RETURNS TO A JURASSIC CLASSIC
AMANDA KILLELEA LOUISE LAZELL been to the Universal theme park in Florida and had seen these big inflatable, mechanical King Kong exhibits and he wanted to do all the dinosaurs mechanically. I told Kathy that was totally unlikely at the time.
“But a few years later she called me again. We were aware of the evolution of computer graphics they were using to create characters.
“I had done some consulting on Young Sherlock, which was the first time computer graphic characters were used. There was also work going on in Terminator.
“Jurassic Park brought together all the right players at the right time, starting with Crichton’s book, David Kemp’s script worked out with Stephen – and then an A-team for visual effects.”
But he admits to having trepidations about it before starting work on the movie’s graphics, saying: “I had no experience of doing visual effects like this.
“But I knew stuff the computer guys didn’t know. I knew how to create a psychological side to the creature.”
Phil also tells how Kathy invited him to see the full movie for the first time. He says: “She turned to me asking, ‘What do you think?’. I said, ‘Well it’s not terrible’. And she said, ‘That’s what I thought.’ Everybody on the team pulled it together.”
Paleontologist Jack thought the results were spectacular. He says: “I stood in front of the Tyrannosaurus puppet and it was as real looking as I could have ever imagined. Its eyes blinked, its skin twitched, it moved like a real animal. To see the film for the first time was amazing to me.”
Accolades poured in, with Jurassic Park winning Oscars for best sound, best sound effect editing and best visual effects. And the film still inspires innovation, with the Halle Orchestra performing composer John Williams’ award-winning soundtrack alongside a special large screen HD showing in Liverpool later this year.
But Jack believes its enduring success is down to one thing.
He says: “Everyone loves dinosaurs at some point in their lives.”