Scene Description Spotlight: “King Kong” (1933)
I thought this would be fun: Take a scene from the script to the original King Kong (screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose, based on an idea by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace) and rewrite it per a more contemporary approach to style. This is the famous scene where Kong is introduced. Note all the directing jargon:
DISSOLVE TO wall and Great Gate. The gate is being opened by
natives. Procession passes through, taking Ann to the altar.
People crowding to top of wall.
CUT TO exterior of wall, projection of altar on left. Ann
being tied to altar. People crowding to top of wall.
CUT TO exterior of wall, projection of altar on left. Ann
being tied to altar. People crowding top of wall with
torches.
Two men begin beating big gong, those on wall yelling and
beating drums.
CUT TO Great Gate, natives closing and bracing it.
Top of wall. Chief invoking Kong:
CHIEF
Kara Ta ni, Kong. O Taro Vey, Rama
Kong.
(We call thee, Kong. O Mighty One,
Great Kong.)
Wa saba ani mako, O Taro Vey, Rama
Kong. (The bride is here, O Mighty
One, Great Kong.)
CUT TO altar and jungle opening set, split shot. Noise
suddenly stops. KONG steps from jungle opening, looks at
people on wall, beats his chest. Sees Ann, starts toward her.
CUT TO exterior of wall, projection of altar on left. Kong
walks way from camera till he blocks altar from view.
People on wall watch in silence.
CUT TO close altar set, Ann and altar against projection
background, cutting to double projection when Kong passes
foreground.
Kong in close up stands behind girl, looking at her. He looks
up at wall and beats his chest. He walks round altar, then
starts to unfasten her.
CUT TO straight shot of people on wall, breaking out in wild
demonstration as Kong takes Ann.
CUT TO village street, Council House set, ship's party racing
through and into court.
CUT TO exterior wall set, Kong turns from Altar with Ann in
his hand and walks toward camera. Crowd on wall in uproar
gong, drums, yelling, waving torches.
CUT TO Driscoll and party reaching Gate, he hears Ann scream,
looks through window.
CUT TO what he sees. Edge of Jungle set, miniature.
KONG walks away from camera and into jungle, turning to look
back, so Ann is seen in his hand.
CUT TO Great Gate. Driscoll wildly gesturing to sailors to
open it. Noise continues.
Sailors struggle with pole. They get it down and start
tugging at gate.
DRISCOLL
He's got Ann! Who's coming with me?
We just don’t write scene description like that anymore in a selling script. And yet there are ways to ‘direct’ the action while avoiding director lingo. Here is one approach:
EXT. GREAT WALL - NIGHT
Natives struggle to open the massive gate. Procession
passes through, carrying Ann. People crowd to the top
of the wall --
ANN
struggles, tied to altar --
THE WALL
Two men begin beating a big gong, others pounding drums,
creating a frenzied rhythm, as natives close the gate
door.
The Chief emerges from the crowd, invoking Kong:
CHIEF
Kara Ta ni, Kong. O Taro Vey, Rama
Kong.
(We call thee, Kong. O Mighty One,
Great Kong.)
Wa saba ani mako, O Taro Vey, Rama
Kong. (The bride is here, O Mighty
One, Great Kong.)
A sudden silence, then --
KONG
steps from jungle opening, scans the people on the
wall, and beats his mighty chest. Sees Ann, starts
toward her --
Ann screams as Kong closes in on her. He unfastens
her --
THE CROWD
bursts out into wild shouts of approval, pounding
drums, waving torches, as Kong grabs Ann up into
his massive fist. As she SCREAMS --
DRISCOLL'S PARTY
reaches the gate, watching as --
KONG
as the creature strides into the jungle, Ann his
prisoner.
Here secondary slugs (or shots) are used to suggest specific camera shots, moving the action from one shot to the next. But there are other ways to write the scene including a hybrid of secondary slugs like this:
ANN struggles, tied to altar --
THE WALL where two men begin beating a big gong,
others pounding drums, creating a frenzied rhythm,
the natives close the gate door.
KONG steps from jungle opening, scans the people
on the wall, and beats his mighty chest. Sees Ann,
starts toward her --
ANN screams as Kong closes in on her. He unfastens
her --
THE CROWD bursts out into wild shouts of approval,
pounding drums, waving torches, as Kong grabs Ann up
into his massive fist. As she SCREAMS --
DRISCOLL'S PARTY reaches the gate, watching as --
And so on.
In a selling script, we try our best to create a world that pulls the reader in. Every time we opt to use some example of directing lingo, we run the risk of yanking the reader out of that story world, reminding them, “Hey, you’re reading a movie script.”
No, suck the reader into the story — and do everything we can to keep them there.
While contemporary screenwriting style may have evolved the way it has because directors didn’t like writers telling them how to shoot a movie, the upside is that we have a much more readable way to write screenplays.
How would you rewrite the above scene from King Kong?
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