In the movie Jurassic World, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) says, “No one is impressed by a dinosaur anymore..these days kids look at a Stegosaurus like an elephant from the city zoo.”
It’s true. Dinosaurs no longer impress us. While the advances in CGI technology in the last two decades have been truly impressive, it has also made us viewers somewhat immune to them. We are no longer captivated by visuals alone. Sometimes, the answer to this seems to be to shoot even more CGI-generated action scenes. It pains me to see Spock on top a flying vehicle beating the villain to a pulp in action sequences that are completely indistinguishable from a John Wick movie. Gene Roddenberry’s original Spock almost never had to fight because his strengths were intelligence and logic. The action scenes in John Wick are justified because the story and characters demand them. Nothing justifies Spock or any other Star Trek character for that matter, to turn into a Navy SEAL level fighter.
Here’s the thing though. If the story is powerful and gripping, chances are that people will find it engaging, even if it has little or no action. And while dinosaurs alone may no longer impress us, a gentle walk alongside these giants while observing them in their natural habitats is a thrilling experience, especially if the narrator is none other than David Attenborough.
Prehistoric Planet is produced by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit and was premiered on Apple TV last month. This is a special documentary in many aspects. For one, it is made completely with CGI. Kinda obvious if you stop to think about it. And even though the time period is 66 million years ago, it is narrated in the present tense because Richard is describing the minutiae of the daily rituals of these animals than once ruled the Earth.
I alluded to the close connection between CGI and action before. Most of the CGI today is used to build elaborate action or adventure scenes but CGI can also be used for non-action scenes and clever directors are using it. Prehistoric Planet has very little action so to speak, except for the occasional hunting sequences that are part and parcel of any wildlife documentary. What’s amazing is the sheer beauty of visuals that depicts these animals down to the last detail.
The series is based on solid scientific research done in the last two decades that has uncovered many surprising facts. For example, did you know that the dear ol’ T. rex was a swimmer? We also get to see 12 species that have rarely been shown on screen before, like the Nanuqsaurus, a smaller relative of the T. rex. Or the Olorotitan, the name literally meaning “giant swan neck” that traveled to volcanic regions to lay its eggs and used the geothermal energy to incubate them.
Although most of the species shown in the documentary are now extinct, there are a few that we can recognise because we see their cousins and nephews even today. Like the Beelzebufo, a 16-inch, 10-pound giant frog with a bite force of 2000 N. In other words, a bite as strong as that of a lion or a tiger. Beelzebufo used to hunt small creatures, among them baby dinosaurs. Imagine, a frog hunting the mighty dinosaurs!
Prehistoric Planet underlines two important points. First is how far we have progressed in our knowledge of the dinosaurs. And the second is the spectacular advances in CGI technology that can make them come alive in screen. The second point has a long history.
The extended DVD of Jurassic Park is an absolute treasure. It shows interviews with Steven Spielberg, Michael Crichton and many of the technicians who were instrumental in making of the film. At first Spielberg was undecided about whether to use animatronics or CGI. He was impressed by James Cameron’s Terminator in its use of the CGI technology. So he told both teams to prepare a demo. The CGI team prepared a visual of Gallimimus running across the field. The effects were so stunning that the CGI team won hands down. It took about three years of preparation and hard work before the shooting commenced. And the rest as they say is history.
Jurassic Park broke all box office records at the time. At the same time, it stared a revolution in CGI technology in movies. Dinosaurs have been an integral part of our culture in the past two decades, as evidenced by thousands of memes and all of this can be traced back to the vision of one man – Steven Spielberg.
One of the joys of non-fiction writing is when you discover hidden connections. They are not completely original in that others may discover them too. Sometimes, you feel like one of those fellows who sifts through kilograms of sand – technically known as gold panning – to find tiny nuggets of gold.
I realised this connection while watching the Prehistoric Planet and for a nanosecond I felt like Haruki Murakami whose characters travel effortlessly between dreams and reality. In this case it was a connection transcending the reel life and the real life.
In 1993, John Hammond tried to make the Jurassic Park work but he failed. John, as we all know, was played brilliantly on screen by Richard Attenborough. 29 years later, his brother David Attenborough is the host to a ride that fulfils this dream.
Welcome to Jurassic Park!
Image credit : Pixabay
