Making 'Jurassic World': There Was an App for That

One reason Jurassic World topped $1 billion at the box office was its use of cutting-edge technology to make dinosaurs come alive. Filled with immersive visual effects from Industrial Light and Magic, filmmakers were tasked with pushing the envelope while ensuring everything looked impeccable. Modelers did the necessary geometry to construct the dinos, painters added detailed color and texture to the creatures, and riggers used muscle simulations to make them move. Another tool filmmakers used — as seen in this exclusive clip from the forthcoming Blu-ray and DVD — was an app specially created for the movie. Director Colin Trevorrow explains: “You could hold up an iPad and shoot at your frame and the dinosaur would be there.”

The ILM-made app also helped the actors determine their own performance within the action, as Bryce Dallas Howard explains.

And as Trevorrow points out, those basic pre-visualizations of the dinos and actors closely reflected the final blocking of each scene.

The Jurassic World Blu-ray and DVD, with more extras like this one, is available Tuesday.