Exploring the Modern Approach of Mufasa: The Lion King

Written by Tom White

2024’s Mufasa: The Lion King was significant in numerous ways. It reinvigorated public interest in one of the most beloved animated films in Disney history, as well as one of the most acclaimed live stage productions. It stood as a benchmark achievement in casting, as evidenced in its nomination for the Artios Award from the Casting Society of America. It also announced that the possibilities for filmmakers had entered a new era, void of almost any limitations. While change is a certainty in all aspects of life, discovering how to successfully navigate it is the secret to both survival and success. Shaman Marya was the virtual production real-time stage technical director on this game-changing film and his contributions give evidence to how filmmaking is progressing while still retaining the core of storytelling.

Enlisted by the legendary John Brennan (Jungle Book, Ready Player One, Lion King) to work on Mufasa: The Lion King, Shaman substantially aided the believability of the action on screen where wild animals of Africa spoke, fought, and even sang! Directed by Oscar Award–Winner Barry Jenkins, written by BAFTA Award–Nominee Jeff Nathanson, and starring internationally acclaimed talent like Beyonce, Seth Rogen, Donald Glover, and others, Mufasa: The Lion King is perhaps even more widely known for its technical achievements which includes the reception of three VES Award Nominations (Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature, and the Emerging Technology Award). Mr. Marya’s work communicates that the evolving medium of film requires talent of the highest level to manifest its creations. 

Regardless of the type of film, it all begins with a vision. When Barry Jenkins and Director of Photography James Laxton presented Shaman with their vision of the various worlds of this film that ranged from the drought-stricken desert to the magical pride lands called Milele, it necessitated him developing specific tools to be able to help them visualize their desired vision. This would allow the visual style of the film to attain a photoreal yet painterly aesthetic. Mr. Marya also helped create a variety of visual effects for visualization on stage. Using reference photos supplied by the director and DP, Shaman’s contributions to the lighting of such a technical advanced film were essential in establishing many of the most memorable scenes. Notably, when Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Laxton were unsure regarding how to best convey a time-lapse effect of young Mufasa floating along the river for days before he washes ashore and meets Taka (Scar) for the first time, Shaman stepped in to build a custom tool to switch between skies and lighting setups in cinematics. His innovative approach paid off numerous times throughout the creation of this film. Mr. Marya also created the dust effect which artfully and slowly grew with the intensity of the earthquake in the climactic Pride Rock origin scene, as well as the shockwave at the end of this sequence which was specifically requested by Mr. Jenkins. One of the rare romantic moments in Mufasa: The Lion King is when Sarabi and Mufasa profess their love for each other in one of the most iconic songs and visual sequences of the film “Tell Me It’s You.” The song takes place on the summit of ice capped mountains as Mufasa, Sarabi, Taka, and Zazu search for Milele - the pride lands. Shaman notes that lighting this scene with the Direction of Barry Jenkins and James Laxton was a highlight of his work on Mufasa: The Lion King. He states, “This sequence was especially tricky for the moonlit night among snow, requiring a delicate balance of visibility, a romantic color palette, and avoiding over-reflectivity of moonlight in the snow. Throughout the making of this film, I was extremely fortunate to have the trust of my supervisors (the cinematographer and the director) to be able to experiment with how to achieve what we did. This meant that innovation at the scale that we undertook was a truly unique feeling. It’s gratifying to see what we achieved but that process is not always comfortable. The most difficult part of the production was most certainly trying things that had never been attempted in the process of Virtual Production and Visualization in real time visual effects. This meant that we had very little to fall back on in terms of established norms and practices on set for films and television. Instead, we were charting our own path and navigating real time filmmaking as we went along, often finding ourselves having to innovate, break things, and rebuild. This was difficult but also immensely rewarding.” 

Early in the story, when baby Mufasa is separated from his parents by a flash flood, the gradual transition from the dry environs of a dust filled desert landscape to a quickly overrun flooded environment was under the careful supervision of Mr. Marya. 

Photo Credit: Dante Bailey (@dbheadshots)