Sound designers in Jurassic Park used various animal sounds to create the iconic roars of the dinosaurs.
The new Jurassic World films maintain continuity with the original dinosaur sounds while introducing new sounds for different species, striking a balance between believability and personality.
Deep dives
The Sound Design of Jurassic Park
The podcast explores the creative sound design techniques employed in Jurassic Park to bring the dinosaurs to life. The filmmakers had to make up the sounds of dinosaurs since there hadn't been a clear idea of what they sounded like. They used various animal sounds, including a baby elephant roar, crocodile sounds, and lion roars, to create the iconic T-Rex roar. Each dinosaur in the movie had its own unique voice, achieved by layering different animal vocalizations. The sound designers focused on creating believable and emotionally impactful sounds that enhanced the storytelling.
Sound Design Challenges in Jurassic World
In the new Jurassic World films, the lead sound designer faced the challenge of maintaining continuity with the original dinosaur sounds while also introducing new sounds for a genetically engineered dinosaur called the Indominus Rex. The team recorded various animals, including a fennec fox and large pigs, to create the unsettling, erratic sounds of the Indominus Rex. They also used penguins to provide a friendlier and gentler sound palette for the updated Velociraptors. The sound designers aimed to strike a balance between believability and enhancing the personality of each dinosaur.
Scientific Accuracy and Dinosaur Sounds
The podcast delves into the scientific accuracy of dinosaur sounds portrayed in the Jurassic Park films. While some aspects of the films, such as the roaring dinosaurs while hunting, are not realistic, paleontologists like Julia Clark study modern reptiles and birds, the descendants of dinosaurs, to gain insights into how dinosaurs might have sounded. Closed-mouth vocalizations, where sound is shaped after being produced in the vocal cords, are common in reptiles and birds and may have been used by dinosaurs. The podcast explores how the soundscape of the Jurassic period might have been based on current understanding.
When you imagine the sound of a dinosaur, you probably think of a scene from the Jurassic Park movies. How do sound designers make these extinct creatures sound so believably alive? And what does modern paleontology tell us about what dinosaurs REALLY sounded like? Featuring Jurassic World sound designer Al Nelson, and paleontologist Julia Clarke.