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majordomo-zazu · 4 years

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So I finally did a rewrite of the most disappointing scene in The Lion King remake (though that’s not saying much). It’s the scene where Rafiki shows Simba the pool and Mufasa’s ghost appears to him. Between Mufasa barely actually appearing and the movie cutting the following conversation Simba and Rafiki have (the arguable best scene of the movie), AND not using Lebo M.’s new version of He Lives In You (the unarguable best version of that song) instead of that awful Beyonce song, it was done the dirtiest out of the lot. But it did have some nice elements, so I tried to combine the best of both.

So here’s how I imagine it in my head. I have a very clear picture of this animated but given that I have no talent on that front I think I managed to convey it to script form well enough. I’ve linked the pieces of music and the timestamps which are vital to this scene, but I would recommend reading it through first without them, so your’re not pressured to read the actions too quickly and miss out, and then go back through it listening to the music. With the ‘Remember Who You Are’ fragments the dialogue is too long to fit the music, so just stop it early. Also the song is completely in Xhosa, but I’m assuming everyone reading has enough familiarity with the song to be able to follow.

Credit to @asante-sana for the idea of the pawprint imagery. Idk if they’re active anymore but I think they’d like to see this if they ever come back

[He Lives In You begins to play under the dialogue]

Rafiki: Shh…Look down there…

[He gestures with his staff to a glow between the grass. Simba moves forward and reveals the pool. Half-sceptical, half-hopeful, he looks into the water, but his face falls and he sighs when he sees his reflection look back up at him]

Simba: That’s not my father…It’s just my reflection.

Rafiki: No!

[The baboon holds the back of the lion’s head and makes him look again]

Rafiki: Look harder…

[Again, Simba looks, and again, he sees nothing. He pulls up, frustrated and confused. He almost snaps at Rafiki]

Simba: What am I supposed to be seeing?

[Disappointed, Rafiki sighs, then looks off into the sky with his head tilted, as though he can hear the voices the audience can and Simba cannot. He begins to sing]

Rafiki: Night,

And the spirit of life…

[He puts a hand to his ear]

Calling…

[The chorus answers him, quiet at first]

Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo

[Rafiki holds Simba’s head and tilts it upwards, as though to make him hear]

Rafiki: Mamela…

[The chorus answers again, stronger]

Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo

[Simba pulls out and turns away, holding his head low in the opposite direction]

Rafiki: And a voice…

Just the fear of a child,

[Rafiki reaches over to gently touch Simba on the back. The lion sighs, and reluctantly turns his head]

Rafiki: Answers…

Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo

Rafiki: Woah mamela…

[Rafiki moves his staff in a wide arc. On the second echo from the chorus Simba straightens up and his eyes widen, as though he has finally heard something and it has startled him]

Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo

[Rafiki hobbles over to the edge of the pool with his staff and raises it with both hands above his head as he chants]

Rafiki: Ubukhosi bo khokho!

[The pool glows and ripples violently as the voices respond]

Chorus: We ndodana ye sizwe sonke

[This terrifies Simba, and he instinctively he starts to flee. But suddenly, impossibly, Rafiki blocks his path with an outstretched hand]

Rafiki: Wait!

[He slowly lowers his palm and Simba relaxes. Rafiki points his staff upwards]

Rafiki: There’s no mountain too great!

[He extends his hand again and reaches through the mane to touch Simba’s heart. The lion looks down then back up, eyes wide]

Rafiki: Here these words and have faith,

Woah-oah-oh!

[Rafiki once again hobbles over to the pond, and extends his staff to lightly tap the surface of the pool.]

Rafiki [spoken]: Have faith.

Chorus: Hela hey mamela (x4)

[Simba looks down into the gently rippling pool. He looks at his own reflection becoming more and more distorted, until the ripples clear and he sees a lion that looks him, but who is broader, older, and wears a sad expression on his face: it is Mufasa]

Rafiki: He lives in you,

[Simba gasps, and after a moment of staring, recoils from the reflection, breathing heavily. He looks at Rafiki, who nods and places his hand on his chest]

Rafiki: He lives in me.

[Rafiki waves his staff in a wide angle, and Simba follows its direction and looks out over the vast, empty plains]

Rafiki: He watches over,

Everything we see.

[Rafiki kneels down and scoops some of the water into his hands, he spreads it over Simba’s forehead just as he did when he was a cub]

Rafiki: Into the water,

[Simba shakes and sneezes it off, and Rafiki cannot help but smile]

Rafiki: Into the truth.

[Simba crouches down for another look into the pool, and is once again faced with his father’s sad face staring back at him]

Rafiki: In your reflection,

[The visage of Mufasa disappears, leaving only Simba’s reflection in the pool]

Rafiki: He lives in you.

[A fierce wind unexpectedly picks up, blowing Simba’s mane into his face. He gets up and looks around in confusion]

Simba: What is that?

[The wind is similarly buffeting Rafiki, but he does not fight it. He looks up at the sky and nods knowingly]

Rafiki: Ah, looks like the winds are changing.

[A sudden storm rolls in over the plain. Clouds gather, the wind blows at the grass, and bolts of lightning flash in the sky. The roar of thunder swells, and in the flashes of light Simba thinks he can see the heads of great lions, roaring their anger.

Clouds begin to gather in the centre of the skyline, and accumulate in a curious shape. Beams of light begin to penetrate it. A golden glow begins to wash over Simba’s face]

Simba [astonished, choking]: Father?

[The clouds have taken the shape of a lion. It lifts its head and opens its eyes, and in a flash the night sky is filled with golden light]

Rafiki [V.O]: He lives in you!

[Mufasa’s face stares disapprovingly down at Simba, who crouches in fear like a terrified kitten. Rafiki continues to sing but has curiously disappeared from the scene, the chorus keeps up the ‘Hey Mamela’s]

Rafiki: He lives in me!

[Around Mufasa’s head and down into the sky, the shapes of many animals and birds run and fly: zebras, flamingos, monkeys, weavers, buffalo; every animal that was once found in the Pridelands is present (reminiscent of the transformation scene in Brother Bear). Grunts, squawks, roars, and all manner of animal noises fill the air. Simba stands up and looks on in awe]

Rafiki: He watches over,

[A spectral elephant lumbers past Simba with a trumpet and glares at him accusingly, a giraffe floats by in the other direction and does not look down]

Rafiki: Everything we see!

[A ghostly pack of wild dogs leap and run in circles around Simba. From Mufasa’s height (on the drum fill) a huge crocodile swims down through the sky towards Simba and opens its jaws wide enough to engulf him]

Rafiki: Into the water,

[Simba braces himself as the jaws snap shut, but the crocodile disintegrates. He looks back up, but Mufasa stills look down at him with the same disappointed stare]

Rafiki: Into the truth,

[The spirits are reaching a fever pitch: a cheetah, a rhino, zebra and gazelles run right through Simba, while flocks of birds, flamingos, and an eagle fly above him, but they all seem to be gravitating back up into the sky towards Mufasa]

Rafiki: In your reflection,

[For a brief moment, the spirits turn their heads to look at him. Then all disintegrate as one and the night sky is dark and full of stars. All except for Mufasa, whose ghostly head shines blue]

Rafiki: He lives in you…

[‘He Lives In You’ fades out. Simba steps forwards. Mufasa’s ghost is surrounded by swirling clouds and fills the sky as he looks down at his son and begins to speak, voice amplified and heavy with sadness. ‘Remember Who You Are’ fades in from Mufasa’s theme]

Mufasa: Simba…you have forgotten me…

Simba: No, how could I?

Mufasa: You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.

[Mufasa is never accusatory. He speaks softly and is never stern, but the disappointment in his expression and voice hurts Simba more than harsh words ever could]

Simba [looks up pleading at his father then lowers his head]: How can I go back? I’m not who I used to be…

Mufasa: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king.

[Simba looks up on ‘son’, but lowers it again on ‘King’, ashamed]

Simba: I’m sorry, I don’t know how to be like you. I don’t deserve to take your place.

Mufasa: When I was King, I did many great deeds. But what I am most proud of, is having you for my son.

[This revelation seems to be a simultaneous shock and a comfort to Simba, but he is still hesitant]

Simba: That…was a long time ago…

Mufasa: No Simba, that is forever…

[The clouds surrounding him start to draw back, and the visage of Mufasa goes with them]

Mufasa: Remember who you are…

[Simba, suddenly overcome with panic, starts to run after him. Calling out more desperately each time]

Simba: No! Wait!

Mufasa: Remember…

Simba: Father…

Simba [he cries out, a frightened cub again]: Dad!

Simba [stops running, exhausted and on the verge of tears]: Don’t leave me again…

[Mufasa’s form has all but faded. The night sky has gone from inky black to a softer blue, the stars are beginning to fade and a faint glow shines on the distant hills]

Mufasa: I never have, and I never will.

Remember…

[Simba slows to a walk, and then stops and sits upon a grassy hill, looking up the now-empty sky. His theme begins to play. He is deep in thought, but is suddenly interrupted when Rafiki appears, seemingly from nowhere, shaking with laughter and hobbling on his stick to join the lion. His hair is haphazard from the wind]

Rafiki: Who-ah! What was that? The weather? HAH! Very peculiar…don’t you think?

[Idly, he sits down to smooth out his hair. Simba looks up at the sky]

Simba: You were right: the winds are changing

Rafiki: Ah, change-

[He picks a flea out from his hair, and tosses it into his mouth.]

Rafiki: -Is good.

Simba: Yeah, but it’s not easy. I know what I have to do, but going back means I have to face my past

[He looks off]

Simba: I’ve been running from it for so long…

[While Simba has been talking, Rafiki stands up with a devilish grin on his face. Grasping the staff in both hands, and moving with considerable effort, he whacks Simba with it over the top of his head. Simba growls in pain, and shakes his head, recoiling slightly]

Simba: Ow! What was that for?

Rafiki: It doesn’t matter! It’s in the past!

[He laughs hysterically at his own joke, while Simba rubs his head, less than amused]

Simba: Yeah but it still hurts.

[Rafiki nods his head knowingly, placing a hand on Simba’s shoulder]

Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it you can either run from it, or…learn from it!

[He swings his staff at Simba’s head again, and lets out a laugh when Simba dodges]

Rafiki: HAH! You see? And so, I ask again…Who are you?

[Simba stands up, plants his paw down and looks up into the sky]

Simba: I am Simba, the son of Mufasa.

Rafiki: And…what are you going to do?

Simba: Well first…

[A slow grin appears on his face and he looks at Rafiki, his old playful self]

Simba: I’m gonna take your stick!

[Before the monkey can react, Simba grabs the staff between his teeth and tosses it to one side]

Rafiki: No, no, no, not the stick!

[As Rafiki picks up the staff he looks up to see Simba running off into the grass. He calls after him]

Rafiki: Hey! Where are you going?

[Simba stops for a moment to look up at him. ]

Simba: I’m going back!

Rafiki: Good! Go on! Get out of here!

[He laughs as ‘He Lives In You’ fades back in. There is a low shot of some grass and on the first line Simba comes bounding over, leaving it swaying in the wind]

Rafiki: He lives in you!

[Closeup of Simba’s face, happy. He sings with Rafiki in the same style as the Broadway Reprise]

Simba: Woah-oh-ho, he lives in me!

[Cut between Rafiki and Simba for each of their sung lines. Rafiki is on top of the hill waving his staff in celebration, the camera is closeup on Simba’s face]

Rafiki: He watches over!

Simba: Watches over-

Rafiki: Everything we see!

Simba: Ooh everything we see!

[Simba runs across a log spanning a river reminiscent of the one from the original movie. We see his reflection in the water]

Rafiki: Into the water!

[The camera stays on the log after Simba leaves. A moment later a second reflection passes over the water, a lion, larger than Simba, but no one is on the log. Cutaway to a front-shot of Simba’s face as he sings]

Simba: Into the water!

Rafiki: Into the truth!

[Simba suddenly stops as he sees something on the ground. It is a large lion’s pawprint]

Rafiki: In your reflection!

[Reverently, Simba places his paw inside: it finally fits]

Simba: In my reflection…

Rafiki: He lives in you!

[Simba looks up and sees something we cannot. He starts to walk towards it, and as he speeds up a smile spreads across his face. As he is running full speed he comes out of shadow and his face is washed in gold. A tear rolls down his face]

Rafiki: He lives in you!

[Simba appears at the top of a hill, the sun blazing behind him, and he lets out a mighty ROAR. Cut to Nala running through the jungle, she stops and turns when she hears him, and we get a close up of the joyful recognition on her face]

Rafiki: He lives in me!

[Closeup of Simba’s head as he ROARs again. Timon and Pumbaa lift their heads above a bush. Zazu, perched on a branch, jolts awake and struggles to regain balance. He looks around, dazed]

Zazu: Simba?

Rafiki: He watches over!

[Simba roars again. An elephant and a giraffe lift their heads. A cheetah runs up a log as a rhino looks up in the foreground. A hippo and a crocodile surface from a river]

Rafiki: Everything we see!

[The final roar is offscreen. Zebras and gazelle lift their heads, birds, monkeys, lizards, a leopard, all look up. The jungle stirs for the King]

[Camera cuts back as Simba finishes his roar. He stops for a moment then runs down the hill. Rafiki takes up the chant and the chorus sing the remainder of the song]

Chorus: Into the water!

[Nala begins to run in the opposite direction. Timon and Pumbaa hastily push through the bush. Zazu takes off with an ecstatic laugh. Rafiki appears on the same ledge Simba just left and raises his staff into the air as a flock of birds takes off over him]

Chorus: Into the truth!

[The elephant and the giraffe begin to walk. The cheetah and the rhino look at each other then start to run. The hippo and the crocodile climb out of the water. The herds and animals of the jungle scatter. All follow in Simba’s wake]

Chorus: In your reflection!

[Simba’s paw hits sand]

Rafiki: He lives in you…

[Zoom-out to the iconic slow motion shot of Simba running through the desert back towards the Pridelands. The song fades out]

#Out of Service Out of Africa (OOC)#The Lion King #The Lion King 2019 #long post /#I've been envisioning this for so long in my head its good to get it out #but also feels weird to post. Like what if nobody else likes it or can imagine it the same way you know?#might do something similar for Shadowland and King of Pride Rock

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joya34blanco · 7 years

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ISO Invariance: The End of the Exposure Triangle?

Since the beginning of photography, there have been three basic elements that need to be taken into consideration when making an image; the size of the aperture on your lens, the speed of the shutter, and how sensitive your film (or, in modern times, the digital image sensor) is to light. Indeed almost all of photography boils down to an understanding of how those three variables affect the overall exposure of your image. Like death, taxes, and the morning sunrise – they are immutable and must be considered no matter the type of camera you have or the subject you are shooting.

Some photographers prefer to shoot in manual and control each of these elements individually, while others prefer the full Auto route. Still others find themselves somewhere in between by letting the camera make some decisions while they control one or two of the parameters themselves.

But at the end of the day the aperture, shutter, and ISO always work together to help you get the photos you want. Until now. Sort of…

This squirrel was astonished that I could take an underexposed picture of him at ISO 100 and turn it into a completely usable photograph in Lightroom.

Two constants – aperture and shutter speed

Two of the three elements of the Exposure Triangle are, and will always be, limited by physics. Changing the size of the aperture on your camera lens determines not only how much light will be let in, but other parameters as well such as the depth of field. Using a fast shutter speed will always be necessary to freeze motion, particularly with fast-moving subjects. Conversely, a slow shutter speed is an unchangeable requirement for capturing light trails and other types of long exposure photography.

ISO is different

But ISO is not nearly the limiting factor it once was and on some newer cameras is almost irrelevant. Almost!

There are many analogies to help you understand ISO, but one of my favorites is that of a microphone. If you have the gain turned down low you will need to speak very loudly for your voice to be heard. But this gives you the benefit of cutting out low hums and other noises that might otherwise be picked up, such as a desk fan or overhead ventilation unit. Turn the gain up high and you won’t have to speak as loudly, but along with your voice, a myriad of other background sounds will be picked up as well. Once those other sounds are recorded, it’s almost impossible to get rid of them!

In similar fashion, shooting with a low ISO of 100 or 200 means your camera sensor is not very sensitive to light. So you will need a lot of incoming light in order to take an image. This is accomplished through either a large aperture, slower shutter speed, or combination of the two. The benefit is that ISO 100 results in a picture that is free of digital noise that often looks like colored static – the kind you might see on an old tube-style television set.

Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/90 second, ISO 100 (pushed 3 stops in Lightroom)

Raise the ISO

If you don’t have much incoming light, there has always been a simple solution – raise the ISO. (In the days of film the solution was similar but not as easy. It required the photographer to physically remove the film in the camera and put in another roll of 400 or 800 ASA film that was more sensitive to light.) Like I mentioned earlier, though, photography is all about tradeoffs. Shooting at a high ISO of 3200 or 6400 can help you get the shot you want, but will often result in a picture that is far more noisy and grainy than you might prefer.

What’s a photographer to do?

Nikon D750, 35mm, f/4, 1/1000 second, ISO 100. No need to adjust exposure in post-processing.

Thanks to incredible advances in modern sensor technology, shooting at ISO 3200 or 6400 on a new camera like a Canon 5D Mark IV or a Nikon D7200 results in images that are far more usable than their counterparts from five or 10 years ago. But there’s another solution that’s gaining prominence as well.

Some camera sensors today are so good they are essentially what’s known as ISO Invariant, which is a fancy way of saying the ISO doesn’t really matter. Not in a practical sense, anyway. Shooting with a camera that is ISO Invariant means that you will get roughly the same results if you shoot at a low ISO of 100 or 200, and then change the exposure in post-production, as you would from shooting a higher ISO (like 1600) in the first place.

Explaining ISO Invariance

Allow me to illustrate what this means with the help of some visual aids. The following two images look fairly similar, but a closer look reveals something a bit deeper under the surface. They were both taken with the same camera using the same exposure settings, with one key difference – the ISO.

Nikon D750, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/60th of a second, ISO 3200

The above photo looks decent, but the sun was almost down and I had to shoot at ISO 3200 in order to let in enough light…or did I?

Nikon D750, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/60th, ISO 100 (pushed 5-stops in Lightroom – to effectively ISO 3200)

Here is the same image except this one was shot at ISO 100, then in Lightroom, I pushed the exposure up by five whole stops. Five stops! That’s a lot of adjustment, yet the final image looks almost identical to the one shot at ISO 3200. Just for the sake of comparison, here is the original ISO 100 image before any editing in Lightroom.

Nikon D750, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/60th, ISO 100 (no editing in Lightroom)

Whoa – what?!

I’m not kidding here – the original image was almost entirely black. If you look closely you can just barely make out the roof of the bird house and a bit of color in the sky. Yet so much data was captured by the sensor at ISO 100 that I was able to create a file that was not only usable but in my opinion, superior to its ISO 3200 counterpart. Even doing a bit of pixel-peeping reveals little difference in terms of the noise levels between the two images.

Not only are the two images quite similar, I would go so far as to argue that the one shot at ISO 100 and boosted 5-stops has richer colors and better noise levels than its high-ISO counterpart. This is, in a nutshell, what ISO invariance is all about. It gives you the ability to shoot at virtually any ISO value and still get a usable image, assuming you shoot in RAW and have the ability to adjust the photo in post-processing software. ISO, then, no longer becomes much of a determining factor in the overall exposure.

Is it the end of the ISO as we know it?

Modern camera sensors are getting so good at picking up luminance and color data from incoming light. So the idea of a photographer needing to manually adjust the sensitivity of the image sensor is becoming almost moot. Note that I’m hedging my bets here, as I have throughout this whole article. I will stop short of saying that ISO is not a factor to be considered anymore. Far from it!

The fact is that camera sensors are getting so good that they are significantly outperforming their counterparts from a few years ago in all areas, not just ISO invariance. ISO 3200 or 6400 on many cameras today, in general, results in images that are perfectly usable. Whereas the same settings on a digital camera from yesteryear would yield an image so muddy it might have been well-nigh unusable. This has also resulted in the same sensors being able to capture significantly more details at low ISO that can, if desired, be used to edit an image ex post facto.

Nikon D750, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/350 second, ISO 100. Using a low ISO allowed me to pull out lots of color detail in post-production on this image.

Down on the upside

Of course, not all is sunshine and roses in the land of ISO invariance. It’s important to note that not all cameras are even capable of such a feat. The Nikon D750 is a 24-megapixel full-frame camera. So its individual pixels are physically larger, and therefore much more sensitive to light than a 24-megapixel crop-sensor camera like a Canon Rebel T6 or Nikon D3300.

Only a handful cameras today can actually be described as ISO Invariant. Whereas most cameras still follow the same rules about using ISO in tandem with aperture and shutter speed that have been the foundations of photography since its inception.

A demonstration

To illustrate, here’s another series of images taken with a Nikon D7100. It’s a few years old but quite similar to many cameras today in terms of its imaging prowess.

Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/4, 1/60 second, ISO 3200.

Now take a look at a similar photo taken at much lower ISO:

Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/4, 1/60 second, ISO 100.

Whoops! That’s the unedited version in which you can barely tell that there’s a picture at all. Here’s the same image with the exposure bumped up by five stops in Lightroom.

Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/4, 1/60 second, ISO 100 (pushed 5-stops in Lightroom)

Even on these smaller web-sized photos, you can see some key differences. The colors are not as natural, the darker portions are muddier, and there is significant banding in the shadows. “Wait a sec,” you might be saying right about now. “What’s banding in the shadows?” Follow the advice of Rafiki from The Lion King and look harder…

Here you can clearly see that the ISO 3200 image is superior. All throughout the ISO 100 picture, there are horizontal lines crossing through the image, which is a phenomenon known as banding. It often happens when you try to recover details from darker portions of an image. Add this to the fact that the colors are harsh and the whole thing required such a significant amount of processing and you start to see why ISO still matters. It matters quite a great deal.

Limitations

There are also some significant limitations to take into account when looking at ISO invariance:

It only matters if you shoot in RAW, which allows you to have as much data from your camera’s image sensor as possible. RAW file sizes are huge and must be processed by a program like Lightroom before they can be shared or printed.

Processing takes time. Many photographers, myself included, like to get the exposure right in camera if at all possible.

In almost every situation you won’t get better results from shooting at low ISO values and then raising the exposure afterward. Most of the time you will get results that are roughly equal to what you would have achieved with just raising the ISO, to begin with.

Nikon D750, 50mm, f/8, 1/200 second, ISO 1250.

Conclusion

I like to think of ISO invariance as a backup tool to use when I really need it, not something on which I can rely for everyday shooting. Who among us hasn’t come back from a photo session only to find out that some key pictures were horribly underexposed by accident? (Raise your hand if this is you. Go on, I’ll wait.) I know I have, and it’s nice knowing I can still get a usable photo in these situations as long as I have not blown out the highlights.

We’re still years, perhaps decades, away from a point at which ISO is no longer a practical consideration, and it’s possible we will never get there entirely. However, if you look at where we have been and where we are now in terms of camera sensor technology, it’s easy to draw a line to a point in the future when ISO might not matter nearly as much as it does now.

In the meantime, my suggestion for most photographers remains the same; use all three elements of the exposure triangle to get the shot you want. And if you’re worried that using a fast shutter speed will result in a photo that is underexposed, just raise your ISO as you are shooting instead of fiddling with sliders back at your computer. You’ll learn more about photography by doing so, and you will probably have more fun since you’ll be taking pictures instead of being hunched over your laptop.

The post ISO Invariance: The End of the Exposure Triangle? by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School https://digital-photography-school.com/iso-invariance-exposure-triangle/

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