King Kong is a fictional creature which became a popular cultural icon following the release of the original 1933 movie named for him. The film and its 2005 remake provide a unique comparison in the evolution of special effects technologies.
1933 - Stop Motion Original
A poster from the original release of "King Kong" shows a giant gorilla holding a woman as he climbs the Empire State Building in New York City. A trailer, or movie preview, for the film's 1938 re-release promises "the most amazing show on any screen." The advertising indicates that this would be a thrilling story with groundbreaking visual effects. And it was.
The Plot
In the story, Carl Denham leads a crew to mysterious Skull Island where he plans to film an adventure movie. With him is his beautiful blond leading lady, Ann Darrow.
The crew discovers that the island is divided by a large wall constructed by the local natives. The villagers live on one side but what is on the other is unknown. One night, several natives secretly board the film crew's ship docked off the island and kidnap Ann. When Carl discovers that Ann is missing, he gathers his men to retrieve her from the island. They find Ann tied to a tall altar behind the wall, about to be sacrificed to the giant ape the natives cal Kong. |
After the film crew watch Kong untie Ann and takes her into the jungle, they follow in an attempt to rescue her.
At this point, Ann is terrified as she watches Kong battle a tyrannosaurus rex, cracking its jaw with his muscular arms. Along the trail, the men encounter a Stegosaurus and then a Brontosaurus, and several are killed. There are additional fatalities when the group catches up with Kong as they are crossing a downed tree over a canyon.
At this point, Ann is terrified as she watches Kong battle a tyrannosaurus rex, cracking its jaw with his muscular arms. Along the trail, the men encounter a Stegosaurus and then a Brontosaurus, and several are killed. There are additional fatalities when the group catches up with Kong as they are crossing a downed tree over a canyon.
First Mate Jack Driscoll eventually steals Ann away from Kong who pursues them across the jungle.
Breaking through the wall that separates the native village from the jungle, Kong destroys the huts and kills several natives while hunting for Ann. Kong is eventually subdued by hand-thrown gas bombs. Carl returns Kong to New York City where he is displayed in chains on the stage of an audience filled theater. Seeing Ann walk onto the stage, Kong breaks his bondage and flees the theater and onto the city streets. |
Kong captures Ann again and climbs with her to the top of the Empire State Building where he is attacked by armed airplanes. As he is repeatedly shot, Kong places Ann down, safely out of the line of fire, before he falls to his dead on the street below.
Seeing Kong dead, Denham concludes, "It was beauty that killed the beast."
The Visual Effects
Willis O'Brien was an early pioneer in the development of motion picture special effects, specializing in stop motion animation.
Stop motion animation is a technique in which physical objects such as miniature models are moved in small increments and photographed to create the illusion of movement. Of all his films, O'Brien is primarily remembered for the effects he created in "King Kong." His deliberate work gave Kong his many-sided personality and memorable performance whether tenderly holding Ann Darrow, fighting the tyrannosaurus rex, comically viewing his injured finger or withstanding the acute pain when being shot by the airplanes over the Empire State Building. Sculptor and model-maker Marcel Delgado constructed the four models, or puppets, of Kong used by O'Brien in his animation. |
Two of these models were eighteen inches tall with a skeleton or armature of aluminum which was covered with foam rubber and latex to simulate muscles. Rabbit fur provided the hairy exterior.
A twenty-four inch jointed model of similar construction was used for the New York City scenes with a small model created the effect of Kong falling down the Empire State Building.
Shown here are two photographs of a replica of the Delgado armature. Joints in the arms, legs and jaw- clearly visible in these images- permitted the model to be posed for creating the stop motion animation. |
Marcel Delgado had worked with Willis O'Brien previously on the silent classic "The Lost World" in 1925 and they would pair up again for such films as "The Son of Kong" and "Mighty Joe Young."
For close-ups, a life-sized model of Kong's head, neck and shoulders was constructed with interior air compressor to control facial expressions and to open the mouth.
This bust, shown to the right, had a significiently different face than the smaller puppets and this is evident throughout the film. Full sized models of the left arm with hand leg were also used for close-ups. |
Willis O'Brien and his crew filmed the stop motion animation sequences separately from the live action scenes with the actors. The two types of film were then combined to create the illusion that the eighteen inch tall puppet was actually an eighteen foot creature towering over full sized people. Integrating separate filmed images into one in this manner is achieved through optical effects.
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The effects in the movie's climax, shown to the left, were achieved by combing film of actress Fay Wray who portrayed Ann Darrow and footage of the animated eighteen inch tall Kong.
Near the end of the clip, Kong places Ann Darrow down with his left hand. His arm's shadow casts upon the cone shaped top of the building as Kong does so. There is an error in the optical effect at this point which indicates that the portion of the film containing the woman has been merged into that of the puppet. Kong's shadow outlines, but does not cross over, the rectangular insert containing the Ann Darrow footage. |
Also notice in this excerpt that Kong's fur appears to be blowing in the wind. Actually, this effect are the imprints left by the hands of Willis O'Brien as he manipulates the puppet between photographs in the stop motion process.
"King Kong" was an artistic and financial success in 1933 and has become a cinematic classic in large part due to its pioneering visual special effects.
"King Kong" was an artistic and financial success in 1933 and has become a cinematic classic in large part due to its pioneering visual special effects.
2005 - Digital Remake
When Peter Jackson was a boy growing up in New Zealand, he saw the original version of "King Kong" on television. He later recalled, "I can't tell you what an effect it had on me. It's my favorite movie." So when Universal Studios announced that Peter Jackson would direct the remake for a Christmas 2005 release, for him it was "a dream come true."
A Comparison of Films
The plot of the 2005 remake is essentially the same as that of the 1933 original with some variations.
The most obvious differences between the two films are in the movie going experience. The new version is more than an hour longer in running time and in color. When Kong shook crew members off the log in the 1933 film, a scene was planned in which they fell into the gorge and were attacked by stop motion spiders. That scene, however, never made it into the film. That sequence was included in 2005 with computer generated insects and leech-like creatures attacking the crew instead of spiders. |
The 1933 Kong was a gorilla-like ape although no such animal as ever existed. His behavior is that of a brutal monster, killing people and destroying property on both Skull Island and Manhattan island. In 2005, Kong is shown to be a giant silverback gorilla displaying the behaviors characteristic of that species. Silverbacks, named for the silvery hairs that appear as the animals mature, are males. Both Kongs display scars resulting from their presumed past battles.
When Kong escaped into New York City in 1933, he derailed an elevated subway train filled with passengers and dropped a woman to her assumed death when he realized that she was not Ann Darrow.
In the remake, when Kong is loose in Manhattan he enters a wintry Central Park and slides across a frozen lake as Bambi had done years earlier in a Disney animated feature. The earlier Kong would not have behaved in this way. Kong falling from the Empire State Building in the original is shown in long shot bouncing off the side of the structure. leaving a terrified Ann Darrow to be rescued. In 2005, Kong is seen slipping off the top, disappearing from view over the side as a sympathetic Ann Darrow watches. |
The film's climax begins with Kong's climb to the top of the Empire State Building. This sequence includes several aerial views of 1930's Manhattan from different perspectives. At one point, the camera circles around the building's apex as Kong attempts to flee the gun fire coming from the airplanes. This contrasts with the original in which the camera remains primarily still except when it tracks the flight of the attacking planes. Manhattan is seen from above from only one viewpoint in that first film.
The Digital Effects
In the seventy-two years since the original film was made, the technology of visual and audio effects had changed dramatically. No longer was the use of puppets employing stop motion animation the only method for creating giant apes and dinosaurs in the movies. By 2005, computers and the digital magic they can produce had become the standard in the making of films and this was the approach to be used in the remake.
To design Kong's head, a three dimensional model was constructed since it is easier to sculpture by hand than design using a computer.
The model is then digitized, or entered into a computer, using a 3D scanner. The digitized model looks like the original but can now be modified and manipulated using computer software. |
Once the entire kong model is fully created in the computer, its performance is generated by a process called motion capture or mocap. The physical movements of actor Andy Serkis is recorded and sent to a computer which is able to similarly animate the the digital model. The software does allow for changes in Kong's performance if necessary.
Facial motion capture allows for the actor's expressions to also be transferred to the digital model.
Markers placed on the face of Andy Serkis correspond to locations on Kong's face. As the Serkis markers move, those on Kong adjust so that actor and digital model are in synchronization. Changes to Kong's performance can be made in the software. |
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To combine film of live actors with the computer generated images, chroma key compositing (or chroma keying) is used. The technique is commonly referred to as blue or green screen. The actors are recorded against a neutral color which is made transparent when merged with the computer made sequence or graphic. This technology allows a television weather man to stand in front of a green screen in a studio but appears with a map during the broadcast.
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Chroma keying is the approach used in the 2005 remake to place Ann Darrow in the paw of King Kong.
Actress Naomi Watts was filmed against a green screen, being held by a giant green hand. When merged with the digital Kong, a composite image shows Kong holding a woman realistically. |
In 1933 chroma keying technology did not exist. To create the effect of Kong holding Ann Darrow in his paw, a full sized fur covered hand and partial arm was constructed. Actress Fay Wray was photographed within its grasp for close-ups of Ann being held by Kong. Mattes, used to combine a foreground image with a background in that era of filmmaking, lacked the flexibility of today's chroma keying.
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Computer generated imagery and animation were used for more than Kong and the assorted monster of Skull Island.
The actors were not filmed on some tropical island but in an industrial looking studio in New Zealand. The jungle environment was designed by artists using software. The aerial views of Manhattan Island since from the top of the Empire State Building were created on a computer using photographs and maps dating back to the 1930s. The original was made in 1933 so obtaining footage of the New York City skyline only required sending a film crew there to film. Not so in 2005 All of the computer graphics were created by Weta Digital. |
For technical and artistic excellence, "King Kong" won three Academy Awards in 2006: Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and Best Achievement in Sound Editing.
Both the 1933 and 2005 versions of "King Kong" stand as landmarks in the development of visual effects in the movies.
Both the 1933 and 2005 versions of "King Kong" stand as landmarks in the development of visual effects in the movies.