Even with all the remakes and advances in technology and music, the scene where they first see the natives doing the Kong ritual still is one of my favorite scenes from a movie. The music is awesome, the costumes are amazing, and the song is bad@ss.
shareI agree that this is a great scene to summon the giant ape. It is when the music and dancing stops and there is that silence when Kong finally makes his appearance that always chilled me to the bone.
shareYes, the tension almost becomes unbearable in this scene, and Max Steiner's rhythmic music adds immeasurably - and also knows when to stop, just before Kong appears, as you say.
The only problem I have is with the first appearance of Kong. Its animation is relatively poor, compared to following scenes, because breaking branches and falling trees are notoriously hard to animate.
They did loads of retakes of this scene, but in the end settled for the first take, even though the directors were never satisfied with it.
Dicky
Thanks Dicky for the additional interesting information. Yeah, the animation is a little rough, but one's own imagination takes over after that fantastic build up to Kong's first appearance.
You're right! It just takes some getting used to.
I could have imagined a simpler shot instead, from Ann's point of view, where Kong emerges from the blurry darkness, suggesting she's almost fainting, until he appears in full view. Very dramatic! But then again I have none of the skills that Willis O'Brien, Cooper or Schoedsack had.
Just for your information, they did 16 takes of Kong's first appearance.
Dicky