Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyis film, The Rescue tells the story of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in which twelve boys' from the Wild Boars Football Club and their coach were trapped in a flooded cave complex in Thailand. Documenting the huge risks taken by a team of specialist divers during the rescue, the production combines documentary footage with painstaking dramatic reconstructions shot by top underwater cinematographer Ian Seabrook.
Seabrook's earliest dives were on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a visual spectacle that prompted him to combine the twin passions of diving and photography and to focus on one job - as underwater cinematographer. Initially starting out on documentary and commercial productions, by the late 90s Seabrook was working in narrative as well, and today has an extensive list of underwater credits including Batman v Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales, Deadpool 2,and Jungle Cruise.
The Rescue began preproduction in 2019, with Seabrook's experience in both narrative and documentary production immediately crucial. The filmmakers came to me to recreate the rescue operation, and I was given autonomy with regards to camera, lens, and format selection. Seabrook chose the ARRI Alexa MINI LF, recording its sensor in open-gate, with ZEISS Supreme Prime and Supreme Prime Radiance lenses.
One reason behind the decision was, Seabrook, says, we thought the film might get an IMAX release due to the subject matter and fact that the directors prior film, Free Solo, benefitted from an IMAX release. The Rescue is an amalgamation of news footage, interview footage that was photographed in a few countries, and aerial photography from Thailand. I felt that with the underwater portion of it being photographed in open gate, the images would have their own unique look and allow the audience to become immersed in the environment.
Creating images worthy of the biggest of big screens meant finding the right methodology to illuminate an environment that is oppressively dark. It was a confined cave environment, Seabrook says, and the only illumination was the divers' headlights. I had several meetings beforehand with the actual cave divers who performed the rescue operation, who told me how things were handled, and what they used for illumination during the dives.
With the Supreme Prime Radiance, each light source brought a unique quality of light and subsequent life to the frame. One of the reasons I settled on the Radiance was due to the unique blue flare patterns that the lenses were designed to create, Seabrook confirms. I shot tests underwater with the lenses wide open at T1.5 and also at a more desirable T4-5.6. With some of the divers' lights, we found that when we shot it wide open, the lights basically bloomed and there was little to no detail prevalent. I then selected an aperture I wanted to shoot at and tested that with a few different ISO combinations until I arrived at what I found to be the sweet spot for this project. Thats one of the main reasons why that lens and sensor combo was spectacular.
Leveraging the depth-of-field control offered by large format camerawork was just as crucial. The reason I shot at a certain aperture was to hide the fact that there was less cave structure set than we had access to, Seabrook says. We were able to camouflage the fact that we did not have miles of cave to shoot in. At the same time, the Supreme Primes' close-focus capability was crucial for a shoot where the camera and subject distance would be in loose proximity to one another.
The close focus distance on the Supremes was an amazing asset, Seabrook enthuses. I didnt have to use auxiliary diopters because the close focus of those lenses was at most fourteen inches. Normally what anyone will require with a dome port is between sixteen and eighteen inches, so the fact that the lens focuses even closer was an enormous benefit. When we were doing re-creation work for the surface portion of the shoot with the vials of sedatives that were injected into the children, I could get close enough to read the names, ketamine, and atropine, on the labels.
To the delight of everyone involved, The Rescue was to get its hoped-for huge-screen finish, and Seabrook saw his images projected at a vast scale. I saw it on an IMAX screen TIFF, Seabrook recalls, and the underwater imagery had great detail and, at that size, was immersive. The real-world story behind those images, meanwhile, created lasting memories. Working with the actual divers who did the rescue was an honor such amazing individuals who were selfless and brave. They were able to go into an environment that very few people would even be able to survive in, let alone succeed in doing the impossible. I felt that needed to be represented in the best way possible. And for me, the best way was to shoot it with that sensor and those lenses.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Nine Alumni Nominated for Tony Awards More than 20 alumni contributed to this year's Tony-nominated productions.
May 7, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
Boston Co...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyis film, The Rescue tells the story of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in which twelve boys' from the Wild Boars Football Club and their coach were trapped in a flooded cave complex in Thailand. Documenting the huge risks taken by a team of specialist divers during the rescue, the production combines documentary footage with painstaking dramatic reconstructions shot by top underwater cinematographer Ian Seabrook. 
