Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/686925
Above, left and right: Steve Markowski brought a wealth of talent to the storyboarding process, with a renowned career in both animation and live action. This is one of his sketches for the classic vanquishing of the villian, Shere Khan, in the Final Battle. Phillip Norwood's rendering of Shere Khan at the watering hole sequence, with Akela and the wolf pack in the background. Below, left and right: Mr. Markowski portrayed numerous riveting sequences, such as this one shown in these two frames: Mowgli arriving at King Louie's palace, and confronting the monstrous orangutan himself. David Lowery, Head of Storyboards Storyboard Artists: Marc Baird, Oliver Dear, John Fox, Jonathan Gesinski, Steven E. Gordon, Phil Langone, Steve Markowski, Adolfo Martínez Pérez, Jim Mitchell, Mark Moretti, Thomas A. Nelson, Phillip Norwood, Larry Scholl, Dwayne Turner, John Williams Nellie Ann Prestine-Lowery, Storyboard Coordinator with much more drama and action than one would normally see. Refining the process over time, the team brought Jon's vision to life in each scripted sequence, and in turn, screenwriter Justin Marks went back and reintegrated Jon's storyboarded scenes into the script pages. There was no shortage of source material for ideas and inspiration: Jon Favreau's own ideas, Justin Marks' script, Disney's 1967 animated The Jungle Book, and many illustrated versions of Kipling's original book. In the months before the motion capture was to start, the storyboard team created a filmic template for the production pipeline that was to follow. The drawings had to stage the shots cinematically, not only with beauty and emotional believability, but also with accuracy in order for them to be achieved successfully later on, both on set with the young actor and in the final CG world of the movie. The process of building a live-action/CG hybrid film like this from the storyboards up had never been done before, and it is an honor to have witnessed and have been a part of this revolutionary new method firsthand. Seeing the stunning final shots of The Jungle Book, my team and I could not be happier with the end result, and we remain very proud to have helped Jon deliver a truly great movie. ADG