‘It’s how I would imagine I would react if I saw a real-life giant dinosaur’: What Jurassic World Rebirth’s scientific advisor thinks of the movie
The dinosaurs arrive in theaters this summer with “Jurassic World Rebirth” which made its debut on Wednesday July 2. The series that started over 30 years ago with “Jurassic Park” is still one of the only successful franchises of live action that has propelled dinosaurs On the big screen. So what is it to be a paleontologist who advises Hollywood on these mesozoic creatures?
Steve BrusatteA vertebrate paleontologist and an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, is the scientific advisor to the films “Jurassic World”, the last, which features Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey. Live Science sent an email to Brusatte several questions to go to the meat of the question: what is his favorite scene of “Jurassic World Rebirth”, what is an inaccuracy of the films “Jurassic Park” which he would like to correct and, above all, if a dinosaur should attack, which would he prefer?
Hannah Osborne: To what extent would the first films be different from knowing what we know of dinosaurs today?
Steve Brusatte: The first Jurassic Park was released in 1993, and for over 30 years, we have learned a lot on dinosaurs. There has been something like 1,000 or more new species of dinosaurs discovered since then. Computed tomography And the molecular sampling of fossils have revolutionized our understanding of the way dinosaurs have developed, have moved, reproduced, driven out and socialized. And we now know that many Dinosaurs had feathers. But still, even with all this, the image of dinosaurs in the original film is not too far from what we know today. These dinosaurs feel realistic in their postures and behaviors. They always look good on the screen. The film has aged well!
But of course, we can integrate the new scientific discoveries in new films.
HO: If you could go back in time to study a period of mesozoic in person, what would be?
SB: Although T. Rex will always be my favorite dinosaur, and he lived at the end of the era of dinosaurs, in the last moments of Cretaceous 66 million years ago, my choice would be another period entirely: the Triassic. The time covering between around 252 [million] and 201 million years ago, covered by two of the Worse mass extinctions In the history of the earth, each caused by apocalyptic volcanic eruptions.
It was the moment of the supercontinent PangeaWhen all the lands of the world have been gathered. And on this supercontinent, the very first dinosaurs took their very first steps. These pioneering dinosaurs did not resemble nothing T. Rex Or Brutosaurus. They only had the size of cats or dogs. But they were intelligent and ran quickly and lived active and energetic lifestyles. As it would have been glorious to see them – the ancestors of the Dinosaurs dynasty to come.
HO: What is the greatest inaccuracy of the past films of Jurassic Park on which you would like to settle the pendulum?
SB: He must be the feathers. The original Jurassic Park was unleashed with all kinds of green chipped dinosaurs, which looked like invaded lizards or crocodiles. It was in accordance with what we knew on the dinosaurs at the time, in 1993. But then, three years later, in China, a farmer working his fields stumbled on a skeleton of beautifully preserved dinosaur integrated into La Roche. Petrified feathers surrounded the bones. It was the first of many discoveries of similar dinosaurs, quickly buried by volcanic eruptions, covered with plumeful stuffed animals.
We now know that many dinosaurs were vague, and some, like the real VelociraptorThere were even wings on his arms. In an alternative story, these first feathered dinosaurs were found a few years earlier, and Steven Spielberg could have put feathers on his Velociraptors.
In relation: Jurassic Park Films classified, worse at best
HO: How does the scientific advisor process work? Does the studio offer ideas and then you say yes / no, or vice versa? When do you get involved?
SB: My work is advisory. I am always on appeal, whenever the director, artists or writers have questions about dinosaurs. I see myself as a defender of science, and my mission is to make sure that the Science behind dinosaurs is still there, in the ears of creative geniuses who write and make films. Most of my work occurs very early, when the script is being food and the conceptions of dinosaurs’ characters are being developed. This involves a lot of zoom cats, phone calls and emails. Many discussions, really.
Me giving comments on ideas, whether it is a plot, or more generally, the design of a dinosaur. It is not my job to approve or veto anything, but just to give my opinion. And I know that this opinion will be weighed against many other things as the film takes shape.
HO: How do you balance entertainment with scientific precision?
SB: In the end, these films are superproductions of Hollywood Summer monster films. These are not documentaries of nature. They are intended to entertain. And more than anything, I am impressed and recognizing that the Jurassic Park and the Jurassic World Series have always had advisers in paleontology, for the seven films. They don’t need to do this. I do not think that most science fiction films in space have astrophysics consultants. But the Jurassic franchise has always appreciated the real dinosaurs.
Of course, scientific precision is only a component to make a character of a memorable dinosaur on the screen. The character must be recognizable, he must have personality, he must transport a story and he must be dramatic. In the same way that the biopics of famous humans could exaggerate their characteristics or personalities for a dramatic effect, the jurassic dinosaurs may not be exactly scientific precision. And I agree with that. Because after all, we are talking about extinct species that lived millions of years ago. No one has seen these living dinosaurs. There are so many things that we don’t know how much they look and behaved. So we always need an artistic license when it comes to imagining them.
HO: How do you get a scientific advisor on a great film like this one?
SB: By an incredible stroke of luck and good fortune. It is not as if there was an application process. Instead, timing has just operated. THE The eminent paleontologist Jack Horner Was a consultant for the first five films, but he then retired. When Colin Trevorrow, the director of two of the Jurassic World films, was Start developing domination in 2018He had read a book that I had recently written (The rise and the fall of dinosaurs). He got hold of his hand, and I was obviously thinking that his email was a joke – something played by one of my colleagues or students. But we connected and it turned out to be Colin, then we met in Edinburgh where I live, and we had an excellent conversation, and he offered me the post. And then I was delighted to come back for the Renaissance, while Colin gave the reins to Gareth Edwards to direct the last episode.
HO: To have a new offer of bad guys, the Jurassic World franchise continues to invent new dinosaurs which are more frightening than T. Rex. Do you think there are real dinosaurs that are really more frightening than T. Rex?
Short answer, no. I think T. Rex was the last dinosaur. It was a monster the size of a bus, with a head the size of a bathtub, with more than 50 railway peak teeth which could crush the bones of its prey. And it was intelligent, with a big brain for a dinosaur, and acute sense of smell, hearing and vision. It doesn’t matter more than that.
SB: What is your favorite dinosaur in the new film and why?
I love the titanosaurs, the giant long necks. They are simply great – in the literal sense of the term. Heavy colossal creatures than jet planes, with couss that could reach several stories in the sky. And the way they are represented in the film, the way Gareth celebrates their massive size and scale, it’s just fascinating. My favorite scene in the film is when the paleontologist, played by Jonathan Bailey, meets these dinosaurs for the first time and gets lost emotionally. It’s beautiful. This is how I imagine that I would react if I saw a real giant dinosaur.
HO: If you were to be eaten / killed by a dinosaur, which one would be and why?
SB: i guess T. RexBecause it would be a rapid death. Crushed in these jaws and swallowed.
Publisher’s note: What Q&R was slightly published for style.
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