Santa Monica, Calif. - Entity FX, a feature film, television, and commercial visual effects company based in Santa Monica, Calif., and Vancouver, British Columbia, has created visual effects for Rush Hour 3, the most recent installment from the Rush Hour franchise, directed by Brett Ratner and starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan.
Rush Hour 3 reunites the comic detective duo of Lee and Carter (Chan and Tucker) as they take on Chinese organized crime in the heart of Paris.
Visual effects work by Entity FX included 3D backdrops, digital matte paintings, and screen composites that helped back up the action in several different interior and outdoor locations.
One challenge involved digitally adding a moving elevator to enhance suspense in an interior chase scene. Elevator elements as well as the character of Soo Young (actress Jingchu Zhang) were tracked in to seamlessly integrate live-shot material with digital matte painting elements.
Another required adding a convincing sky and feeling of motion for scenes in which Chan and Tucker take a transatlantic flight. With no production plates available, Entity FX created a 3D clouds environment made from multiple stereo-res 2D photographs.
“We basically created a movie of 3D clouds from sequenced stills with all of the perspective information we needed,” says Eli Jarra, VFX supervisor, Entity FX. “It allowed us to adjust speed and altitude as necessary.”
Entity FX credits on the project include: Mat Beck and Eli Jarra: Visual Effects Supervisors; Kymber Lim: Executive Producer; Tricia Pifer: Head of Production: Jason Sanford: VFX Producer; Brian Petras, Nancy Hyland and Rob Reinhart: 2D Artists; and Rik Panero: 3D Artist. Entity FX’s toolset on Rush Hour 3 included Autodesk's Flame & Maya and Adobe After Effects.