15 Jan 08 We sit down with Senior Designer Gus Hunter, the man responsible for many of the stunning visuals in King Kong.

When asked what his favourite movie is, Senior Concept Artist Gus Hunter refers to the 1933 version of King Kong as one of them. ?I?ve always loved movies with dinosaurs and scary monsters?, he says. ?I remember watching it as a kid, and it just blew me away.? Little did he know that one day he would be working as the senior concept artist on Peter Jackson?s remake of the classic.

One of the stunning images Gus created, inspired by his native Samoa.

Gus joined the team during The Lord Of The Rings trilogy in 2000, in the Visual Effects Art Department, where he forged a relationship with Jackson and Weta. Gus has worked on concept art for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and was a Senior Concept Artist on King Kong from the very start (pre-production) to the very finish (post-production).

This image of Gus' depicts an early representation of what Ann Farrow's sacrifice might look like.

At the beginning of King Kong, lots of ideas as to what Skull Island would look like were tossed around. Gus says his Pacific Island homeland provided some influence for Jackson?s interpretation. ?I was fortunate enough to return to Samoa to visit family while working on Kong?, he says. ?When I was there I saw a lot of great gnarly totally creepy looking trees, which I took inspiration from and used in many of the paintings you see of Skull Island. It was good being able to get the reference. I took a few photos and when Peter asked me for some tree designs, I was able to montage these together to make unique ones. It was not your average jungle, it was really dangerous, creepy and ten times bigger than your normal jungle!?

"Not your average jungle!" - Gus on his illustrations of the Skull Island jungle, above.

Gus, who is also a casual guitar player, can often be found in a quiet corner of the Design department listening to jazz while working on his designs. He says music and design are complimentary art forms which both inspire his work. ?I?ve always thought that art and music go hand in hand. They are both very creative on different levels. The opportunity to be able to work on movie concepts and design is so creative and, for me, great art, music and movies inspire me greatly.?

Safe for fishing: Gus illustrates his impression of Kong getting into his bathers.

Prior to joining the Weta team, Gus was working as a freelance illustrator from home after completing a Diploma in Visual Communication and Design. An introverted person by nature, the process of working collaboratively with a team of designers was ?challenging? at first, says Gus, but was hugely beneficial with the new skills gained. Gus? willingness to expand his comfort zone has paid off and while at Weta he has created artworks for many of our high profile projects, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Evangelion, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Avatar, Fantastic 4 ? The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Eragon, Xmen 3 and The World of Kong book.

Above: Gus depicts an early version of the sacrificial scenes.

Gus says that his professional development is very much motivated by his outlook on life: ?Creatively, King Kong was very demanding at the time, but well worth the journey at the end when I saw what Jackson had created. At the end of the day I just want to be happy, enjoy life, be the best I can be in what I do and still be passionate about it. Which I can say I do at Weta.?

Check out more of Gus' awesome concept artwork for King Kong at Weta Workshop's website.