The sound effects in the movie "King Kong" released in 2005

A few days ago, I saw Weta released a behind-the-scenes production analysis of the 2005 version of "King Kong". This version of "King Kong" is a remake of the 1933 version of the classic movie of the same name, which inspired me to take a look at the 1933 version. The style of desire in "King Kong" is basically like this in movie reviews.

Let’s take a look at this fight scene and appreciate the special effects for yourself in the era of black and white movies in 1933.

The fight scene between King Kong and Tyrannosaurus Rex in the 1933 "King Kong"

Of course, today we are here to talk to you about the 2005 version of "King Kong". The plot of the 2005 version of "King Kong" is as follows: Actress Ann Darrow was filming a movie on an island and was captured by the local natives and presented to King Kong. However, she did not expect that King Kong fell in love with Ann. In order to protect Ann, King Kong and three animals The story of a Tyrannosaurus rex fighting to the death, but was eventually captured by humans and ended in death.

In this version of "King Kong", the director upgraded the battle scene, expanded the venue, and designed a battle scene between King Kong and a family of three Tyrannosaurus Rex. This battle is not limited to the same place, but is staged on Skull Island. A battle that spirals out of control through the jungle and across the rugged terrain of Skull Island. It was still very challenging to complete such a complex production at that time.

Then I will use the analysis released by Weta to tell you how these battle scenes and characters were created 15 years ago.

Environment

First of all, let’s talk about the place where the battle between King Kong and Tyrannosaurus Rex took place—Skull Island.

When designing Skull Island, the director reworked it on the basis of the 1933 version. He hoped that the surrounding environment would be dense and humid, covered with moss and vines, so as to find a delicate balance between illusion and reality.

From the perspective of the audience, of course they hope that the visual effects scenes they see will be as realistic as possible, but the director just wants to create a world that is less real, illusory, and more rugged than anywhere else. , an island with more monsters and more wonders. Let’s take a look at some concept drawings from that time.

Skull Island scene design map

In the scene below, King Kong and Tyrannosaurus fell from the edge of the cliff during the fight and were entangled in vines, where the battle fell into Dilemma. However, the environment in front and behind the cliff is spacious and bright, which makes lighting King Kong and Tyrannosaurus Rex relatively easy.

The design of the cliff where King Kong fell while fighting the Tyrannosaurus Rex

In the later stages of filming, the props team built a miniature model of the main battlefield. The microfilm crew spent a long time filming from all angles.

Shooting miniature scenes

The cliff where King Kong and Tyrannosaurus fell are two huge stone walls covered with vines and moss, which makes the cliff look very wet , there are many other plants growing densely in the cracks of the stone wall.

Cliff Miniature

In order to better achieve the hazy and fantasy effect, different lighting lights and different levels of smoke are also used to create the atmosphere.

The environment and venue are all ready, and we are ready to start fighting. Now let’s talk about the design of the battle scene.

Battle scene design

These battle scenes are first prevised by the animation department using simple models, and then the shooting plan is formulated based on the storyboard. During this process, the creative staff was free to design different movements of King Kong, T-Rex, and Anzai on the vines. Storyboard

However, it was fun to play freely and create a crematorium scene. They designed a rather complicated scene where a Tyrannosaurus rex fell off a cliff and dragged King Kong down with it. Then hang on the vines growing in the cliff. An fell from King Kong's hand and hung on the vine. The vine shook violently and kept An swaying. The Tyrannosaurus Rex tried to bite An who swung in front of him. However, the vine was torn off by the Tyrannosaurus Rex. An experienced continuous falling. Holding the teeth of a Tyrannosaurus rex with both hands, it hangs in the air while avoiding other attacking Tyrannosaurus rex.

This paragraph of description is tiring enough. It is conceivable that it was quite difficult to produce given the technical level at that time.

As the difficulty of the scene continues to increase, more cameras are needed to follow the scene from different angles. During the final editing, the necessary shots are selected from all the footage.

The animation design of the battle is very difficult. Not only must the movements of these big guys fighting on the vines be considered, but also their weight and balance, as well as the impact on the surrounding environment, such as when the character falls. When it comes down, the vines will inevitably fall down and take the surrounding leaves and rocks with them.

The heroine Ann Darrow

Since most of the shots mentioned above are very complex special effects shots, Ann needs to be shot separately.

There is a scene where the heroine falls from a vine. During the filming, vines and various slings were tied to her. The staff pushed the vines, and then the photographer took the shot from multiple angles. of shooting.

The scene of falling off the cliff with King Kong

The scene on the vine

The scene of catching the Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth

Also In one scene, she landed on the head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The prop team made a very large dinosaur head prop out of plastic. The dinosaur head shook violently, and the heroine grabbed the Tyrannosaurus Rex's head tightly to prevent herself from falling.

The scene of falling on the dinosaur's head

There are many actions in the movie that real actors cannot complete (such as the scene below), so the actors have to be digital doubles.

First, the actor was scanned and a very realistic actor model was built. In many shots, people can't tell which one is the real actor and which one is the digital double. You know, this was 15 years ago!

The latest light and shadow technology in 2005 is used here to create her face and hair, so that a very realistic facial animation can be obtained. Then use lighting techniques and clothing tools to create her clothes.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

After the heroine has finished speaking, let’s take a look at how the Tyrannosaurus Rex is made.

Weta’s sculptors made models of a family of three Tyrannosaurus rex based on a real and complete Tyrannosaurus rex skull from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Each of the three Tyrannosaurus rex is slightly different. They sculpt the model and then scan it into a computer, where they color it, add details and create textures.

Tyrannosaurus rex skull in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Image scanned into computer

Finally adding scales, lumps and alligator skin-like appearance to the T. rex skin, making it look like a movie monster rather than the smooth dinosaur skin that paleontologists have discovered. I think this is also to achieve the aforementioned director's wish for Skull Island to present an illusory effect.

King Kong

Of course the main character should be introduced at the end. The production of King Kong took a lot of time. Through the creation and design of all the details, it was a very complicated and difficult process to turn him into a digital gorilla that existed in real life.

In this process, the design team has to design different expressions of King Kong and treat him as a real character. The director requested that King Kong look like an "old man" and that he be an "old man" living in a world full of violence and danger.

King Kong's early animation design was based on the animator's preferences and was basically completed by copying the preview effect. They spent most of their time enhancing and improving the action in the animation so that the audience could finally see such a flesh-and-blood King Kong image.

Sound effects

The last step is the addition of sound effects. The sound effects department created sound effects for the roars of Tyrannosaurus Rex and King Kong.

King Kong’s roar in the movie is synthesized from the sounds of various animals.

There are also the sounds of crunching and breaking when the vines are pulled.

Recording the sounds of vines pulling and breaking

Looking back at the movie 15 years ago, the scenes, special effects, and plot can still shock me.

From 1933 to 2005, over the past 70 years, film special effects production has continued to improve, the continuous updates of software and the improvement of technology are obvious to everyone.

Scenes that were unimaginable before can now be presented to the audience.

Who knows whether the problems that cannot be overcome now will be easy in 70 years~

Okay~ That’s it for today~ See you tomorrow~

*Article authorized to be reproduced from WeChat public account "CG World"

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