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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 2018

JohnC

By JohnC
in Film, TV & Radio

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Treble

Treble

Posted
Posted

I wouldn't like to make the case for the aspect ratio until I saw the full film.

 

On the subject of FX, I like what TLJ did with physical sets and puppets. I've not heard a single person moan that the film needed fewer physical assets and more CGI. There's a sense of presence with SFX that is harder to achieve with VFX.

 

I saw a documentary on Jurassic Park where Phil Tippett and co said how much easier it was to show the VFX crew what to aim for when they had shots in the same location using models and puppetry. The VFX guys were able to use the movement, the lighting and props to understand how the CGI model should behave, rather than abstracting the whole thing.

 

But special and visual effects aside, JP worked so well because we liked the characters and spent loads of time with them. Loads (most) of JP is spent character- and world-building.

 

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Mr Cochese

Mr Cochese

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12 minutes ago, Loik V credern said:

 

Well i liked the article because i never knew about the ratio differences, and it tried to inform more than just pointing out how poor the framing is.

I see this a lot recently in amateur film criticism. What makes framing poor? Presumably if someone is on screen then that means it's in frame, so is there some algorithm or something to determine whether the action is happening as close to the centre as possible?

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Glasgowchivas

Glasgowchivas

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Mr Cochese said:

I see this a lot recently in amateur film criticism. What makes framing poor? Presumably if someone is on screen then that means it's in frame, so is there some algorithm or something to determine whether the action is happening as close to the centre as possible?

 

Entirely subjective and depending on context of the shot, the mood of the film and the film-maker's intention. 

 

For example, in horror films, you'll often have shots framed with a lot of space left open behind the characters, to create the sense of dread that the Shape will suddenly appear in it. In fact, that's such a common one that it's used to create fake out scares, like when a cat jumps into the shot etc. However, if you were to apply the same technique to a rom-com, it would appear weird, unless there was a very specific reason why we should be aware of the space over Julia Robert's shoulder.

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Loik V credern

Loik V credern

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, Mr Cochese said:

I see this a lot recently in amateur film criticism. What makes framing poor? Presumably if someone is on screen then that means it's in frame, so is there some algorithm or something to determine whether the action is happening as close to the centre as possible?

 

It's not something i think a lot about, but in terms of a film about large dinosaurs then not capturing their scale and how they tower over the humans would be a failure, surely.

 

The article points out obvious simple things like dinosaurs next to recognizable objects like a jeep rather than the invented spherical ride thing. When you're capturing a helicopter approaching a vast mysterious island you want it tiny and the island dwarfing it, surely ? The director is not seeming to be focussed on the most necessary things. Spielberg, being the first to represent dinosaurs on the big screen for the first time, would be more attuned to what's important and how best to capture them. 25 years and several other cgi dinosaur films and tv programs later it's no longer a remarkable achievement.

 

I think this happens with most art and entertainment, the first time it's a blank canvas, no previous attempts that dilute it, so i think the vision is more vivid and meticulous. maybe that's nonsense, I dunno. But i think it's why there's some groundbreaking art that, despite the decades since their release no one else has matched them. Because those breaking new ground were more ambitiously driven, more excited to do something that had never been done before, and the desire of others after cannot match that. The pioneers move on to new different projects and other talents inspired by the original are enthused to be involved in a new film, but i don't see how it's possible for them to top the original. Spielberg created the most perfect T Rex sequence there can ever be. Actually every dinosaur got the most perfect scene.

 

For a new Jurassic Park film i think the best result would come from a director thinking of the dinosaurs not covered by Spielberg, but there's about 7 sequences i can think of now that he got in there, with so much variation in them as well, showing them compassionately, in awe, in horror, showing them near death, showing them eating, feeding, showing their intelligence, captured them in the rain, in enclosed spaces, chasing, herds, attacking each other, surprise heroic acts. I think no film can be more than just generic unless it at least comes up with inspired ideas for sequences and Spielberg got in loads, as well as dozens of other ideas the others haven't.

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Boothjan

Boothjan

Posted
Posted

Sorry to take things slightly off topic, but talking of the original Jurassic Park, I was listening to the soundtrack the other night.  I love it - probably my favourite work by John Williams.

 

How the fuck did he manage to come up with such a brilliant soundtrack for a film about dinosaurs?  How do you even begin to think of what a dinosaur film should sound like?

 

"Here you go, John - go away and compose something dinosaur-y please.  Shouldn't take you long."

 

The main theme is just magnificent. And it takes me back to looking at the cinema screen as a 13 year old and seeing that brachiosaur for the first time.

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Loik V credern

Loik V credern

Posted
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The soundtrack is amazing, one of my favourites too. Not of Williams, of anything. I think he was trying to express the majesty of the dinosaurs and the awe of witnessing them for the first time wasn't he ? You make it sound like he was tasked with making music with no more inspiration that strips of dead dry reptile skin ..!

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Boothjan

Boothjan

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Loik V credern said:

The soundtrack is amazing, one of my favourites too. Not of Williams, of anything. I think he was trying to express the majesty of the dinosaurs and the awe of witnessing them for the first time wasn't he ? You make it sound like he was tasked with making music with no more inspiration that strips of dead dry reptile skin ..!

 

Yeah I get that - throughout the soundtrack there's the awe, wonder, danger, suspense etc but the end result is still phenomenal. 

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Radish

Radish

Posted
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19 hours ago, Loik V credern said:

The soundtrack is amazing, one of my favourites too. Not of Williams, of anything. I think he was trying to express the majesty of the dinosaurs and the awe of witnessing them for the first time wasn't he ? You make it sound like he was tasked with making music with no more inspiration that strips of dead dry reptile skin ..!

 

Exactly, it's not "go compose some music about dinosaurs", in the same way that for Star Wars it wouldn't be "go compose something about space". 

 

Framing, composition, aspect ratio - whatever you want to call it, basically every shot in that trailer just looks way too narrow and cramped. When asked "Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?" it literally takes 5 different shots to show how majestic the dinosaur is and everyone's reaction to it, and every shot looks cramped. I hope that it's just a poor trailer and in the film it's one long, continuous shot as that would at least cut out the constant cuts. 

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macosx

macosx

Posted
Posted

I really hope they go back to showing dinosaurs as just jaw dropping creatures from a past reality and hopefully ditches anything  about turning them into weaponised creations. It just cheapens the wonder by adding absurdity into the spectacle.

 

This new one looks like it cranks up the tension and fear though.

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BitterToad

BitterToad

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On 15/04/2018 at 10:30, sandman said:

As someone who thought JW was excellent, I must say the trailer I saw for this the other day looked utterly awful and just a terrible cash in.

 

It literally has no reason to exist, except to make money

 

They Saurus coming, etc. 

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Paulando

Paulando

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I didn’t think it looked too bad from the teasers, or at least no worse than the original JW, but this ‘final’ trailer is dreadful. The CGI dinos look far too cartoony and over-animated, and I have no idea what’s going on with the story. It looks like a mashup of The Lost World and Monsters Inc.

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