An adventure means more than journey; it is a venture into finding the limits of existence. Movie creators use the power of the adventure film as a conduit to arouse feelings of thrill, suspense, fear, excitement, euphoria and in the process demonstrate the bold actions that mankind can reach. Two such movies that are archetypes of the adventure film genre are King Kong (1933) directed by Merian C. Cooper and written by Edgar Wallace and the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) directed by Henry Levin and written by Charles Brackett. The movie King Kong gives the audience an insight into the disastrous events that can occur when we attempt to disturb mother nature and bring her offspring to civilization. The production of this film
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One drastic era that any historian would arguably call the time America hit rock bottom is in years of the Great Depression. This age was defined by record high unemployment numbers and nationwide economic failure. In order to free the world from a state of incessant despair, film makers shifted the focus of their film to provide viewers with break from their horrible lives. Alan Brinkley, a historian from Columbia University who focuses on the film culture during the Great Depression, notes that “escapism” was a “Hollywood’s real social mission-to provide a diversion from hard times (Brinkley 11)”. Adventure films of the classical era that undoubtedly provided an “escape” for moviegoers were The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan the Fearless, and King Kong. It is evident that the adventure genre changed in the classical era to provide viewers with an escape from the then daily stresses and as a result entertain them with worlds of fantasy, such as seen in the myths, conventions, and iconography of King Kong. This film is an epitome of the escapism theme in the classical era. Peter Jackson, the director of a later rendition of the King Kong story, comments, “It was the perfect piece of escapism…I was transported into this amazing world and adventure (Erb …show more content…
The first aspect related to the notion of “journey” comes from the wild and mythical setting in the remote island of Skull Island. There are multiple features of this location that were constructed to enthrall moviegoers at the time. At first sight, the movie makes it so that the events that took place on Skull Island were look as if they were shot on location. The technological innovation that allowed audiences to dream that the characters were in walking along an immense island was rear projection (Erb 30). This technology is created by placing the actors in front of a background that is rolling film. This then state-of-the-art technology, gave spectators the impression that the actors were partaking in a real journey when they walked in front of dinosaurs and through trees and
One drastic era that any historian would arguably call the time America hit rock bottom is in years of the Great Depression. This age was defined by record high unemployment numbers and nationwide economic failure. In order to free the world from a state of incessant despair, film makers shifted the focus of their film to provide viewers with break from their horrible lives. Alan Brinkley, a historian from Columbia University who focuses on the film culture during the Great Depression, notes that “escapism” was a “Hollywood’s real social mission-to provide a diversion from hard times (Brinkley 11)”. Adventure films of the classical era that undoubtedly provided an “escape” for moviegoers were The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan the Fearless, and King Kong. It is evident that the adventure genre changed in the classical era to provide viewers with an escape from the then daily stresses and as a result entertain them with worlds of fantasy, such as seen in the myths, conventions, and iconography of King Kong. This film is an epitome of the escapism theme in the classical era. Peter Jackson, the director of a later rendition of the King Kong story, comments, “It was the perfect piece of escapism…I was transported into this amazing world and adventure (Erb …show more content…
The first aspect related to the notion of “journey” comes from the wild and mythical setting in the remote island of Skull Island. There are multiple features of this location that were constructed to enthrall moviegoers at the time. At first sight, the movie makes it so that the events that took place on Skull Island were look as if they were shot on location. The technological innovation that allowed audiences to dream that the characters were in walking along an immense island was rear projection (Erb 30). This technology is created by placing the actors in front of a background that is rolling film. This then state-of-the-art technology, gave spectators the impression that the actors were partaking in a real journey when they walked in front of dinosaurs and through trees and