The genius trick that put natural light on 'Jungle Book,' even though it was shot indoors
LOS ANGELES -- By now you've heard that Disney's The Jungle Book, with its lush and breathtaking jungle-scapes, was filmed entirely in a mop closet at Staples Center.
No wait, that's not true. That's a dumb thing I just made up.
But! It was filmed in a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, which is all fine and good in the era of photo-real computer graphics. Except for one thing.
The light.
No amount of green-screens and post-production can cast proper light upon the subject who is in camera -- in this case, Mowgli, as played by Neel Sethi. And with casting proper light comes casting proper shadow.
Director Jon Favreau got this one figured out. We want to be like you, Favs.
Check out the video below to see how The Jungle Book put the shadows of passing elephants, giraffes and apes on Sethi in real time. Its simplicity is one of those forehead-slap moments.
This and other behind-the-scenes extras will be available when The Jungle Book comes to Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere on August 23, and on Blu-ray and on-demand on August 30.
Topics Disney
Josh Dickey is Mashable's Entertainment Editor, leading Mashable's TV, music, gaming and sports reporters as well as writing movie features and reviews.Josh has been the Film Editor at Variety, Entertainment Editor at The Associated Press and Managing Editor at TheWrap.com.A finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club's Best Entertainment Feature in 2015 for "Everyone is Altered: The Secret Hollywood Procedure that Fooled Us for Years," Josh received his BA in Journalism from The University of Minnesota.In between screenings, he can be found skating longboards, shredding guitar and wandering the streets of his beloved downtown Los Angeles.
