Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s Director Breaks Down the Volcanic Eruption Scene

Hi, I'm J.A. Bayona,

director of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,

and this is Notes on a Scene.

Run!

(dinosaurs roar)

(screams)

(action music)

So this is a massive set piece

that takes place during the eruption

of a volcano in Isla Nublar.

This is a nice reference, that shot that you saw

to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

This was a very challenging scene

in terms of the atmosphere.

If you look at the light of the scene,

it's all, like, filtered

through this massive cloud.

You can tell here how the lighting is affected

by the shadow of the volcano,

and you can see the level of detail

that you have in the smoke.

For example, the different layers of color,

and different textures of darkness

that you have in the smoke.

I think this is a perfect marriage

of the real elements that we had on the set,

and the elements that were added later on

in post-production.

(trees crash)

(action music)

(dinosaurs bellow)

This is one of my favorite shots in the movie,

and it reflects, somehow,

the kind of visual storytelling that I like.

You can see this is a wide shot,

and as it moves forward, you will see how the attention

goes from this wide shot of the three characters

and then, it looks like shot for the dinosaurs,

but then it's a shot of the volcano.

And this is one of my favorite shots in the film.

I really like how somehow the attention is lead

from the characters, to the Brachiosaurus,

to the volcano in the same shot.

And I think that's a way of leading the story,

and leading the attention of the audience

in a very specific way.

It's kind of like a choreography.

And I love to do that.

(action music)

(pants loudly)

(yells)

This is a very interesting shot

to understand how we were merging real elements with CGI.

This is a real log.

It's a prop that we had on set.

The gyrosphere, we added the glass digitally.

So all these reflections,

you can see the trees and the mountains,

the character, and even this little dinosaur,

are CGI reflections.

This is a very interesting moment,

because we did a couple of takes.

And I think in second, third take

I had the impression that Justice was looking at a dinosaur.

So for the next take, I ask him to look at a dinosaur.

I suggest that he look here,

you're gonna have a dinosaur jumping,

and I am gonna add a dinosaur

later on in the post-production.

(pants loudly)

(trees crack) (dinosaurs bellow)

(screams)

(all yell)

I really like this idea of the log.

It was a solution that we found out

in order to justify why the gyrosphere

was stuck in there.

Somehow, the dinosaurs were making the log shorter

and shorter and shorter.

And this is the kind of visual gag

that for me reminds me the old silent movies

from Buster Keaton, you know?

I think there's a sense of comedy

in how the camera goes from left to the right,

right to the left.

It's almost like a tennis game.

So you go from this wide shot,

to one shot that goes to the left,

to the right, to the left, to the right,

and now here you see that the log

gets shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter,

until the log disappears.

That was a solution that we found out

in order to justify that the gyrosphere was stuck in there.

But at the same time, was a way of introducing comedy

in a very visual way.

So we go from this massive log

to this log that has disappeared,

and suddenly our characters are totally helpless there.

The only way to escape is getting inside the gyrosphere,

and then you introduce a new character, the Carnotaurus.

(characters gasp)

(Carnotaurus roars)

(stomps)

(Carnotaurus growls) (Characters pant)

This is a CGI shot,

and there was a lot of conversation on the Internet

about being these animatronic,

and there was a lot of fun thinking

that this was actually animatronic.

That tells you how good is the work

not only of the design of the dinosaur,

but of the integration of the dinosaur.

You can tell, the level of richness

in terms of the colors, the textures,

the speculars in the light.

The eyes of the Carnotaurus lead us

to the Sinoceratops.

(dinosaurs bellow, screech)

(dinosaurs bellow, screech)

(characters scream)

No! (yells)

(dinosaur bellows)

When we were thinking about the action,

it's kind of always challenging to find an excuse

for what the humans do as the dinosaurs are fighting.

But in this case, the solution that we found out

is that Owen is trying to get inside of the gyrosphere,

but the dinosaurs are all the time interrupting him.

And I really like this cut you're about to see.

Look at the door, how the door closes two times.

Pum, pum.

Two times, you know, it's perfect.

No one noticed.

But it makes the action more effective,

it gives more importance to the moment of the door closing,

which is which Owen is trying to do

all the time during the scene,

getting inside the gyrosphere.

(dinosaur roars)

(dinosaur roars)

(crunch)

(inspirational music)

(dinosaur roars)

(volcano crashes)

This whole moment is the preparation,

I mean, the log getting shorter,

the Carnotaurus, the appearance of the Sinoceratops,

to the big moment of the scene,

which is the entrance of the T. Rex.

And I really like, if you take a look

at the sound design of this scene, is very interesting.

Look at the volcano exploding,

and you don't get the sound until here.

So you can definitely see the sound wave

getting to the camera, and hitting the camera,

and moving the camera.

(roars)

(volcano erupts)

(roars)

And I think this is a very interesting shot

that goes from a very wide shot.

And I really like in this shot

how the attention goes from Owen

in comparison to a massive T. Rex,

and you can see the size of the T. Rex

in comparison to Owen,

and as the camera moves forward,

it's not a shot of the T. Rex anymore.

It's a close-up of Owen looking off-camera.

And that's a way of making the next shot more impressive,

to create a bigger impact.

Because we still don't know what he's looking at

but we are watching his reaction to it.

(debris whooshes past) (trees crash)

Owen!

(debris crashes)

In designing these kind of scenes,

I really enjoy making this kind of choreography

that leads the attention of the audience

in a way that they participate of the viewings of the movie

and unconsciously, somehow manipulating in a way

that they just getting to the action

in a very effective way.

(dinosaurs screech, bellow)

(roars) (screams)