How Jurassic Park Taught Me to Love Movies

As the spring semester of my sophomore year comes to close, I cannot rightfully end the semester without writing about my all-time favorite movie Jurassic Park. The film, directed by Stephen Spielberg, came out in 1993. A very brief synopsis of the film is as follows: during a preview tour with several specialists in the field of Paleontology and Mathematics, a theme park featuring real dinosaurs, suffers a major power breakdown that allows the cloned dinosaurs to run amok.

Before Jurassic Park Spielberg had directed Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and The Color Purple to name a few. So by the time directing Jurassic Park arrived, Spielberg was already an established director. Spielberg seemed like an obvious choice for Universal Studios to take on such a massive film and he did such a fantastic job.

One of the reasons I love the film so much is because it was one of the first movies to use CGI. Spielberg wanted the audience to have the same reaction to seeing the dinosaurs for the first time as the characters in the film, which led them to the addition of CGI and this was the first film to use digital surround sound. But Spielberg was worried that computer graphics meant Nintendo type cartoon quality. He originally only wanted the herd of Gallimimus dinosaurs to be computer-generated, but upon seeing ILM's demo animation of a T-rex chasing a herd of Galamides across his ranch, Spielberg decided to shoot nearly all the dinosaur scenes using this method. For 1993 the graphics are quite breathtaking. A viewer watching this movie has the feeling that he/she is looking at a real dinosaur.

The first time we see the dinosaurs, the viewer is taken aback. Up until this point we have been following the main characters Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, John Hammond, and Dr. Malcom since their arrival to the exclusive island housing these genetically cloned dinosaurs. The camera, in one fluid sweeping track, follows the jeeps the characters are in until the jeeps stop and Dr. Grant and the others spy the Brachiosaurus’. The camera switches between a close up of Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler’s face. This leaves the audience really yearning to see the dinosaurs. The audience finally gets their wish when the camera pans to reveal the very breathtakingly real (for that time) dinosaurs. Now the GCI looks very silly and fake, but for then the dinosaurs look very real. They are tall and majestic against an equally CGI’d background. The scene is quite impressive for 1993.  

However, not all the dinosaurs are CGI. The production team did use animatronics for the famous T-Rex and menacing Velociraptors. Watching the film and intently studying the differences between the CGI and animatronics dinosaurs, I find the animatronics dinosaurs to be more real. This might be because I am watching the film in a decade of extremely advanced CGI or because I usually prefer animatronics to CGI in general.

The scariest scenes in the film are hands down the scenes when the two children are trapped in the kitchen with the Velicoraptors and when the T-Rex is attacking the jeep the children are in. These scenes both use animatronics. The look and movement of the animatronics is just more menacing and realistic. The texture of the dinosaurs is also really astonishing. One can almost feel the texture of the skin of the dinosaurs. As the Velicoraptors are stalking the kitchen looking for the children the viewer can feel the extreme fear of the children due to the menacing threat that at any moment the Velicoraptors might catch the children. However, the most fear inducing aspect of the scene is John Williams’ score.

John Williams is a VERY talented composer and has worked with Spielberg on Jaws and the Indiana Jones films and with George Lucas on the Star Wars films. Williams is a master at evoking a certain emotion from the audience using the most simple of melodies. His music flows intricately and masterfully from an upbeat, happy tune to a very ominous and foreboding warning. His music greatly enhances such scenes as the T-Rex chase scene to the joyous moment when viewers first see the dinosaurs. Many people forget how important music is to a film. It can either bring the movie to a whole new level or weaken it due to poor melodies and tunes. Without Williams score on this film, Jurassic Park would not be as strong of a film.

Jurassic Park is one of my favorite films because of its dutiful attention to detail. The push to create new technology in order to enhance the viewing experience for viewers and the wise choice for John Williams to score the film are little details that make the movie so wonderful. I think Jurassic Park is sometimes under appreciated, but what people do not understand is what the film did for the world of CGI and all the opportunities and possibilities its invention opened up for the world of film.

Hot Fuzz; the story of a Bromance

One of my favorite movies is Shaun of the Dead and Simon Pegg is one of my favorite actors so in only seemed natural to watch the movie Hot Fuzz (2007) in order to see how it compares to Pegg’s other movies. Honestly, I think Hot Fuzz is my favorite. It is one of those films that I have watched so many times, and I still notice something new each time. There are so many subtle details and references, that it is a film that needs to be viewed more than once. Directed by Edgar Wright and written by Simon Pegg and Wright, Hot Fuzz is smart, witty, a parody cop movie in a refreshing way, and is still incredibly funny.

Hot Fuzz (the short of it) is about a highly successful London cop, Sgt. Nicholas Angel (Pegg) who gets transferred a small town and gets paired with a witless partner, PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). This reassignment proves good for Angel because he and Butterman stumble upon a series of suspicious accidents and events.

A more detailed description includes Frost being reassigned to this small town because he is too good a cop and is making all of his fellow police officers and superiors look bad. So his new colleagues immediately dislike him because they think Angel is there to show them up. The only one who likes him is Butterman. Butterman is in awe of all of the action Angel experienced in London. So Angel, reluctantly, takes Butterman under his wing and together they unearth a dark secret about the town.

Both Pegg and Frost are brilliant comedic actors in general and in this film specifically. Their comedic timing only strengthens Hot Fuzz’s witty style. They really know how to keep the movie flowing and they have a very good ability to vie off each other’s energy. Their off screen friendship definitely seems to help with their on screen chemistry because when you are as good of friends as these two are off screen, you know their style and how to keep the comedy flowing.

Wright has directed a number of successful films along with Shaun of the Dead. So it makes sense why this film has a similar feel to Shaun of the Dead because both are really smart, satirical films that parody of a specific type of film. Shaun of the Dead is a parody of zombie films like Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later, while Hot Fuzz parodies cop films Bad Boys II, Die Hard, and Lethal Weapon. Ironically Sgt. Angel is the character that has most of the clichés cop movie lines but is unaware of this due to his lacking repertoire involving cop films. So, Butterman, who is so totally immersed in cop movies, stands by while Angel says all of these classic one-liners, such as “Shit just got real” and “Punch. That. Shit”.

Both films were written by Pegg, which would also explain why the two movies are so similar. Pegg has a very clear writing style that combines wit, humor, a specific knowledge of film and its genres, and seriousness. Hot Fuzz is a very funny satirical film that is also very serious at times. The film can move from really funny to really serious in just one line, which is what makes the film so brilliant. A couple moments in particular are when Angel is fighting off this giant brute and the moment is tense because the brute is trying to kill Angel. Angel manages to knock him out and the mood changes from serious to funny in an instant because Angel says, “Playtime’s over” and knocks him out. It is a very funny moment of comic relief done right. The other very serious moment that turned funny in an instant is when Angel discovers the Neighborhood Watch Association is actually a group of murderers. They are all chanting something in Latin. They are shrouded in black cloaks and have flashlights lighting their faces. It is all very creepy and uneasy. Once the chanting subsides, one of the female members starts discussing town events. She mentions that a couple had twins and when the shower will be held. It is all light-hearted and a complete 180 from the moment before. The effect is a fit of laughter.   Pegg is clearly as talented as a writer and he is an actor.

Some very interesting scenes visually would be when the murder of Martin Blower is happening, the scene chronically Angel’s journey to Sanford, and the beginning of the final showdown with Neighborhood Watch Association. The scene involving Martin Blower’s death the viewer watches see parallel actions going on. One scene follows Angel and Butterman spending the night watching Bad Boys II and Lethal Weapon. The other scene is Martin Blower being murdered in his home. The actions in each scene mimic and parallel each other. When the murderer hits his victim on the head, the movie cuts to Angel falling down into a chair. Then Angel says the line, “You have to be pulling my leg,” and the shot cuts to the murderer pulling his victim (by his legs) into a kitchen.

The scene after Angel has been reassigned to Sanford, we follow his train ride and subsequent rides until he reaches his hotel in Sanford. The viewer starts off seeing the hallway of what is most likely the Police Station and hear the voice of Angel’s new boss, Lt. Frank Butterman. As his voiceover plays, the shot then fades into Angel packing for his new position. The camera cuts to a picture of Angel as a child and then a car passes in front of the lens of the camera and the shot is now outside. Angel is standing in front of his apartment building and once again we hear the voiceover play. A taxi pulls up and the viewer gets a close up of the Taxi sign. As the voice over continues to play, the scene fades in and out of Angel on a subway car and then another train. The camera then makes a series of quick cuts of Angel’s head on a window, a plant on the table in front of him, a different perspective of him looking out the window. Then another quick cut of Angel waiting for the next train, it’s light out; the shot quickly cuts to dusk, angel has fallen asleep. Then another cut as a train goes by and he is jolted awake. Then a quick succession of cuts of Angel, plant, taxi. All of these cuts are happening in rapid succession and create a very dynamic viewing experience. The journey then reverts back to how it began with soft fades and the light going in and out on Angel and the scenery around while he is in the taxi and on the last leg of his journey. The different type of editing techniques illustrates the contrast of the parody nature of the film and how it is still its own unique movie.

The best scene that illustrates how Hot Fuzz is a parody is when Butterman and Angel decide to take on the villagers on Sanford. Once Butterman joins in the camera moves between quick takes of the Butterman and Angel and the people of Sandford shooting at each other. The moment when Butterman and Angel have taken down the people in the square, the camera movement mimics that of one someone would see in a cop film. The camera circles Angel and Butterman after they have taken down the doctor and Angel says, “You’re a doctor, deal with it” in a very breathy, cop film voice. The camera continues to circle them and feature the two of them together in the frame from different angles as they discuss what to do next. It is all very cliché but works for the film because Hot Fuzz is trying to parody but in a refreshing way.

This film is a genuinely good film. I think it is even a great film because every element of filmmaking comes to together in a smart, cohesive manner. Hot Fuzz is a bitingly satirical film that is hugely entertaining that everyone should see at least once because it is a very well made film and to be honest, those are very rare know-a-days. The film is a very smart film in its writing, editing, and directing. All the elements work together so perfectly to make one fluid, continuous movie.