King Kong won an Oscar for visual effects in 2005
Strange as it sounds when discussing an 8-metre-tall gorilla atop the Empire State Building, you’d be hard-pressed to discern from looks alone that the eponymous hero of the recent King Kong movie isn’t real.
His black fur glints in the sunset and ripples in perfect sync with his movements, the product of software that represents every single hair as a translucent cylinder covered in tiny scales. Simulated light rays are scattered, reflected and refracted almost exactly as they are by real hair. This sheen helped King Kong win an…
