Eleventh International Conference on The Image

Abstract

The release of the 2019 film, The Lion King, triggered the sort of anxious anticipation often surrounding the remake of a successful original. Popularly referred to as a live-action version of the animation original, the imagery of The Lion King (2019) is however one hundred percent computer-generated. But is it? The film’s cinematographer, Caleb Deschanel, says the film was produced in a way that “senses” the presence of living, moving filmmakers being amidst the CGI story environment. There is “something about feeling the human touch behind the camera” that the production sought to harness, he says. This paper asks us to reconsider notions of live-action film production and imagery – and specifically to examine the possibilities of Online Reality technology, such as that used in The Lion King’s production, to enable film crews to enlist their embodied knowledge, experience and sensory perception of filming in real-world locations, in the creation of “unphotographed” story worlds. Drawing on the interdisciplinary groundwork of scholars of the Sensory Turn, in anthropology, geography and sociology, this presentation highlights filmmakers’ full-bodied perception of production spaces, and the potential of using that perception as a creative tool in bringing cinematic story environments “to life” for audiences.