed as a matte painter with PostModern Digital.

The Rescue is a 2020 Chinese action film directed by Dante Lam, following a China Rescue and Salvage crew through large-scale disaster operations. Made on a budget of around 90 million dollars, it shot partly at Mexico's Baja Studios, and its visual effects were shared among vendors including Scanline VFX, Digital Domain, Macrograph and PostModern Digital.

The Rescue streams on Prime Video. Full credit details on IMDb.

How the environments were made

The Rescue tracks a Chinese coastguard sea rescue team through a sequence of large scale maritime disasters: an offshore oil rig ablaze, a passenger jet that crash lands in the ocean, and a tanker carrying natural gas that catches fire. Dante Lam filmed much of the water work in camera, using Baja Studios' largest tank in Mexico, the same facility built in 1996 for Titanic, together with real helicopters, rescue vessels and a retired A320 airbus. The crew also filmed across Fuzhou, Guangxi and Xiamen in China. Scanline VFX, Digital Domain and Macrograph VFX, the vendors credited with the film's large scale visual effects, expanded those disasters into full environments, beyond what a tank or a beached airliner could show on their own. The film credits Chumak as Digital matte painter, PostModern Digital.

Source: scmp.com · The Hype Magazine · Chinese Wikipedia (zh)

Questions about The Rescue

Who worked on the visual effects for The Rescue (2020)?

The large scale visual effects for The Rescue were handled by Scanline VFX, Digital Domain and Macrograph VFX, whose work expanded disaster set pieces like the burning oil rig and the sea plane crash beyond what was shot practically. On set, special effects supervisor John Frazier, whose credits include Spider-Man and the Pirates of the Caribbean series, ran the practical rigs, water work and pyrotechnics for the rescue sequences.

Where was The Rescue (2020) filmed?

Director Dante Lam shot The Rescue in Fuzhou, Guangxi and Xiamen, China, then moved the production to Baja Studios in Mexico. The crew filmed the water scenes in the studio's largest tank, built in 1996 for James Cameron's Titanic, so they could capture large scale ocean rescue and disaster sequences practically rather than only on a soundstage.

What real disasters does The Rescue (2020) depict?

In The Rescue, a Chinese coastguard rescue team works through a run of disasters at sea: an offshore oil rig on fire, a passenger plane that crash lands in the ocean, and a tanker carrying natural gas that catches fire. For each set piece, special effects supervisor John Frazier built the practical stunts, and the film's VFX vendors supplied the digital environment work.

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