Fan projects are always a joy to experience, from the simplest art pieces to the big-budget tributes that could easily pass for an official entry in a given series. But something really special happens when the truly ambitious and creative ideas meet with the technical know-how that only comes with years of genuine experience. When that special occurrence involves dinosaurs from Jurassic Park? Everybody wins.
To one particular VFX studio, this practice has nearly become their standard operating procedure. Over recent months and beyond, they've released a number of videos that serve as personal challenges for them and educational experiences for the audience. Granted, it's not their only style of video. But lately, it seems like their skills have been more honed than ever, giving viewers some great insights into the VFX process.
Apart from their rather popular video series where team members react to CGI in popular movies like Shang-Chi and shows, the folks over at Corridor Digital have also begun putting out releases that show them painstakingly recreating iconic scenes from classic films from scratch. Their latest entry involves the legendary T-rex scene from Jurassic Park. It's a well-known scene that still manages to hold up today, but the crew is never averse to a good challenge. Describing their process every step of the way, several of the animators and experts at Corridor broke down the original scene from the 1993 classic before detailing for the audience exactly what they planned on doing
Unlike similar videos such as their Star Wars Death Star trench run recreation, this instance warranted the use of several practical elements, and it seems they paid off. Interestingly, crew members Wren and Jordan took inspiration not only from the original Jurassic Park but also the more recent and much more digital Jurassic World movies. After downloading an expensive 3D T-rex model from a database, they set to work using a real outdoor location and real vehicles to set the scene. The only issue was their vehicles were toys, and the presence of giant aloe vera plants would probably take the viewer out of the scene a bit.
But just like in their reproduction of Terminator 2's groundbreaking special effects, the Corridor Crew wasn't about to let such trivial matters stop them. After slapping in a few rain effects, adjusting the lighting to a truly impressive degree, and bringing in their resident motion capture performer to create the beast's movements, things finally began to come together. However, even the team members themselves seemed a little underwhelmed by the result.
Sure, the dinosaur has an uncanny, almost stop-motion sort of animation. But the rest of the shot, from the T-rex's visual quality to the gorgeous environmental effects, comes together nicely. The crew themselves admitted that they weren't aiming to outdo the original (and even with the best effects of today, that may never be truly possible). They simply wanted to offer their own alternate take using the same skills that let them debunk a certain Spider-Man video, and on that front, they succeeded. It was fun and educational, just like every hip grade school teacher desperately wanted to be.
Jurassic Park is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Corridor Crew/YouTube