David Vickery, visual effects supervisor for the conclusion of the Jurassic World trilogy, Jurassic World Dominion, reveals his favorite dinosaur from the action-packed film. Dominion was released earlier this year, following the controversial Jurassic World: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sequel. At the end of the central film of the trilogy, the dinosaurs were released into the human world. Dominion picks up after that event and presents a human world that has adapted to the presence of dinosaurs among them. The film features many exciting sequences involving dinosaurs interacting with everyday devices of the modern world, which provided an effective layer to the film, although some felt that more could have been done with the rich premise.
Jurassic World Dominion was highly anticipated due to the return of Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum to the franchise alongside Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Dominion also adds many new and exciting dinosaurs, including the magnificent Pyroraptor, to the already impressive catalog of the franchise. Working with visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the filmmakers brought to life creatures such as the film’s giant, villain Gigantosaurus, the flying Quetzalcoatlus, the fast-moving Atrociraptor, and the territorial but herbivorous Therizinosaurus.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to meet Jurassic World Dominion ILM visual effects supervisor David Vickery for an exclusive interview. When asked if he had a favorite dinosaur from the film, he delved into the question and revealed that his favorite dinosaur in the entire franchise is Therizinosaurus. Read the full quote below:
“For me, the best dinosaur in the franchise is, at the moment anyway, Therizinosaurus, it’s such an amazing creature. [Chuckles] If you look at a concept of the Therizinosaurus, it’s seven meters tall, a bit like an ostrich, has a huge beak, meter-long baseball claws, and feathers all over. It doesn’t look real and you don’t understand how such a creature could have existed, it’s so bizarre. But the process of bringing that to life in the visual effects was truly a labor of love. Working on digital feathers, we built a new feather system at Houdini’s ILM, which allowed us to procedurally generate all feathers on creatures. So it gave the artist the ability to simulate feathers, wind, water, snow and ice and bring all of these simulations into the same software, so they could interact with each other beautifully. He lent a layer of reality and credibility to those simulations, that’s why the shots look so great, and it’s a testament to the great artists at ILM who made it, but he’s my favorite creature. The tension in the scene was also well directed and played by Colin and Bryce. But the animators at ILM did such a fantastic job of setting the tension, balance and slow motion, the slow crawl of Therizinosaurus in that scene, it’s really a testament to their great work. “
The practical effects are often praised by fans as superior to CGI due to the greater potential for interaction with physical set features and their more ingrained feel. Vickery’s description of the fusion of practical, visual and digital effects only demonstrates how far technology can truly go when filmmakers are excited to push the boundaries of familiar tactics. It can be easy to lose quality when switching from concept art to screen, but based on Vickery’s comments, this dinosaur bears a striking resemblance to its original design. His passion for his favorite dinosaur, Therizinosaurus, clearly helped bring the majestic creature to life, and the hard work of the filmmakers on the feathers for Therizinosaurus and other dinosaurs was much appreciated by dinosaur fans who wanted an interpretation of the story. majestic creatures.
Although the first film in the Jurassic World sequel trilogy was praised by critics and audiences as an entertaining thriller, one of the main criticisms of the film had to do with the use of CGI, which was described as excessive and a departure from the Park’s revolutionary Jurassic Film. In the second film in the trilogy, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, practical effects were mixed with digital effects, but the creators still relied heavily on CGI. As mentioned by Vickery, digital effects were by no means absent in Jurassic World Dominion. However, director Colin Trevorrow has made an effort to include many more animatronics rather than using CGI dinosaurs due to their greater ability to interact with actors in a scene. This approach certainly paid off, with the amazing shots of the dinosaurs interacting with the main characters being the highlight of the film.
