Published at: Feb. 1, 2000, 7:02 a.m. CST by staff
Hey folks, Harry here. Garth over at Dark Horizons is reporting the the cinematographer for JURASSIC PARK 3 has said in an interview that filming is to start in New Zealand in the next few weeks... And from a Spanish mag, it seems that Chris Klein (the American Pie kid). I've already had one reader suggest that if filming is going to start in New Zealand... then perhaps Sam Neill will be involved... And still there's the fact that Laura Dern and Joe Johnston have worked together in the past and perhaps... Hmmm... Johnston has hinted that at least one first film cast member will return maybe more... Whatever the case is... I'll be headed for Costa Rica soon for my own expedition to find the island and capture my own Dinos for my Dinosaur version of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT... Sigh... But it seems that filming is getting ready to move forward.
Before Joe Johnston sets off on his grand dinosaur film, let me give all of you a short little story that was related to me on one of my meetings with Ray Harryhausen, where he revealed to me the secret to great monster movie making.
Ray had just seen JURASSIC PARK the night before in Dallas, Texas. I was set up at a show selling vintage movie memorabilia... He came in to remember the history of film. We talked about a great many items... the unmade TIME MACHINE sequel that he and George Pal were going to do together. The film he was going to make with Walt Disney. And at one point I asked him if he had seen Jurassic Park.
He went on and on about how much he loved the animation of the dinosaurs and how it made him feel... of no more use to the world. Post-Cg-Dino Syndrome I called it. I commented that I felt that Gwangi had more personality than any of the dinosaurs in JP, and that Willis' stegosaurus in KING KONG was still my favorite Dinosaur. And that's when Ray asked me, "Harry, you want to know the secret to great movie monster making?"
I felt electric sparks shiver down my spine. It was as if God was offering to hand me FIRE for the first time in human existence. I stammered out a yes and Ray continued....
Today, movies are so rush rush rush. The monsters come at you as if that were their only purpose. A monster, a dinosaur, the creature... Their normal state is at ease. Relaxing beneath a shade tree.... drinking water..... Grooming itself. Sleeping. A monster has to have a passive face, that way... when it is after a person... when it does want to kill... it's horrifying. Lions in cages are not fierce.... Lions chasing down a gazelle are ferocious. When you give the creature this other side, you are fulfilling it's character. Today they don't do that because it costs so much money for every second of screentime... But those seconds count. The reason Kong is the greatest film creature created is because he didn't want to kill people. He was forced into it. They took from him. They shot at him. They exploited him. The beast is not at fault. Animals kill for food and out of fear and to protect... Not to terrify.
If nothing else I hope Johnston considers it a bit when making this the third and best of the Jurassic Parks. I'm calling it that because... Joe has the great benefit of not having one of Crichton's novels. If he had it, he'd be shackled by what he HAD to do and by what he couldn't AFFORD to do.
