3Home          Navigation Browse Other Pages Home --------------- --- King Kong Movie Profile --- Full Production Notes --- Cast & Crew Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow Jack Black as Carl Denham Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll Andy Serkis as King Kong Other Cast Members Director: Peter Jackson Screenwriter: Fran Walsh Screenwriter: Philippa Boyens Other Crew Members --- Interviews & Articles The Story of Production Diaries Gorilla Filmmaking Naomi Watts talks about King Kong days Peter Jackson Q & A Andy Serkis talks about King Kong Naomi Watts: This is like a relationship movie Naomi Watts: I'm not a princess all the way First Look at Kong: Capturing Kong --- Picture Galleries --- King Kong Fan Club --- King Kong Depp Poster Store --- Americana Posters
4 Gorilla Filmmaking: A King Kong photo portfolio
Master & Commanders The art direction team, led by Oscar-winner Grant Major, began designing King Kong with sketch pads and laptops. But eventually, somebody had to wield a blowtorch. To craft the SS Venture, the tramp steamer that transports Kong from Skull Island to New York, the design crew converted a 1956 Dutch coaster, straightening her bow and altering her top decks. This ship, shown here in Wellington harbor, was actually one of four Ventures used in the movie: There were also two miniatures and, since Peter Jackson gets seasick, a full-size set built on the studio parking lot.  The Ingenue Add Naomi Watts to the list of serious screen actresses - alongside Natalie Portman and Gwyneth Paltrow - who have gone CG. Working in a largely virtual environment meant that Watts was doubly challenged in her portrayal of '30s heroine (and human kongsicle) Ann Darrow: Not only did she have to fall for a giant ape, but she had few of the visual cues most actors rely on. The 37-year-old Australian rose to the challenge. As she and Jackson huddled on the set to watch a previsualized version of one scene, she turned to ask the director for guidance. "That's exactly what you want?" she wondered. "You've got to get used to it, Naomi," Jackson told her. "This is the future of filmmaking." The Roaring Crowd Before we ever see Kong, we hear him: a full-throated roar coming out of some distant cave on Skull Island. That's natural; anyone familiar with the battle cry of the Uruk-hai or the icy zing of Frodo's sword being unsheathed in the Rings films - not to mention the viscous slurps in Dead Alive - knows that Peter Jackson's movies are as much about sounds as sights. For Kong, the sound team spent weeks flying airplanes, breaking glass, and shooting tommy guns, eventually building a half-terabyte-plus library of more than 50,000 sound effects. They then digitally manipulated it all for a three-dimensional, real-world experience. The Beastmasters For a movie about a big ape, King Kong is all about the tiniest details. Under the direction of effects supervisor Richard Taylor, the designers at Weta Workshop immersed themselves in the minutiae of Jackson's vision, from making perfect camel poop to producing the most authentic giant primate ever to appear onscreen. To create a lifelike creature, Taylor's designers studied gorilla physiology, crafted a skeleton, and added the musculature. Then Weta Digital built the CG version. The dinosaurs (on the shelves at left) got the same treatment. Says Taylor, "All of our creatures have a musculoskeletal system that could work in the real world." Even the extinct or make-believe ones. The Joker & the Ace Adrien Brody (right), who plays heartthrob writer Jack Driscoll, is known for taking a Method approach to his roles. For The Pianist, he learned how to play Chopin; for The Jacket, he locked himself in isolation tanks until hallucinations set in. Jack Black's method is to sneak Megadeth references into his movies. The unlikely duo hit it off on Kong, cruising around New Zealand's South Island together on down days. Says Black, who plays eccentric filmmaker Carl Denham: "I had more fun making this movie than any movie I've ever done." And coming from the star of Shallow Hal, that's saying something. Lords of the Jungle To create Skull Island, Weta built 53 miniature worlds, most of them the fortresses and jungles of the lost isle. The key to making small sets look like huge ones: Shoot at 64 fps (more than twice as fast as live action) and take extreme close-ups that capture the meticulous details of the scaled-down work. (Just how precise is it? Every fake rock had its own name.) Most sets were built at about one-tenth scale, making them, in Weta lingo, more "bigatures" than miniatures. The miniatures shoots started several months before live-action photography, and continued for months afterward. In the end, director of visual effects photography Alex Funke estimates, King Kong will have twice as many miniatures shots as all three Lord of the Rings films together. By Michelle Devereaux 4Related Links King Kong Articles & Interviews The Story of Production Diaries Gorilla Filmmaking: A King Kong photo portfolio Naomi Watts talks about Peter Jackson Q & A Naomi Watts: This is like a relationship movie First Look at King Kong Andy Serkis talks about King Kong Naomi Watts: I'm not a princess all the way