While you might not think it, given the movie’s slow-burning plot, and hand-to-hand fight scenes,Rebel Ridgefeatures well over 500 VFX shots which were hidden in plain sight.The new movie, directed and written by Jeremy Saulnier and starring Aaron Pierre, has been a smash hit for Netflix, boasting a strong 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and rushing to thetop of the streamer’s Top 10 chart.As the tension draws to a head, Terry Richmond (Pierre) unleashes brutal vengeance on the corrupt police officers who inadvertently caused his brother’s death. The scene is filled with brutal fight choreography and, far more surprisingly, a lot of visual effects.
Speaking toArt of VFX,Rebel Ridge’s VFX artist, Chris Connolly, discussed the process of implementing the movie’s secret VFX. Of course, no sharknadoes or Scorpion Kings appear in the finale, but CGI was used to enhance the on-screen violence. The smoke grenades Terry launches at the police, the countless tazers, muzzle flashes, and even his devastating elbows were all digitally enhanced in post-production. He explained:
“For the fight scenes, we tweaked actors’ position and movement to add intensity and realism. Sometimes it was a subtle speed-up; other times we would delay a character’s movement so they would land just right. We merged actors’ actions from separate takes, enhanced elbow hits, and intensified impacts. We also enhanced things like blood, muzzle flashes, bullet hits, tasers, and smoke.”
Rebel Ridge
A former Marine confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin’s bail.
As well as enhancing the fight scenes,Chris Connolly also used CGI to build out the town of Shelby Springs.While Terry travels back and forth on his trusty bicycle (the true hero of the movie), Shelby Springs is filled with CGI vehicles to make the town feel lived in. Connolly continued:
“These are also a lot of subtle 2D comps that enhance visual composition or add to the feel of the storyworld. We added elements to shots, including trains, jets, trees, lightning, railroad crossing barriers, windows for blue screen sets, sky replacements, reflections in windows, and shadows on buildings.”
Rebel Ridge’s Ambush Features the Most CGI
Even upon multiple re-watches, the CGI inRebel Ridgeis almost impossible to notice. While it may come as a surprise that the film features so much VFX, considering its genre, almost every major production features similar, hidden CGI. If you’ve now set yourself the challenge of re-watchingRebel Ridgewith the intention of finding the CGI,Chris Connolly has suggested which scene you should start with,saying:
“There are quite a few in the scene where Lann pulls over Terry and tries to ambush him in the truck. With the actors falling and fighting on the road, there was a stunt pad on the pavement that we needed to remove. We also added the taser firing, the prongs hitting Lann’s neck, and taser wires hanging on the truck door.”
Rebel Ridge Exploits One of America’s Scariest Laws (And for Good Reason)
While Rebel Ridge is a great slow-burn action movie, the Jeremy Saulnier-directed film also shows the realities of civil asset forfeiture.
While most filmmakers want their CGI to blend seamlessly into the practical sets and VFX so that audiences aren’t pulled out of the movie,Rebel Ridge’s director, Jeremy Saulnier,now wants audiences to hunt for the artificial additions. On hisXaccount,Saulnier shared the interview, and teased fans with the challenge of finding them, saying, “Bet you couldn’t spot ‘em, until now…”
Rebel Ridgeis streaming on Netflix.
