American Cinematographer - August 2019 - 58
King
To Be
Cinematographer
Caleb Deschanel, ASC and
visual-effects supervisor
Robert Legato, ASC team up in
virtual space to shoot the
photo-real reimagining of
The Lion King
By Michael Goldman
Society members Caleb Deschanel and Robert Legato sat
down at the ASC Clubhouse on a Saturday morning in May
to discuss their shared adventure that was the making of
Jon Favreau's The Lion King, a photo-realistic reimagining of
the classic Disney animated feature. As cinematographer,
Deschanel employed revolutionary virtual-cinematography techniques; as visual-effects supervisor, Legato offered
Deschanel the benefits of the many years he spent pioneering and then refining those techniques, starting with his
work on James Cameron's Avatar and then Favreau's previous feature The Jungle Book (AC May '16).
While The Lion King will undoubtedly have a
profound industry-wide impact as it advances new methods of filmmaking, it will also further the paradigm first put
forward by the production of The Jungle Book, wherein the
equipment, processes and philosophies that so-called
"traditional" filmmakers have employed for decades are
applied to animated imagery through a virtual-production
workflow.
AC sat in on the filmmakers' conversation, and offers
this edited transcript of their discussion.
58
August 2019
Caleb Deschanel, ASC: For me, going to Africa [on a
preproduction research trip organized by Favreau in 2017]
was the thing that solidified my interest in this project. When
we were there, I fully realized how the film pays tribute to the
vast landscapes in Kenya and the wildlife that is now, sadly,
under duress. We also got to film at [Disney's Animal
Kingdom theme park] in Florida. There, the lions were beautiful references for [the lead lion characters].
Robert Legato, ASC: They were such perfect animals
- beautifully taken care of. We got some really beautiful
footage. But when we went to Africa, that's the real stuff.
Those lions were mangy and rough.
It wasn't a huge leap to come up with [the sequence for
The Lion King's famed theme] 'The Circle of Life' there. We
were able to see that concept firsthand every day in Africa. It
was spiritual to some degree, and it inspired us even beyond
[the specific research and reference materials that were
acquired].
Deschanel: All of those references really do affect your
subconscious. I wasn't hired by Jon because I'm some kind
of tech wizard - I was hired because I've spent about 45
ASC 100th Anniversary
American Cinematographer - August 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2019
Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2019 - Cover1a
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American Cinematographer - August 2019 - ACM
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