by In “Jurassic Park”, the creation of this plan, which has become one of the signatures of the film, asked for a lot of ingenuity on the part of the team of visual effects! How was it created?
We no longer present Jurassic Park, a memorable masterpiece of Steven Spielberg released in 1993. The film is full of iconic scenes and absolutely incredible bravery pieces. As with the teeth of the sea, the strength of the film is in the scarcity of the plans showing the dinosaurs, the presence of the latter being more suggested than really shown in the image.
An iconic plan
This intelligence in the staging can be summed up in a single plan! Spielberg proves that there is not necessarily need to show the sharp fangs of a T-Rex to arouse dread and anxiety. This plan is that of the glass of water which vibrates in the car, during the small trip of the protagonists through the park.
We hear a sound, like a very heavy blow, which makes the ground tremble, and we see the water present in the glass making undulations. This extremely striking image immediately aroused chills of anxiety in the spectator. At that time, we know that the car is stopped in front of the tyrannosaurus enclosure, and that the latter is fast approaching!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ16Q8UDVSG
To create this effect of a formidable efficiency, Steven Spielberg and his team waged their hair! They tested many tips, but nothing was doing! The circles in the glass of water did not do satisfactorily.
To manage to create the perfect little whirlwind, a smart process was finally found: place a guitar rope under the car dashboard, just under the glass. Scraping the rope allowed this effect, which has become a kind of symbolic motif of Jurassic Park, preventing the arrival of the formidable T-Rex.
Universal
The instrument affected by grace
This wonderful idea, we owe it to Michael Lantieri, supervisor of the special effects of the feature film. After 3 weeks to widen his brain with his team, the technician finally had this idea that was going to change everything and finally give satisfaction to Spielberg.
According to the artist visual effectsthe director wanted a perfect little whirlwind from the center of the glass. One evening, Michael Lantieri played the guitar with his son. The artist takes a break, drinks a drink and puts him on his guitar, towards the handle, next to the strings. He then has fun scrapeing them mechanically. He notices that it is starting to wave the water. Eurêka!
Arrived on the set, Lantieri attaches a guitar rope under the glass, makes it pass through the dashboard then under the car, so that it can handle it without being in the field of the camera. When the specialist in special effects scratches the rope, the ripple is perfect.
The perfect effect
Steven Spielberg, who attends the test, then sports a big smile and declares: “That's my arrival of the T-Rex!” The rest belongs to history. For the director, obtaining this perfect plan was extremely important because it brings a particular tension to the scene. Everything is based on suggestion that a very dangerous and potentially deadly creature is approaching.
Thus, the undulations of the water created by the heavy steps of the T-Rex were essential to create this impression of imminent danger; This is why Spielberg insisted so much on the accuracy of the result. From there to say that this special effect was more difficult to create than the dinosaurs themselves, there is only one step!
