| Battle at Big Rock | |
|---|---|
 Official release poster | |
| Based on | Jurassic Park byMichael Crichton |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Colin Trevorrow |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Amie Doherty |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers |
|
| Cinematography | Larry Fong |
| Editors | Stephen M. Rickert, Jr. |
| Running time | 8 minutes[1] |
| Production company | Amblin Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | FX |
| Release | September 15, 2019 (2019-09-15) |
Battle at Big Rock is a 2019 Americanshort film directed byColin Trevorrow. It is part of theJurassic Park franchise and follows the events ofJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). It starsAndré Holland,Natalie Martinez,Melody Hurd, and Pierson Salvador. The short premiered onFX on September 15, 2019 and was subsequently released online. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Set one year after the events ofJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, ablended family fromOakland, California goes on a camping trip at the fictional Big Rock National Park inNorthern California, approximately 20 mi (32 km) from where dinosaurs fromFallen Kingdom were let loose. The film chronicles the first major confrontation between humans and the dinosaurs.[1]
At their campsite, the family is dining in their RV when they are suddenly greeted by aNasutoceratops and its baby. To their horror, anAllosaurus emerges and attacks the baby, leading to a battle with the adult. A second adult joins the fight, and the two prevail against theAllosaurus, fleeing into the woods with their baby. TheAllosaurus proceeds to attack the family's RV after hearing their infant crying. Upon destroying the RV, the family begin to fear for the worst. To their relief, the daughter shoots theAllosaurus in its head withcrossbows, which causes the dinosaur to flee. They embrace, though are in complete shock over what just happened.
During theclosing credits,found footage clips of dinosaurs and other creatures are shown including a pack ofCompsognathus chasing after a scared little girl, aStegosaurus causing a car to swerve and drive off a cliff, fishermen in a boat peacefully passing by aParasaurolophus on the banks of a river, aMosasaurus eating agreat white shark after the shark eats aseal, and aPteranodon swooping at a dove that had just beenreleased at a wedding.
The idea for the film originated whenUniversal Studios asked Trevorrow if he would be interested in making a potentialJurassic World short film, and he accepted.[1] Trevorrow wrote the short film withEmily Carmichael, who was already working with him to writeJurassic World Dominion (2022). The short film's story remained the same throughout the project's history, as Trevorrow believed the next logical step for the franchise would be for campers to encounter dinosaurs following the events ofJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.[3]
To maintain secrecy on the project, no auditions or casting calls were held. A casting director who knew Trevorrow helped lead a secretive search for the child actors. The film markedMelody Hurd's acting debut. Trevorrow choseAndré Holland andNatalie Martinez as he admired their acting in other films.[1]
Filming took place in Ireland in January 2019. Filming locations includedPowerscourt Estate.[4][3] Ireland was chosen asredwood trees outsideDublin resembled national parks in northernCalifornia. Filming took place with a small crew over the course of five days.[1]Larry Fong was the film's cinematographer.[5] Much of the film was shot using ahand-held camera, as Trevorrow wanted to see if audiences would accept such a filmmaking style in aJurassic Park film, which he later felt they did.[3]
Industrial Light & Magic createdCGI dinosaurs for the film,[6] as well as reference maquettes,[7] while John Rosengrant ofLegacy Effects created ananimatronicAllosaurus.[8] The film had a much smaller budget than the full films in theJurassic Park franchise. Originally, the film was going to be shorter than eight minutes.[1] After filming concluded, Trevorrow decided to add end-credit scenes depicting dinosaurs. Because he could not film any new scenes, he instead searched throughYouTube videos that could be integrated into the film. The rights to each of the online videos were purchased for use in the short film, and dinosaurs were then added into the videos.[3]
Amie Doherty composed the film's score. Doherty was contacted in October 2018 about composingBattle at Big Rock. She met with Trevorrow in December, and was chosen to compose the film. After filming concluded, Doherty's score changed slightly over the next four months as the film underwent editing. Doherty said the score was mainly tightened to fit in with the events depicted in the film.[3] The musical recording process took place atAbbey Road Studios,[1] where an 80-piece orchestra recorded the score in May 2019.[3]
Battle at Big Rock was announced on September 10, 2019, and it premiered five days later onFX.[9][10] Trevorrow was surprised at the amount of secrecy maintained on the project up until the announcement.[1]Mattel had released toys for the film prior to its release, and a fan site had also learned of the film, but its existence otherwise remained largely unknown.[3] After its television premiere,Battle at Big Rock was released online throughYouTube, as well as JurassicWorld.com and the website forNBC.[11] The short film was initially scheduled to accompany the theatrical release of Universal'sHobbs & Shaw in August 2019.[12] The short film was included on the Blu-ray and DVD releases ofJurassic World Dominion (which was exclusively in North America, Japan, China, English, French, Dutch, German and Italian speaking countries).
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Battle at Big Rock received acclaim from critics and fans[13] alike.
Stuart Heritage ofThe Guardian called it, "...by far the best in the [Jurassic World] series..."[14] Julia Alexander ofThe Verge claimed, "[the film] has everything aJurassic Park fan would want..."[11]
Charles Pulliam-Moore ofio9 described it as "solid".[15] Josh Millican ofDread Central described it as "...a tasty little treat..."[16] Mike Reyes ofCinemaBlend described it as "a sight to see".[17]
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