Before Dennis Muren wowed Steven Spielberg with computer generated dinosaurs at ILM, the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park were going to animated by hand by Phil Tippett and his team, using a technique known as stop motion.
The release of Jurassic Park led to an industry shift, with this well crafted art form rapidly replaced by computer generated images. This technology opened up a world of possibilities and filmmakers of the era began to experiment.
However, the animation technique did not die out. Stop motion lives on through the likes of Phil Tippett and his Mad God series, and many modern day movies like Isle of Dogs, Coraline and the works of Aardman Animations.
A number of independent filmmakers have dived into the stop motion world, including Mason Drumm who created the following short film entitled Indomation. Check it out below:
The entire piece contains 93 hours of animation and contains 7,830 frames! The set took two months to construct, utilizing 35 sticks of glue and many, many props. A detailed behind the scenes video gives us a better look at how Mason pieced all of this together. The rotating set is ingenious – so simple yet so effective.
Click the above picture to watch the 10 minute behind the scenes feature – I recommend you do! Stop motion is a slow process and one that takes immense concentration and attention to detail. To say he was the sole animator on Indomation, Mason’s animation is fluid, and it’s clear that he had a vision for this project from the very beginning – one that he executed with great finesse.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of his work. Be sure to check out Mason’s YouTube channel and let him know if you liked his short film by commenting below!
Open up your calendar as it’s time for another Jurassic Park community meetup!
Frequent collaborator Tom Jurassic is hosting a Jurassic World Evolution Unofficial Community Meetup on Friday 8th March at the Natural History Museum in London.
The meetup will take place from 1pm – and Tom has already promised a host of fun activities, Jurassic-themed goodies and more for anyone who takes the time to join him in London. Tom has also revealed another detail of this meetup for fans of Jurassic Outpost:
“Firstly – I really appreciate all the support from everyone in spreading word about the meetup! Both Jurassic Outpost and The Jurassic Park Podcast have been amazing in getting word out there – allowing me to focus on some behind-the-scenes work which has enabled something incredibly cool to occur! I am beyond excited to reveal that Paul from the Natural History Museum’s Dinosaur Lab will be giving an hour’s talk to people who come down for the meetup – with the talk taking place from 1:30pm – 2:30pm. The Natural History Museum do talks here and there, but they are something which the general visitor will not be able to access.
I’m super excited to be able to bring a little more to the Jurassic World Evolution Unofficial Community Meetup – building a special day which I hope Jurassic fans who can make it will remember for years to come!”
This sounds like a fantastic opportunity for those attending – allowing people to get more hands-on with the museum than they would usually be able to!
Tom’s put a lot of work into this meetup and like any Jurassic community meetup there will no doubt be a favourable turnout! If you’re in or around the London area be sure to try and make it.
The Natural History Museum in London features one of the most beautiful and comprehensive collections of palaeontological discoveries in the country, which you’ll have the chance to come face to face with! The museum hosts popular dinosaurs like the T-Rex and the Triceratops, alongside the star of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; the Baryonyx.
As Tom states: “We’ll take part in some fun Jurassic-themed games, and they’ll be a host of awesome Evolution prizes and goodies to give out throughout the day.”
A schedule for the day is still being locked down – but there is plenty to do in South Kensington including the Science Museum, so after spending a good amount of time at the Natural History Museum there will still be plenty more fun in store. The best part about all of this? The museums are all free entry!
You can learn more about Tom’s community meetup here, and be sure to let us know in the comments section below if you’ll be making it down!
Just three days ago we covered some of the updates coming to Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure, pertaining to a new roller coaster and Jurassic World re-theme – now even more concrete details have surfaced, revealing the (current) layout of the ride!
First reported by WFTV News, and then covered in greater detail by Alicia Stella at Orlando Park Stop, we have a great idea of what changes are coming to the Florida park. The layout was obtained by both parties by looking into permits filed for the demolition and construction activities planned for the park – take at look at the layout reconstructed by Orlando Park Stop in the image below!
Image courtesy of Orlando Park Stop
The ride, as proposed, is a high-thrills multi-launch roller coaster which begins its queue down in front of the Discovery Center by the waterfront. Not much is know about it, other than theming will be kept to a minimum (more Incredible Hulk, less Expedition Everest) and will be Velociraptor themed – reportedly letting riders “be a raptor” as they escape from their paddock. Velociraptor’s are known for their speed, and this ride will be no different as it’s rumored to be the fastest multi-launch roller coaster eclipsing 73 mph.
As shown in the track layout, there will be a small show scene at the opening of the ride, which reportedly features a Raptor paddock. While it’s unknown if it will be themed off of the iconic paddock from Jurassic Park, or the one from World, most signs point to the latter. In all likelihood, this scene and ride is based upon Jurassic World when the Velociraptors are released from their enclosure to hunt for the Indominus Rex (“Hunt for the Indominus Rex” would make a great ride name now that I think about it).
Construction is expected to take about 1 and 1/2 years, gearing for a mid 2020 or early 2021 opening at the latest.
The majority of the ride will takeover the abandoned Triceratops Encounter plot of land, but will effect numerous other smaller attractions in the area, leading to some relocation. In my last article I talked about why I’m not exactly thrilled about this coaster (which sounds like a lot of fun to be fair), as I’d rather have an authentic and well themed addition to Jurassic Park which really transports me to that prehistoric island. However, I remain hopeful that Universal Creative will keep innovating, and perhaps add more show scenes and theming to this ride before it’s locked in.
Jurassic is Universal’s biggest brand, and it’s overflowing with imagination including inspiring adventure, iconic movie scenes, beautiful locales, and incredible dinosaurs to bring to life – the area could easily rival the Wizarding World, Avatar Land, and Star Wars Land if they really allow it to grow and thrive.
As for the rumored Jurassic World re-theme, it’s almost assuredly coming, although this coaster may open prior. However, as reported by Midway Mayhem, the construction walls are sporting the colder and modern Jurassic World themed key art as opposed to the brighter more safari themed Park aesthetic.
New signs have arrived at IOA for the Jurassic project. Interesting color and logo choice! Blue walls…Blue raptor maybe? 😉 And a logo generic enough that you aren't sure if it could be for Jurassic World 😉 pic.twitter.com/WFt503Uz82
Whatever the future may hold, one thing is for certain: Jurassic Park at Orlando Florida is evolving, and something new will be hatching soon. Be sure to sound off in the comments below, and as always, stay tuned for the latest news!
Jurassic Park is a staple of blockbuster filmmaking, awing and inspiring audiences of all ages across the world to this day – not to mention its huge impact in 1993, redefining what can be achieved with visual effects and paving the way for CG to become commonplace in today’s movies. Jurassic Park’s impact is long lasting, and wide reaching – but its name is soon to just be a distant memory, as Jurassic World roars in as the new permanent franchise moniker.
While it’s yet to be officially confirmed, the rumor mill has long pointed to Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure for an upcoming Jurassic World retheme. Reportedly, Universal Parks teetered back and forth on the idea, considering Jurassic World for their upcoming ‘fourth gate’ in Orlando and saving Jurassic Park at IOA. However, Universal has apparently opted NOT to include Jurassic in any capacity within the upcoming new park (barring major last minute changes) and will put their focus on Islands of Adventure for everyone’s dinosaur needs.
Objectively, a ‘Jurassic World’ rebrand isn’t a bad thing (although I find the more adventure infused safari resort look of Park to be more unique, compared to World which reflects Universal’s City Walk) – it makes sense, as it’s the name the current film saga and merchandising all share. While Jurassic Park certainly isn’t unfamiliar to younger fans, World is the more relevant brand identifier at this time. In fact, Universal Studios Beijing is doing some incredible things with the Jurassic World branding – building a replica of Main Street, the Innovation Center, Aviary, and heavily themed innovative roller coaster that will cut through Jurassic themed mountainsides – check out the artwork below!
However, the plans for Islands of Adventure are far more limited – primarily due to the Jurassic Park land being blocked in by the new Harry Potter and Kong sections, both of which took expansion plots originally planned for Jurassic. This limited space has created the inability to create all new Jurassic attractions at the scale of other headlining properties, like those seen within the Wizarding World rides. As such, the roller coaster coming to Islands of Adventure (which has yet to be officially announced) is reportedly not a heavily themed coaster, simply putting the focus on thrills over an authentic dinosaur filled movie based experience.
In fact, you can learn a lot more about the upcoming coaster from theme park enthusiast Alicia Stella within this video!
While that video is a few months old, the information is believed to be accurate – and now work within the park corroborates it, albeit circumstantially.
Construction walls are up around the Jurassic Park/Discovery Center waterfront. Guests can not access the area from any point. The Discovery Center is still open and can be entered thru the top level. pic.twitter.com/rdQULcZepQ
Essentially, we’re looking at a steel coaster with numerous tight twists and turns to make use of the smaller area it can expand across. Its starting location will see the coaster launching and intersecting itself numerous times before it shoots out in front of the Discover Center, over the lagoon and then eventually loops back again. While the track layout is far more complex, the rough surface area can be observed here:
As stated earlier, the upcoming coasters theming is rumored to be minimal to nonexistent – which is too bad, as it was originally concepted as a coaster that would traverse through mountainsides, with the insides themed to amber mines. That idea could easily be applied to Fallen Kingdom’s volcanic disaster theme, taking inspiration from Disney’s Expedition Everest ride, all while using the current track layout as we’ve roughed together in this mock-up down below:
While these new changes coming to Jurassic Park are exciting as the area itself is in desperate need of a modern makeover and new attractions, it’s hard not to be a little bit disappointed by what’s been reported. I can travel to any park and experience a great roller coaster – but the Universal Parks are the only place that can truly offer a chance to step inside the diverse an exciting Jurassic World, and bring dinosaur thrills to life within state of the art rides, making us believe those animals are alive once again – and ready to eat us if we’re not careful.
If there was room for further expansion, I’d more accepting of a thrill coaster with minimal theming coming to Jurassic – but fans of all ages who love the films, or simply want a authentic adventure alongside prehistoric flora and fauna are sure to be left wanting more if the plans carry forward as is. Fingers crossed this coaster surprises, and infuses itself the state of the art dark ride elements for the ultimate Jurassic experience.
Be sure to stay tuned for all the latest Jurassic news, and as always, sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think about the changes coming to Islands of Adventure!
Almost one year after it was announced that Feld Entertainment Inc. and Universal Brand Development were joining forces to create a live-touring arena show based on the Jurassic World films, comes news on the new venture. The upcoming Jurassic World Arena Show will be holding open casting for actors, stunt performers, and more!
Jurassic World Fans — get ready for this all-new, live-action show coming to your hometown! Experience the excitement of being face-to-face with life-sized dinosaurs, including the vicious Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Velociraptor Blue and many other favorites. Adventure is guaranteed with arena-sized action, special effects and physical stunts that will leave you on the edge-of-your seat
At the time of the announcement it was said the show would start sometime in the Fall of 2019. We now know the show will begin it’s tour in the United States this upcoming September. The exact location of the first show and the overall global schedule is still yet to be released, so please stay tuned for future updates.
In the meantime, the first open casting call for the show will be taking place this Thursday, January 17th, in Chicago, Illinois. They are looking for the following types of skills for the show:
performers, puppeteers, full body and remote operation and actors. Ideal candidates would be fit and athletic performers from a range of heights, ages and ethnicities, possess stage combat and puppetry or character costume experience in addition to training in one or more of the following disciplines: harness flying, parkour or motorcycle riding, freestyle trials motocross and tricks are a plus. Stunt training and experience with high falls is a plus.
If you’re not from Chicago, don’t worry! They will also be casting at Henderson Nevada on January 22nd, ans Culver City California on January 24th. At the time of this article (January 15th), there was a casting call held in New York City.
If you are interested and feel you have the qualifications for one of these roles, head over to backstage here or here and apply to be part of the casting call. If hired, rehearsals for the show will begin in mid-July in Palmetto, Forida.
Another thing to keep an eye on is the name of the show itself. While originally announced as “Jurassic World Live”, Feld Entertainment this past Summer also trademarked “Jurassic Live” and “Jurassic Empire” as potential show titles.
Do you plan to apply for Jurassic World Live? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and on our forums.
Walmart released a commerical during the Golden Globes this past Sunday for their new grocery pickup service, which allows customers to order groceries online and have it delivered to their car. By the end of 2019, Walmart hopes to have 2,140 online grocery pickup sites. The promotional commercial released features iconic vehicles from TV shows and movies such as the Batmobile, the Ghostbusters ambulance, Knight Rider Firebird, Dumb & Dumber “Mutt Cutts” van, Scooby Doo Mystery Machine and most importantly, the Ford Explorer from Jurassic Park.
“We not only picked famous cars from iconic movies we knew would be instantly recognizable to our customers — and launched the campaign during one of the film industry’s most popular awards shows — but we also worked with a variety of different Hollywood studios to gain access to these vehicles,” Messing explained. “This helped ensure the famous cars looked just like what our customers knew from the films, while demonstrating the ease, speed and convenience of the service and that it’s for everyone, regardless of what car you drive.”
Below, please enjoy the 90 second commerical from Walmart featuring the Jurassic Park Ford Explorer and compys!
What do you think of Walmart using the classic Jurassic Park Ford Explorer in their advertisement? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and on our forums.
