Flim Review - King Kong


Fig. 1 King Kong Poster (1933)
Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s King Kong (1933) can be called the Avatar (2009) of its day with the way that it pushed the use of special effects to bring the Eighth Wonder of the World to life. “’King Kong’ is packed to the rafters with innovative visual effects, including stop-motion animation, miniature sets, glass paintings, travelling mattes and full-scale practical creatures.” (Edwards, 2013)

One of the many techniques that was used on the film was matte painting a technique that involves recreating landscape backgrounds by painting them onto glass and merging them with live action footage giving the illusion that the two are joined together. These realistic backgrounds where created by some of the top set designers working in Hollywood at the time, these included Mario Larrinaga and Willis H. O’Brien.

The artists where most likely to have been inspired by the work of illustrator Gustave Dore as it is easy to match up the way that they have framed the jungle shots by looking at the foreground and the way that it makes the viewer focus on the background.

Fig. 2 Satan In Paradise (1866)
Fig. 3 King Kong set still (1933)



This was not the only use of merging two sets of film together as stop motion models were used to bring the creatures of Skull Island to life including Kong himself. These models were filmed in separate scaled down sets with the live action footage being carefully lined up so that the actions being performed by both actor and puppet matched, even to the point where Kong puts down the puppet Ann Darrow to reveal the real Ann Darrow seconds later. The life sized bust, foot hand and miniature models of Kong where created by sculptor Marcel Delgado and where made from a metal ball and socket skeleton that was covered with cotton, rubber and rabbit fur. The models were also fitted with an inflatable diaphragm to make it look like Kong is breathing.

Fig. 4 Stop motion and live action together (1933)

It’s hard to fully explain the impact King Kong had in the world of cinema but Jason Fraley is able to sum it up pretty clearly - Kong is more than just the origin of special effects; it’s a cultural staple and legend of Hollywood; the godfather of blockbusters; the birthplace of movie scores; and the standard bearer of adventure, fantasy, horror and romance.” (Fraley, 2012)

Illustrations
Bibliography

Comments

  1. "It’s hard to fully explain the impact King Kong had in the world of cinema but Jason Fraley is able to sum it up pretty clearly - “Kong is more than just the origin of special effects; it’s a cultural staple and legend of Hollywood; the godfather of blockbusters; the birthplace of movie scores; and the standard bearer of adventure, fantasy, horror and romance.” (Fraley, 2012)" Great quote, Rhia - told you King Kong was a big beast in terms of cinema history and genre tropes! :)

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