[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]

Re: What do you hate about dino-docs?

I remember there was some talk about Raptor Red being optioned to studios but nothing became of it. I'm sure the rights have lapsed. I haven't heard a thing about it in a long time. There are a few dinosaur projects out there, but at the moment I'd be crazy to spill the beans about any of them. Some really good ones, and some really bad ones.
The good news is that producers are looking for something that has not been seen before. So feathers seem to be winning favour. You never know with this industry though. Many of you have been involved in docs and movies before and you know how it goes. One minute things are in and the next minute someone (with a bajillion dollars) brings up an experience with a parakeet who bit his finger and will have nothing to do with anything with feathers.

  Ah..one more thing that bugs me about dinosaur docs...

If it has to do with Hell Creek we all know how the episode will end.
Heck, my wife stopped watching these shows, Hell Creek or not, because they were so darn depressing. 9 times out of 10 they end with the main "character " dying a horrible death so that we can see them being dug up at the end!

Been to busy to see Sea Monsters, but I was up in Montreal at Damn FX and got to see some final rendered shots. It looked nice! An interesting choice for a main character!

David Krentz

On Nov 14, 2007, at 9:33 PM, Chris Harris wrote:

I remember a long time ago I saw an slide based advertisement at the Sydney Imax Theatre saying
it was coming soon. It just showed the book cover (Raptor Silhouette against Sunset).

Maybe some Imax Production company has it.

Would make an interesting film - provided they didn't talk and have lips. "Dinosaur" anyone? (sorry David!) ;-)

Chris Harris


John Scanlon wrote:
Anthropomorphism is of course usually bogus, especially in stories for
children (the old Disney paradigm), but at least some animals do have (or
potentially have) life stories or episodes that embody real drama. These may
include: Life-or-death struggles among rivals or against predators,
courtship and parental care, other long-term recurrent interactions among
individuals, exploration of unfamiliar territory, behavioural innovation in
response to novel resources or to overcome a specific handicap (e.g.
injury), social interactions (including play) among family members, other
conspecifics, and individuals and groups of mixed-species communities.
That's already plenty to build stories around without anthropomorphizing
unduly, as long as you pick a species/community that isn't too boring. I can
only think of one example where this was really well done for dinosaurs,
Bakker's 'Raptor Red' (some people automatically hated it because it was
Bakker, but people are like that). I wonder who owns the film rights? It's
probably a good thing it wasn't filmed in the 90's, because now it could be
done with feathers!

-----------------------------------------------

Dr John D. Scanlon, FCD
Palaeontologist, Riversleigh Fossil Centre, Outback at Isa
19 Marian Street / PO Box 1094
Mount Isa  QLD  4825
AUSTRALIA
Ph:   07 4749 1555
Fax: 07 4743 6296
Email: riversleigh@outbackatisa.com.au
http://tinyurl.com/f2rby


-----Original Message-----
From: David Krentz [mailto:ddkrentz@charter.net] Sent: 14 November, 2007 2:42 PM
To: juravenator@trilobiteanimation.com
Cc: Brad McFeeters; Dinosaur
Subject: Re: What do you hate about dino-docs?

I'm curious about how many of you feel about the anthropamorphism of dinosaurs. That is, turning them into characters who are seemingly involved in a three act story structure, often with human motives. Is a "relatable" animal good for science? Could we care for a baby tyrannosaur who kills a "peaceful" anatotitan? I suppose science has nothing to do with anthropamorhism, and it may in fact be a dirty word, but its hard to deny the fact that public interest is generated by such a concession. Just food for thought.

David Krentz


On Nov 13, 2007, at 7:43 PM, Chris Harris wrote:


Brad McFeeters wrote:

"...If feathers were too expensive to animate, why not avoid depicting maniraptors in the show? IIRC, they were only minor "characters" in WWD anyway..... "

---------
Come on, how many kids would jump up and down if they had left them out?!

These are "Raptors!", big scary things with teeth! Kids love that stuff! How could they
leave them out.

-----------

Dino Guy Ralph wrote:

"...the result is that their sequels and
spin-offs perpetuate antiquated stereotypes of scaly coelurosaurs.""

-------

I whole heartedly agree with you there - aside from budgetory reasons there really is no excuse for this.
JP3 tried to do this while sticking to the original design, but for continuity reasons they couldn't completely
cover them. Lets face it, while JP's raptors looked very good, the science for there actual existence isn't very solid. I consider the raptors in JP a cool movie monster rather than an actual dino.

- Chris

-------