Quiet on set, but film fans get hint of King Kong

King Kong fans can now get a brief glimpse of the last moments of filming on the set of Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson's next blockbuster movie.

A brief movie clip of day 131 of shooting was posted on the fan site www.kongisking.net on Friday, giving a tantalising insight into the multi-million-dollar film, made in Wellington.

"Bitter-sweet" is how Jackson describes the mood as actors Naomi Watts and Andy Serkis, who play damsel-in-distress Ann Darrow and King Kong respectively, film their final scene.

"On one level, everyone was relieved to get to the last day. But you're also painfully aware it's the end of friendships that have been made. A period of our lives is over.

"It's a very intense feeling when you're making a movie. You bond closely with the cast and the crew working with you and, suddenly, it's all over," says a much trimmer Jackson, who, after being told by partner Fran Walsh to wear less black, was sporting a light green shirt.

The diary, the 54th in the series, shows shots of the crew at work, with a jovial Serkis and Watts literally apeing around on the set - and contains a few seconds of live action as Watts tears through the bush to escape her captor.

Presented with a framed photo signed by the cast and crew, Jackson says the shoot had been enjoyable and fun but also difficult - "I tricked myself into thinking that one film would be a little easier than three" - and he felt "relieved" he was now able to start crafting a movie from the many film reels.

Jackson said the production diaries, a hit with fans keen to get a glimpse inside the wonderful world of media-shy Jackson, would continue throughout what would be a "complicated" post-production process.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY