Jurassic Park made a successful return to theaters this past weekend, banking a respectable $18 million for their 3D re-release. Of course the stars of the movie are the dinosaurs (sorry topless Jeff Goldblum) and you may have wondered how those creatures were built.
The Stan Winston School of Character Arts released three video clips that go behind the scenes on how the massive T. Rex was created. The narration is a bit dry, though the videos are brief and educational in an afterschool special sort of way. You can watch the videos below, but here are some of the highlights:
- Electric motors couldn't move fast enough to power the T. Rex, so the team decided to use hydraulics instead.
- Among the types of materials that were considered to build the model were steel, aluminum and fiberglass composites. The decision came down to master welder Armando Gonzalez who was asked, "What happens if it breaks on set?" Gonzalez responded that, "Aluminum would be pain in the butt, steel would be easier to fix."
- Because of the enormous weight of the creature, the model was mounted onto the floor. The team cut a 10 by 10 foot span of concrete out and sank anchors five feet into the ground to hold the weight and support motion of the dinosaur.
- The ceiling was raised 13 feet to compensate for the height of the model. T. Rex measured 24 feet tall at highest tip of nose to ground.
- In some of the valves inside of the body, as much as 60 gallons of hydraulic fluid a minute were being pumped through. The valves were about an inch wide.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Meanwhile, the folks over at Vulture did a little digging into the sounds that the dinosaurs made. Sound designer Gary Rydstrom was tasked with having to create dozens of distinct dinosaur sounds from scratch. He spent months recording animal noises and tweaked them to create a unique slate of sounds for the various dinosaurs.
For the velociraptors, Rydstrom recorded tortoises having sex. You read that correctly. "I recorded that at Marine World. The people there said, 'Would you like to record these two tortoises mating?' It sounded like a joke, because tortoises mating can take a long time. You've got plenty of time to sit around and watch and record them."
Rydstrom also used the breathing noise of a horse for the scene where the raptor shows up in the door window in the kitchen. Horses were also used for the stampede scene featuring Sam Neill and the flock of Gallimimus.
And then there's the T. Rex. Some of the key noises for the massive beast were from Rydstrom's tiny Jack Russell terrier, Buster. "The way they animated the T. Rex was very dog-like, especially when it rabs the Gallimimus and the lawyer and shakes them to death. Every day I would see my dog playing with the rope toy and doing exactly that, pretending like he's killing his prey."
For the T. Rex roar, Rydstrom used noise from a baby elephant. "Once again, a small animal making a small sound slowed down a little bit has more interest to us than what a big animal might do."
There are lots more sound tidbits over in the interview that's definitely worth checking out.
Jurassic Park 3D is currently in theaters.
