Coming soon to Universal Studios Hollywood
Since he burned in a backlot fire in 2008, King Kong’s resurrection is so massive, Universal Studios Hollywood needed two locations to make it happen.
In the heart of Universal City, construction has begun on the Kong attraction which used to be and will still be part of the backlot tram tour through the theme park. Here a team has found a new location near the studio upon which they’ll build a giant rock entrance and the attraction itself, a network of metal, wood and other elements I can’t even fathom that are needed to pull the ride off. Back in the day, the roar and explosions from the King Kong attraction interfered with the sound teams actually filming on the Universal backlot, so this time Kong is going to be nestled in a new hillside location on the lot.
This wasn’t where I was called to on an early Tuesday morning, strangely enough.
Universal invited Shock Till You Drop to Playa Vista where another arm of development on “King Kong 360 3-D.” And I quickly learned why I was brought here instead. Inside a soundstage – that previously housed Jon Favreau’s Iron Man production and sat next to another building where James Cameron shot some of Avatar – Universal and director Peter Jackson’s team have created a mock-up tram surrounded by 16 hi-def projectors and massive 187 foot-long screens that are 40 feet high.
“Peter Jackson and WETA digital give us versions of the pre-viz here,” explains our guide, Valerie Johnson-Redrow, the show’s producer. “We’re close to locking off the pre-viz, but not yet. So what you’re going to see today is an in-progress version. It will be 3-D. We don’t have audio now, but we do audio mock-ups.” Johnson-Redrow explains that this facet of production is taking place on the Playa Vista facility because it was large enough to replicate what’s presently being built in Universal City.
Shock boards the faux tram – made of wood – which is four cars long. I’m told for the best effect, to sit in car three or the front of four. The tram obscures any view of the projectors which we’re assured will be concealed in the final version of the ride.
Where the original Kong attraction took you through Manhattan as the big ape seemingly destroyed everything in his path with the help of animatronics, this updated version takes its cue from the 2005 Jackson film. Johnson-Redrow instructs me to put on my glasses. “So [on the tour] the tram will take you through a dark tunnel, so your eyes can acclimate, and the tunnel will lead into the attraction. You’re going to be told by Peter Jackson what the set-up is. He’s inviting you into the middle of the movie. The same artists that worked on King Kong worked on this and the same sound designer worked on it.”
The screens around me, until now featuring a simple WETA slate, suddenly burst to life and we’re transported to Skull Island. The tram remains in place, mind you, but you’re given the feeling that your coasting along through the jungle as dinosaurs scamper through the brush.
Left. Right. Up or down. The ride is visually immersive. And even though the CG FX are rough, one can still get the big picture. I only wish there was sound, unfortunately, it wasn’t ready for us.
A pack of Velociraptors come up on the left. As they see the potential food being transported on the tram (hint: us), a Tyrannosaurus Rex moves in and takes one of them out. We think we’re safe until another Rex appears on our left. Then another Rex rises up on the right. Certain doom is imminent. That is, until Kong lands on our right and dispenses with one of the Rexes by snapping its jaw. Here the WETA artists included the classic “Kong playing with his kill” gag as he flaps the Rex’s maw open and closed. It’s hard to appreciate a detail like this because suddenly, as we look to our left, the tram is sliding into a ravine!
Vines keep us aloft, but one of the tram cars is viciously attacked by a Rex and is wrenched from the group. Johnson-Redrow assures us that this ill-fated tram car will be populated by riders. As we dangle from the ravine, swinging precariously back and forth and almost into the mouth of a Rex, Kong battles the remaining dinosaurs and takes them down. A cloud of bats emerge from a nearby cave system taking us to black just as we fall towards Kong. We get up close and personal with the ape one final time before the tram is then led out of the attraction. The whole thing lasts about three minutes.
Now, what we saw was rough, but incredibly impressive. If you were to look directly ahead at the direction the tram was moving in, the environment around you feels completely genuine. That’s not to say the effect wasn’t terrific when you looked at it dead-on. I’m just talking about the peripheral effect of the attraction’s 360 layout. Johnson-Redrow says other elements, beyond sound, that will be added in later include mist, particle effects (such as dirt, debris from the fight, etc.) and, of course, the ol’ feeling of rocking back and forth as if the tram itself was being hit by the dinosaurs and Kong.
“Each tram car is on a new configuration of air springs [called the Platen system]. It’s very flexible but not a gimble. [Utilizing] compressed air, about 6,000 pounds per show,” she says. “So we’ll have wind effects, water and scent. It won’t be banana breath [like in the old ride] but there will be olfactory surprises. There will be dino breath and environmental smells. Kong is going to bounce on the tram. He’s going to go all around it. Both sides of the tram are going to get up close with him. You’ll get knocked around.”
King Kong 360 3D has only be in development for a year and a half, hardly typical of a theme park attraction which can be in development for up to three years. But Universal and Jackson are moving quickly to meet a July opening.
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
