Introduction
The original "King Kong" of 1933 was more than just a movie for Peter Jackson; it was the film that decided his life's path. "Kong" inspired Jackson to pick up the camera-he tried shooting his own version of the movie on a Super 8 when he was 12-and he hasn't put it down since. The previously unknown director earned acclaim with the enormously successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which earned him Academy Awards and made him a household name. After that gamble paid off handsomely, Jackson upped the stakes even further by remaking his childhood favorite.
The original King Kong featured state-of-the-art special effects for its time. The film's co-directors Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack shot the low-budget film on a short schedule. With the help of Willis O'Brien, who many consider to be the first true special effects wizard in film history, "Kong" featured a number of pioneering techniques, such as stop-motion models, miniature models, rear projection and animatronics, giving new meaning to the term "trick photography."
With technology advancing so much further since then, Jackson was able to bring to life any fantasy he could conjure. And the technology was able to translate his vision to both the big screen as well as the video game world; Jackson helped developed the Ubisoft adaptation of his movie with lead designer Michael Ancel and producer Xavier Poix. The movie and game were developed simultaneously, and Jackson was able to show his progress to the world via the Internet, thanks to Michael Pellerin. A producer, director and documentary filmmaker, Pellerin was right by Jackson's side, chronicling everything "Kong" had to offer.
When the U.S. Armed Forces asked you to enlist years ago, the famous slogan went, "It's not just a job - it's an adventure." The same can be said about working Jackson. Once you're called out to help, you take on a hell of a workload. But as Pellerin will tell you, it's always a labor of love, and the hard work paid off with the film, the game and the production diaries. Now for TwitchGuru, Pellerin shares his insights about Peter Jackson the filmmaker and the man, as well as where Kong stands in a rapidly changing world of movie-making and digital entertainment. In addition, Poix, managing director of Ubisoft's Montpellier and Paris studies, shares his thoughts on making such a high-profile game in parallel with a $ 200-million blockbuster film. It's not just another movie or game job you take on with Jackson, but a hell of ride that won't soon be forgotten. TwitchGuru goes behind the scenes of the epic productions.
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