Home Entertainment Director Colin Trevorrow talks about that JURASSIC WORLD trailer

Director Colin Trevorrow talks about that JURASSIC WORLD trailer

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So after what felt like years of waiting the trailer for Jurassic World finally dropped earlier this week, and immediately it got people spitting out opinions like Dilophosaurus. Some of it was good (DAT MOSASAURUS!), and some of it bad. One of the bad things noted was the overabundance of obvious CGI, specifically how the park’s gate was completely rendered digitally. As we learned yesterday, that was because some of what we saw had been mocked up specifically for the trailer, while the real, still unfinished shots would be making use of much more practical effects married with CGI.

But that’s just one question, what about all the other queries that fans have? Well, luckily for us director Colin Trevorrow decided to sit down with Empire and walk them through the whole trailer, giving some feedback on the how’s and why’s of what can be seen. Easily the biggest point of contention, was that the scientists of Jurassic World have genetically engineered their very own dinosaur (apparently referred to as the D-Rex). Lots of dino-fans were taken aback by this, because why would we need to create new dinos when there were so many cool ones that we had yet to see on-screen.

“There is no shortage of awesome [real] dinosaurs. We could have populated this entire story with new species that haven’t been in any of these movies. But this new creation is what gave me a reason to tell another Jurassic Park story. We have the most awe-inspiring creatures to ever walk the Earth right in front of us, but for some reason that’s not enough. We’re always hungry for the next thing, and those who profit from it are always looking to feed that hunger. The focus groups want something bigger than a T-Rex. And that’s what they get.”

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To add to that Trevorrow also explained to /Film earlier in the year that what we’re seeing is just the logical next step in the science of the Jurassic Park universe.

“Yes, there will be one new dinosaur created by the park’s geneticists. The gaps in her sequence were filled with DNA from other species, much like the genome in the first film was completed with frog DNA. This creation exists to fulfill a corporate mandate—they want something bigger, louder, with more teeth. And that’s what they get. I know the idea of a modified dinosaur put a lot of fans on red alert, and I understand it. But we aren’t doing anything here that [original author Michael] Crichton didn’t suggest in his novels. This animal is not a mutant freak. It doesn’t have a snake’s head or octopus tentacles. It’s a dinosaur, created in the same way the others were, but now the genetics have gone to the next level. For me, it’s a natural evolution of the technology introduced in the first film.”

This is a sentiment that I actually agree with 100% and echoed in the comments section of our trailer article. And even if you don’t like the idea of custom-made dinos, there are still plenty of other “natural” thunder lizards to keep you happy, as the D-Rex – which is only glimpsed very briefly in the trailer – is merely the tip of the reptilian iceberg.

“Obviously I’d love to hold back as much as possible. But Universal has to introduce this movie to people all around the world, and in an era where we’re contending with superheroes and space epics, marketing has its own set of needs. We’re introducing a relatively new idea. No one under 25 has a memory of seeing the original Jurassic Park in a theatre. The last instalment was 14 years ago. We may see little pieces of her as we get closer – in fact, we already have – but I’m confident that we can keep much of that animal under wraps. She’s not the only danger. Far from it.”

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One of those dangers is probably the aforementioned Mosasaurus. The giant aquatic dinosaur makes quite a splash (literally) on its debut in the trailer, jumping out of the waters to consume a great white shark carcass dangling from a crane all in one gulp.

“The idea came out in one of our first meetings. I didn’t know if Steven [Spielberg] and Frank [Marshall] had considered an underwater reptile, so I pitched the mosasaurus and went off on the idea.”

“I thought it would be cool if we had this massive animal and the park used one of our most fearsome modern predators as food. There could be a whole other facility where they used shark DNA to mass-produce them to feed the bigger beast. It’s a bonkers idea, but I’m comfortable going to Crazytown, because I used to live there when I was a kid.”

Welcome to Crazytown. Population: Colin Trevorrow.

The trailer’s big final reveal is of course the short shot of Chris Pratt’s Owen riding his bike alongside a troop of velociraptors – without a doubt the original film’s most terrifying antagonists. This scene definitely divided the fans, with some finding the idea of “domesticated” dinosaurs silly, while others thought it was a really cool moment because who wouldn’t want a pack of raptors that you command? But according to Trevorrow, there’s a lot more to those raptors than what we saw.

“Owen’s relationship with the raptors is complicated. They aren’t friends. These animals are nasty and dangerous and they’ll bite your head off if you make the wrong move. But there are men and women out there today who have forged tenuous connections with dangerous predators. That’s interesting territory to me.”

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It just so happens that I actually watched this video of a man and his leonine “best friend” earlier today, so what Trevorrow is saying makes a whole lot of sense here. Pratt is not so much a raptor trainer as he is a raptor whisperer – basically, Cesar Millan dialed all the way up – which means he still needs to watch his step.

And the raptors are back, is there any chance we’ll get to see the granddaddy of the franchise, the T-Rex, again?

“You bet your ass you will.”

Hell yeah.

I was admittedly just a smidgen underwhelmed by the first trailer to Jurassic World, but the more I think about it and the more I read about just why Trevorrow and co have done what they’ve done, the more my excitement levels are growing.

Last Updated: November 28, 2014

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