Why is the “King Lion King” Rome is called a feature movie, and not a cartoon? There are no people there and everything is drawn on a computer!

In November, Disney launched the first teaser trailer for the King Leo Rome, shot by director John Favro (Iron Man). The main roles in the new version were played by Donald Glover (aka rapper Childish Gambino), Seth Rogen (“Neighbors”), Chvetel Edgyofer (“12 years of slavery”), James Erl Jones (Darth Vader's voice in Star Wars) and singer Beyoncé. Despite the fact that all the heroes of the picture are painted on a computer, the restart is called a feature movie, not animation - and this only confuses many spectators. "Medusa" explains how the new "King Leo" differs from the usual cartoon.

Why everyone argues?

Due to terminology. Some publications have already accused Disney of substitution of concepts. In the description of the trailer on Utube, the company uses the phrase “from Disney Live Action” (“Created by Disney division, responsible for playing films”). Journalists are worried that the positioning of the film as a game (that is, the one in which the actors play) belittles the merits of the animators working on the project.

The director of Aquaman James Van on his Twitter also called the new “King Leo” to the feature of the movie. Many subscribers did not agree with him. They argue that since living actors do not appear on the screen and all the characters are drawn on a computer, it means that this is ordinary animation.

So what is the difference between conventional animated films and “King Leo”?

As a rule, graphics for 3D-multphilms are made in the animation studio. At the same time, the actors record their votes separately. When the cartoon is entirely created on computers, the director can switch the virtual “camera” for any way - after all, it is not tied to anything and to anyone.

But the “King Leo” Rome was removed using virtual reality technologies. Instead of a conventional set of set, the authors created a virtual space through which actors, operators and director could move in the VR helmets-as if real scenery had been built for the film. The actors saw and heard their colleagues, the director could adjust their work directly on the site, the operators recorded the movement of the characters in real time - all as on the set of ordinary feature films.

Such technologies have already been used somewhere?

Yes! The same John Favro used the VR in his previous film-The Book of the Jungle, in which Mowgli played the role of 12-year-old Nile Sethi. Thanks to virtual reality, the director could directly regulate the lighting in the scenes and independently rearrange the items on the virtual site. In the “King of Leo”, even more expensive, larger and more technological (only without people in the frame).

VR has another application in the cinema - with its help, shots from the set are combined with special effects in real time. Thus, the director immediately sees on the screen not just the actors against the background of studio chromakey , but how the scene will look in the film - with already drawn characters and details of the environment.

Maxim Ivanov