Editing King Kong (1933 film) (section)

===Special effects===
[[File:King Kong vs Tyrannosaurus.jpg|thumb|Promotional image featuring Kong battling the ''Tyrannosaurus'', though Cooper emphasized in an interview with film historian Rudy Behlmer that it was an Allosaurus]]
''King Kong'' is well known for its groundbreaking use of special effects, such as [[Stop motion|stop-motion animation]], [[matte painting]], [[rear projection]], and [[miniature effect|miniatures]], all of which were conceived decades before the digital age.<ref>Wasko, Janet. (2003). ''How Hollywood Works.'' California: Sage Publications Ltd. p. 53.</ref> The prehistoric creatures inhabiting [[Skull Island (King Kong)|Skull Island]] were brought to life through the use of stop-motion animation by [[Willis H. O'Brien]] and his assistant animators, E. B. "Buzz" Gibson, Carroll Shepphird, Marcel Delgado, Orville Goldner, and Fred Reefe.<ref>Bordwell, David, Thompson, Kristin, Smith, Jeff. (2017). ''Film Art: An Introduction.'' New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 388.</ref>{{sfn|Archer|1993|pp=176, 197}} The stop-motion animation scenes were painstaking and difficult to achieve and complete. The special effects crew could not leave the studio during the day because the lighting would not be consistent.{{sfn|Harryhausen|Dalton|2008|pp=74–75}} The jungle scenery was created by layering glass paintings, which were created by Mario Larrinaga and Byron L. Crabbe.{{sfn|Rovin|1977|pp=31, 41}} They were used when Denham's crew first arrives. The scene was composited with separate bird elements and rear-projected behind the ship and actors.{{sfn|Harryhausen|1985|p=173}}

The most difficult task for the special effects crew to achieve was to make live-action footage interact with separately filmed stop-motion animation, making the interaction between the humans and the creatures seem believable. The most simple of these effects were accomplished by exposing part of the frame, then running the same piece of the film through the camera again by exposing the other part of the frame with a different image. This process is called a [[Matte (filmmaking)|matte]].{{sfn|Harryhausen|1985|p=172}} The most complex shots, where the live-action actors interacted with the stop-motion animation, were achieved via two different techniques, the [[Bipack|Dunning process]] and the [[Williams process]], to produce the effect of a traveling matte.<ref>Corrigan, Timothy, White, Patricia. (2015). ''The Film Experience.'' New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. pp. 120–121.</ref>{{sfn|Von Gunden|1989|p=115}}

[[File:KingKong001C.png|thumb|Colored publicity shot combining live actors with [[stop motion animation]]]] Another technique that was used in combining live actors and stop-motion animation was rear-screen projection.{{sfn|Dyson|1997|p=30}} The actor would have a translucent screen behind him where a projector would project footage onto the back of the translucent screen.{{sfn|Harryhausen|1985|p=173}} This was the first film for which RKO used the method.{{sfn|Rovin|1977|p=33}} It was used in the scene where Kong and the ''Tyrannosaurus'' fight while Ann watches from the branches of a nearby tree. The stop-motion animation was filmed first. Afterward Fay Wray spent a 22-hour period sitting in a fake tree acting out her observation of the battle, which was projected onto the translucent screen while the camera filmed her witnessing the projected stop-motion battle.{{sfn|Cotta Vaz|2005|p=216}} She was sore for days after the shoot. The same process was also used for the scene where sailors from the ''Venture'' kill a [[Stegosaurus]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-22 |title=King Kong {{!}} Giant Ape, Stop-Motion Animation, Adventure {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/King-Kong-film-1933? |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> O'Brien and his special effects crew also devised a way to use rear projection in miniature sets.{{sfn|Rovin|1977|p=41}} A tiny screen was built into the miniature onto which live-action footage would then be projected.{{sfn|Harryhausen|1985|p=173}} A fan was used to prevent the footage that was projected from melting or catching fire. This miniature rear projection was used in the scene where Kong tries to grab Driscoll, who is hiding in a cave.  For the scene in which Kong places Ann in a tree, Wray acted out her sequences as Kong's sequences were projected in the rear.{{sfn|Harryhausen|1985|p=171}} She was unable to clearly see the projected images and had to act based on the blurs she saw.{{Sfn|Erb|2009|p=30}} Animation for the film was completed after 55 weeks.{{sfn|Harryhausen|Dalton|2008|p=84}}

Cooper, wishing to create a point of authenticity, insisted that Kong not be played by an actor in a [[gorilla suit]].<ref name=":6" /> Over the years, some media reports have alleged that in certain scenes Kong was played by an actor wearing a gorilla suit.<ref>{{cite news|title=Charlie Gemora, 58, had King Kong role|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C07E2D71239EE32A25753C2A96E9C946091D6CF|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 20, 1961|access-date=February 10, 2017|archive-date=March 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318035303/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/08/20/archives/charlie-gemora-58-had-king-kong-role.html|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Greene|first1=Bob|author-link1=Bob Greene|title=Saying so long to Mr. Kong|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1990/11/27/page/113/article/saying-so-long-to-mr-kong|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=November 27, 1990|access-date=December 24, 2016|archive-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221232727/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1990/11/27/page/113/article/saying-so-long-to-mr-kong/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, film historians have generally agreed that all scenes involving Kong were achieved with animated models.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glut |first1=Donald F. |url=https://archive.org/details/jurassicclassics00dona |title=Jurassic Classics: A Collection of Saurian Essays and Mesozoic Musings |publisher=McFarland |year=2001 |isbn=9780786462469 |location=Jefferson, NC |page=[https://archive.org/details/jurassicclassics00dona/page/192 192] |quote=Over the years, various actors have claimed to have played Kong in this [Empire State Building] scene, including a virtually unknown performer named [[Carmen Nigro]] (AKA Ken Roady), and also noted gorilla impersonator [[Charles Gemora]]... In Nigro's case, the claim seems to have been simply fraudulent, in Gemora's, the inaccurate claim was apparently based on the actor's memory of playing a giant ape in a never-completed ''King Kong'' spoof entitled ''The Lost Island.'' |author-link1=Donald F. Glut |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Glut |first1=Donald F. |title=King Kong Cometh! |date=2005 |publisher=Plexus |isbn=9780859653626 |editor1-last=Woods |editor1-first=Paul A. |location=London |page=64 |chapter=His Majesty, King Kong – IV |quote=Cooper denied any performance by an actor in a gorilla costume in King Kong... Perhaps a human actor was used in a bit of forgotten test footage before the film went into production, but thus far the matter remains a mystery. |author-link1=Donald F. Glut}}</ref> These models were about {{convert|14|to|18|in|cm|0}} in height.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brierton |first=Tom |title=Stop-Motion Puppet Sculpting: A Manual of foam Injection, Build-Up, and Finishing Techniques |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2004 |isbn=0-7864-1873-7 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina|page=22}}</ref>{{sfn|Von Gunden|1989|p=114}} They were made of metal armatures padded with cotton, latex, and rabbit fur.<ref>{{harvnb|Rovin|1977|p=31}}; {{harvnb|Von Gunden|1989|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Harryhausen|Dalton|2008|p=73}}</ref> The fur moved as the animators handled the models, becoming an unintentional feature of Kong. The models required maintenance after each day of filming.{{sfn|Harryhausen|Dalton|2008|p=73}} Closeups of Kong's face and upper body were accomplished by filming a full-size mechanical model of Kong's head and shoulders, designed by Delgado.{{Sfn|Rovin|1977|p=43}} The model, scaled to the dimensions of a fifty-foot creature, was covered with forty bearskins.{{Sfn|Cotta Vaz|2005|p=227}} Six operators were required{{sfn|Cotta Vaz|2005|p=227}} to manipulate the eyes and mouth to simulate a living monster.{{sfn|Harryhausen|1985|p=172}} A proportionally large arm and paw were also created for closeup shots of Kong holding Ann.{{sfn|Von Gunden|1989|p=114}} Dinosaur models were reused from O'Brien's aborted film project ''Creation.''{{Sfn|Archer|1993|p=14}} Production was completed in January 1933.{{Sfn|Erb|2009|p=28}} Production costs added up to $672,254.75, part of which included costs for ''Creation''.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |title=King Kong |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/king%20kong.pdf |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>