King Kong (2005)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Released in theatres on December 14, 2005
Credit: Ambient Music Design
Overview: "James is wondering whether you can get over to LA..... tomorrow?". That'll be King Kong! This was destined to be insane from the outset, totally the other end of the spectrum from my last visit to JNH. The schedule allowed 5 weeks to deliver around 170 minutes of score on a vast scale, massive scoring sessions, wall to wall cues, endless action scenes. All this taking place with a small team in LA while back in New Zealand Peter Jackson was finishing visual effects and dubbing the movie. We made it... cheers James!
Highlights: Aside from the overall ambience I had a few real show pieces in this one, including both sacrifices, various other tribal moments and ambience on the island. Undoubtedly the most challenging was the insect battle, after several consecutive big action scenes it became clear to all concerned that we couldn't play this scene in the same way, hence the idea of an insidious insect sounsdscape.