King Kong Essays - King Kong, English-language Films, Skull Island

King Kong King Kong A classic adventure-fantasy film in the earlier talking films is King Kong (1933). King Kong was conceived by director/producer Merian C. Cooper. Cooper tells the story of an attractive blonde woman and a frightening gigantic ape-monster who are immersed in a Beauty and the Beast type tale. A major section of the film is the struggle on Skull Island between the filmmakers, the islanders, and the other resident of the island. The other resident being a mutant creature who must also fight civilization when it is brought to New York City for display. From the beginning of the movie, its screenplay by James Creelman and Ruth Rose foretells the coming terror. The film included many revolutionary technical innovations for its time, and some of the best stop-action animation ever sequences and special effects (by Willis O'Brien) ever captured. King Kong was a film with many wonderful sound and cinematic techniques. The filmed contained a dramatic musical score, which helped set the mood of the film. The sound effects were also unusual for films of its time. The director used different animal's sounds to create Kong's voice. The narrative of the story was one that was of interest of movie goes. In King Kong the story unfolds pretty directly in front of you so there is not a lot of confusion. To me the film is a montage not mise-en-scene. The story is told in a straightforward manner that doesn't show a lot of things through the shot itself. In this film the use of stop-motion photography was used unlike ever before to bring life to the beast. The film industry was changed quiet a bit from this motion picture. The acting and directing of the film King Kong was magnificent. In the film there are no particular weak performances. Everyone gives a rather enjoyable performance during the movie. In watching the movie I found that as it went on I just could not wait to see what would happen next, which shows the wonderful pace of the film. The director presents the beast in a way that is tragic. Towards the end of the picture you start to sympathize with the beast that is trapped upon the top of the building being fired upon by planes from above. As a director, having the skill to pull these emotions over a beast from an audience is astonishing. The people who assembled this movie did a wonderful job. There was a great amount of thought put into the production of this film. The composition of the picture is one that should be remembered by filmmakers of today. The scenes on the ship and on the island look as if they really take place there and not on a sound stage or on the back lot. The motion picture tells a tale which is believable because it is one of a man going to a strange island to shot a movie to gain wealth in America. Having hired the help of a beautiful young woman, he runs upon trouble while switching from one interesting scene to another. In the picture the beautiful Fay Ray is as stunning today as she was when the picture was first released. Many of the members of the tribe on Skull Island are represented as being true islanders unhappy of the white man's arrival on their island, just as a real tribe would be upset. While enjoying the tribal costumes I personally felt the filmmakers outfits to be a bit much. The pre- and post-production work put into this movie made it the classic that it still is today. King Kong has stood as an American classic for 6 decades and is one that will be considered to be one for 60 more. The fact that this movie's still considered a classic is due to the techniques used during filming, the acting/directing, and the hard work that went into the production. Cinema and Television