It haunts me still
Dec. 17th, 2005 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebitterguyThe first time I saw Jurassic Park, I left the theatre and my date and I could only say "wow" for a few minutes. Now, I know a lot of folks out there will disapprove of my enjoyment of the film (at this point, I wish I smoked, so I could gesticulate with my hands in a mildly disappointing manner). I honestly appreciate their opinions, but fuck that, that's not what I'm here to talk about.
I'm here to talk about the first time. The first time we got CGI dinosaurs.
I'm pretty sure everyone remembers the first scene, right? The Drs coming to a halt in the jeep, and Laura Dern standing up in her seat and then, BAM, out to the wide shot. And there they stood, as big as life. And they were real.
Okay, not REAL. They were CGI. Computer simulations. But we (and by 'we' I mean me and 80% of the people reading this) have always loved dinosaurs. We've read books about dinosaurs, and watched movies, and been fascinated. Even if it was a five year old thing, where we saw the weight of the creatures, their size, their teeth, the bright world they lived in and the fiery ball of destiny that wiped them out in a heartbeat, it resonated with us.
So when we saw them, they were real.
Now, I'm no movie expert. I'm pretty much the most horrid person in the world for nit-picking F/X. My SoD could hold the sky above Atlas' shoulders (but it won't, because I know he'd just wander off for a 'smoke break' and never come back. Slacker). But those dinosaurs were real.
And everything since feels... not real. I know there's been over a decade of technology under the bridge since then. King Kong had a load of dinosaur action, right? And it was neat and stuff. But it didn't feel REAL. It wasn't as GOOD as JP.
Am I crazy? Is this just some deluded nostalgia, refusing to let go of my real dinosaurs in favour of the state of the art? It's not possible that the state of the art FX still can't capture the same sensawunda that Spielberg did ten years ago, is it?
I don't know what it is. Maybe Laura Dern's bum. But JP felt real. Everything else feels like FX.
I'm here to talk about the first time. The first time we got CGI dinosaurs.
I'm pretty sure everyone remembers the first scene, right? The Drs coming to a halt in the jeep, and Laura Dern standing up in her seat and then, BAM, out to the wide shot. And there they stood, as big as life. And they were real.
Okay, not REAL. They were CGI. Computer simulations. But we (and by 'we' I mean me and 80% of the people reading this) have always loved dinosaurs. We've read books about dinosaurs, and watched movies, and been fascinated. Even if it was a five year old thing, where we saw the weight of the creatures, their size, their teeth, the bright world they lived in and the fiery ball of destiny that wiped them out in a heartbeat, it resonated with us.
So when we saw them, they were real.
Now, I'm no movie expert. I'm pretty much the most horrid person in the world for nit-picking F/X. My SoD could hold the sky above Atlas' shoulders (but it won't, because I know he'd just wander off for a 'smoke break' and never come back. Slacker). But those dinosaurs were real.
And everything since feels... not real. I know there's been over a decade of technology under the bridge since then. King Kong had a load of dinosaur action, right? And it was neat and stuff. But it didn't feel REAL. It wasn't as GOOD as JP.
Am I crazy? Is this just some deluded nostalgia, refusing to let go of my real dinosaurs in favour of the state of the art? It's not possible that the state of the art FX still can't capture the same sensawunda that Spielberg did ten years ago, is it?
I don't know what it is. Maybe Laura Dern's bum. But JP felt real. Everything else feels like FX.
