Posted: April 23, 2000 at 23:41:27: by Michael S.
Happy to oblige!
The dinos are all put in afterwards with CGI (Computer Graphic Imaging). Except for the Pilot, where the T-Tex was actually a puppet suspended on wires (to make running easier) with a man inside and his top half poking through the puppet's back. The man was covered with black cloth, which made it easy to remove his top half, and the wires were removed frame by frame. Then the whole thing was blown up double-size, shadows added, et voila! a scary beast running full-tilt through the jungle.
The actors have to react to cardboard cut-outs the same size as the dino will finally be, which are held up on sticks by special effects guys who walk them around so the actors will be clooking in the right direction. If the critter is very large and there is much interaction the "monster-stick" guys will have orange or yellow tennis balls on the sticks to represent the individual eyes of the critter.
The fear reactions are created entirely by the actors, who have seen crawings of the critters in the scenes, and who have to psych themselves and each up so it looks like they are in panic. The Director's job at this point is to help the actors make this look as realistic as possible - sometimes he/she will even roar a bit to make it more real. (Sometimes this causes more amusement than fear!)
We're glad you find it realistic - when you're doing it, you can never be totally sure.
Hope this answers your question.
The Old Prof.
: : I think that they were able to make the dinos look real in the
: : movie. They seem real. The actors and actresses help that too.
: : they look like theya re really scared, like it is a life or
: : death situation. Does anyone else think that too??
: I think they do a pretty good job, too. They actually use on-set props to help the actors react to the dinosaurs. The raptors, at least, are mocked up with styrofoam heads on sticks, I think (I'd have to go back and check and don't have time right now). I would guess that much like Star Wars did with Jar Jar Binks, they shoot the scenes twice, once with the mockups and once without so the actors can see where to look and move, and whomever paints the model images in (if that's the right terminology -- I guess not) has something to follow. : Maybe if Michael Sinelnikoff is reading this weekend he'll volunteer a comment or two. :)
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