Jon Favreau says 3D is the best format to watch Jungle Book

By @SimonCocking. To mark the release of the all-new, live-action epic adventure The Jungle Book, RealD has released an exclusive interview with director Jon Favreau, who explains why 3D is the best way for audiences to immerse themselves in this contemporary remake of the iconic tale.

Favreau, who has directed films such as Iron Man and Elf, reveals that James ‘Jim’ Cameron inspired his 3D journey, citing that watching Avatar in 3D ‘felt like something I had never seen before’.

The director highlights how important it was to consider the 3D elements throughout the full filming process in order to take his audience on a wild ride through the jungle. By doing so, Favreau was able to emphasise the 3D components and make it all the more realistic.

Favreau states: “You’re involved in this environment, with hanging vines, the camera is moving around, and there’s fog, and then the snake emerges from the fog. When it’s in 3D it makes you kind of squirm back in your seat a little bit because a snake coming out of the trees slowly towards you really lends itself to the 3D treatment”.

To ensure the film was impactful, both in 2D and 3D, Jon Favreau watched the film as they went, with both a 2D and 3D monitor on set throughout filming. This would allow Favreau’s team to change elements like the inter-ocular and convergence and therefore enhance the 3D.

Favreau adds that 3D makes you feel as though “you’re seeing a real thing in the frame…that you are actually looking at something that was really there. The effect of that is, as an audience member, you feel much more engaged with the story. I feel a lot more emotionally when I watch it in its proper format which is 3D”.

The featurette from RealD also includes behind-the-scenes footage from the film. Filmmakers used up-to-the-minute technology, from cutting-edge CGI to virtual cameras, to create something that appears completely realistic to the audience. No small task but with a team of experts who have worked on global phenomenon’s like “Life of Pi,” “Gravity,” “Avatar” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” under their belts, this authenticity was achieved.

The all-star cast includes Bill Murray as the voice of Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, and Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of mother wolf Raksha. Scarlett Johansson gives life to Kaa, Giancarlo Esposito provides the voice of alpha-male wolf Akela, and Christopher Walken lends his iconic voice to King Louie. Newcomer Neel Sethi stars as the film’s only human character, Mowgli.

See The Jungle Book in RealD 3D in cinemas now. Book tickets here.

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