After facing a lengthy production delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jurassic World: Dominion is back to set–with a record number of animatronic dinosaurs. Speaking on Collider’s Comic-Con@Home Directors on Directing panel, director Colin Trevorrow has said that Dominion is going heavier on the practical effects than either of the past two films in the franchise have.
“We’ve actually gone more practical with every Jurassic movie we’ve made since the first one, and we’ve made more animatronics in this one than we have in the previous two,” Trevorrow said on the panel. After taking a break from the franchise, with J.A. Bayona directing 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Trevorrow is back in the director’s chair for Dominion, and apparently borrowing from his predecessor’s work.
“J.A. Bayona really, he found the value in creating really photo-real, just beautiful lighting references that could be articulated just slightly,” Trevorrow said. “Just a head and a jaw that could move, but painted beautifully, hand-painted. We do it for all of the dinosaurs now, so when we put it into a space, you can see how the light reacts to the skin. Even if they ultimately do make that a digital animal, there was always something there reacting to the light in that environment.”
It sounds like a simple, low-tech way to improve the overall quality of the visuals–though more advanced technology is also helping the Dominion team use more animatronics on set.
“We finally reached a point where… digital extensions on animatronics will be able to match the texture and the level of fidelity that, on film, an animatronic is going to be able to bring. And you didn’t use to be able to really mix them. You could really see the seams. And so that part of it is very exciting for me.”
For more on Jurassic World: Dominion, check out our guide to everything we know so far about the film. Dominion is currently scheduled to release on June 11, 2021, with filming now back in motion in the UK.