Evolution of Film Music: A Comparative Study of King Kong

Film music has changed since the 1933 original King Kong film, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Both versions of King Kong are products of their ages. The original film is from the Golden Age era where sound film just began. As many film makers wrestled with the basics of sound films, the technique enhanced into a much more live affect. In the latest King Kong film, which was released in 2005, and produced by Peter Jackson, sound film was much more advanced when it came to the special affects. As I watched each film, I noticed how much has changed in the style, music and sound. Also film making has come a long way and developed into something more inevitable for audiences to watch and enjoy.

As for the 1933 film, the sound track was composed by Max Steiner. Steiner’s music kept the feeling of escalating terror throughout most of the film and gave off

the impression that the madness and chaos would never end. In the scene where King Kong reaches the top of the Empire State Building, I thought that Ann would have been killed. This scene created anxiety for me due to the high intensity of the music. Without that loud music and sounds in that particular scene, it would not have been as interesting. In the scene where King Kong fights the helicopters, the music is a bit low and not as intense. The sounds and noises of King Kong and the planes, take over the music in the background. In this 1933 version, neither King Kong nor Ann develop during the film. In other words, Kong remained the catastrophic, relentless “monster,” while Ann continued to be helpless in almost every scene. Also, the music is just like the main characters, it does not evolve into something else, it continued to have the same affect throughout most of the film.
In the 2005 release, the music sound track was created by James Newton Howard. In this film, when King Kong gets away from the army in a hurry, there is a sense of desperate hopelessness in the sounds. I also noticed that Steiner used the style of Mickey Mousing. As time went on and the 2005 film came out, Howard used different styles in his sounds and music. It seemed like to me in the 2005 film that Howard focused on setting the mood. For example, when Jack and Ann escape, drums were being played and the music was very loud while Carl started to set up his trap. King Kong and Ann were much more detailed and more focused on. Ann was a much more complex character while Kong’s personality started to be unveiled. In the scene where Kong is holding Ann on top of the Empire State Building, the sound has a love tone to it which you can see and almost feel the connection between the both of them. Ann said, “Beautiful! Yes, yes it is.” She understood Kong and the sound in the background was soft which made that scene more powerful.
The musical language of both composers were impartially modernist.

In the 1933 film, the scene where the boat approaches the island, Steiner does not use any music. As for Howard, he uses music in that scene. Steiner’s music rises to the fantastical world of King Kong. While watching the 1933 film, Steiner blends the music in certain scenes. While my focus was on one sound, it switched which created a different mood or tone to the movie. Howard used similar techniques as the ship entered the fog and the drums started to become louder and louder. Both soundtracks from each film created a myth in the island scene. In other words, I was not sure what was going to happen. In a sense, I expected something to happen just because of the music. It kept me on my toes and made me listen more closely. On the other hand, the most significant difference between the two films is their portrayal of Kong and his relationship he had with Ann. Kong’s relationship with Ann changed the sound choice. So, the difference of Kong’s and Ann’s relationship in the two films, depicts what sound should have been used in certain

scenes.
To conclude, both films were very well put together in every aspect. Both composers, Steiner and Howard, created unique explanations of the same story by using similar techniques. Also, both composers taught me many things when it comes to sounds in the background of scenes and why each sound has an important role in the films. I have watched the 1933 film when I was younger, and I thought that was amazing until I seen the 2005 release. At the end of it all, it was beauty killed the beast.