Animatronics and practical dino droppings
Steven Spielberg gets a lot of credit for the way he limits the screentime of the shark in "Jaws." Most movie aficionados know the mechanical shark rarely operated properly, forcing Spielberg to ratchet suspense in other ways.
"Jaws" is a brilliant thriller, but with "Jurassic Park" in 1993, Spielberg and his creative team mastered animatronics while pushing the boundaries of computer generated effects. "Jurassic Park," with all its money shots of dinosaur-on-human carnage, is a masterclass in restraint. For all the dinosaurs you see at the onset, Spielberg knew how to tease the main event.
Much like the mechanical shark limited what could be shown in "Jaws," CGI in 1993 was still fairly rudimentary. Still, the CGI in "Jurassic Park" has stood the test of time better than later blockbusters, including sequels within its own franchise.
The CGI remains convincing because of how deftly it blends with Stan Winston's animatronic dinosaurs. The centerpiece T-Rex attack is comprised mostly of practical effects and character reaction shots. The dark, stormy atmosphere covers the necessary CGI work, and Spielberg doesn't make the effect the focal point of the frame - for example showing the full T-Rex through a rain-soaked car-window with two human characters in the bottom of the frame reacting to the dinosaur's movement.
When the T-Rex chases Dr. Malcolm, first on foot, then later in a jeep, the CGI T-Rex is still rarely the only subject in the frame. Spielberg blends live-action elements into every shot. While that seems like Realistic-CGI 101, you'd be surprised by how little that happens in modern blockbusters. Think of how the "Star Wars" prequels are basically just cartoons with the occasional human walking through the shot.
The only CGI that looks particularly dated in "Jurassic Park" are the occasional dinosaurs seen in broad daylight. But even then, the human characters are blended so well into the frame, like seeing the giant, long-necked Brachiosaurus from Dr. Grant's perspective on the ground, the sunlight bleaching out some of the dinosaur's features. It is less distracting than, say, any time Peter Jackson substitutes Orlando Bloom in "The Hobbit" movies with a video game gymnast version of the character. When Dr. Grant and the kids run through the Gallimimus herd, the humans are in focus and the dinosaurs are speeding past in a blur.
The film's best use of CGI comes in the climax, when a cunning team of Velociraptors terrorize the surviving humans in a kitchen, control room and on top of a dinosaur skeleton display. The mix of practical animatronics and CGI, combined with terrific physical performances by the actors, make it almost impossible to spot the puppet raptors from the CGI ones. It helps to have human characters punching and kicking at the puppets, as the actual physical interaction has weight and momentum. Compare that to, say, the way a CGI Hulk and a CGI Iron Man fight in the middle of a city. An entire building collapses, but it still doesn't have the physical impact of Dr. Grant trying to slam the door on a clawing Velociraptor.
To be fair, practical animatronics and props can be fake-looking too. "Jurassic Park" has terrific practical effects, but Spielberg again uses them alongside human characters, and to provide further character details. Dr. Grant's child-like grin is the focus of the frame when he rests on the Triceratops' chest, and Dr. Sattler's tenacious personality is the focus of those giant steaming piles of dino dung.
It's also important to note that while Spielberg shows us dinosaurs throughout the movie, you have to wait a full hour for the T-Rex, and you never really get a clear shot of the Velociraptors until the last 30 minutes. The visual teases are enough, especially the towering electrified fences and the famous "Jurassic Park" gate - all jaw-dropping, large-scale practical sets.
It's evident the new "Jurassic World" leans heavily on CGI effects, as most movies these days do. It's simply more practical for filmmakers to create things in a computer than to build the physical objects. There's literally no limit to what can be created.
But as Dr. Malcolm so precisely puts it, people are "so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they don't stop to think about if they should." Excessive CGI is now becoming more distracting than stop-motion, "Jason and the Argonauts" style effects. Too much CGI and it all starts to look like a video game.
At least the mentality of Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" still pops up from time to time in Hollywood. Christopher Nolan has shown real prowess in blending practical effects with CGI (best displayed in "The Dark Knight" and "Inception"), and this summer's brilliant "Mad Max: Fury Road" is a celebration of old-school stunt work.
We'll see where this week's "Jurassic World" falls on the spectrum. "Jurassic June" continues next week with a full review.
Netflix Instant Update
Today marks the third season premiere of Netflix's best original series, "Orange is the New Black." Also new this week: Jake Gyllenhaal's brilliant and underrated performance in "Nightcrawler," and "Rosewater," the directorial debut of "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. It's a good enough movie to understand why Stewart is leaving his show at the end of the summer.
Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.