More on 'Timeline'
Those interested in the filming of 'Timeline', the movie-version of JP author Michael Crichton's latest novel, might want to check out thetimelinemovie.com, a fansite from Matthew Bass, long-time contributer to DJP3P. Matthew already has a link to a review of the Timeline script which (surprise!) seems to not impress the reviewer much.

April 16, 2002

Isla Nublar Map
Ever wonder just where Isla Nublar and Sorna are located? Wondering how far Nedry was from the East Dock when he met his demise? Well 'Dr.Dino' (aka Joel Meine) has pieced together information contained in all three movies, both books, and additional rare material such as a 1993 promo newsletter, "Jurassic News" to come up with an incredibly detailed Isla Nublar Map Version 1.0 and accompanying ReadMe file, which explains how he came to some of his conclusions as to what's where. Joel also sends along a Costa Rica Map, which shows the locations of the islands in relation to the shores of Costa Rica (note that JP and JP3 offer different values as to how far away each island is, so this is really just a guesstimate). Very cool Joel!

Fun With Aero-Planes
And along the same lines comes another fantastic JP3 fan-made model from 'Allosaurs', a repainted Pro Beech King Air 350 to match the Kirby's plane in the movie for use in MS Flight Simulator. There's also another model that features slash marks and no wings to recreate the plane's post-Spino encounter, though I'm not sure how that one passes FAA regulations....

JP Counter Strike
It must be fan day at Dan's JP3 Page, as here's one more fan-created item, this a Jurassic Park Map for the popular Half Life add-on, Counter-Strike. (Thanks 'Death Canyon')

'Timeline' Begins Filming
Semi-semi JP related, but Crichton fans will be interested to know that the movie version of his latest work, "Timeline" has finally begun principal photography, according to a Paramount press release. Director Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon", "Superman") began filming the medieval adventure/time-travel flick back on April 8th, starring Frances O'Connor and Paul Walker.

Universal and Hop-On Controversy
Finally an actual bit of JP3 news: I talked briefly to the journalist who wrote the San Francisco Chronicle article that started the whole Hop-On controversy (to summarize, the company that promised to insert "the world's first disposable cell phone" into random copies of the JP3 DVD was apparently a fraud, and no phones were actually produced). According to the author, Universal is actually spared from possible legal problems due to false advertising (the DVD's shipped with stickers advertising the Hop-On contest) since according to the Universal rep he talked to, the DVD's never actually contained phones, but certificates saying they won (You had a 1 in 10,000 chance). Universal therefore is still planning on honoring these certificates, but give people an alternate award.

April 4, 2002

JP3 Nominated for Christian Movieguide Award
Among the adjectives used to describe JP3, "uplifting, inspirational and encouraging" would probably be pretty low on my list. However according to this Zap2It.com article, the Christian Film & Television Commission apparently thought JP3 had some redeeming values, including the film in their list of 8 movies nominated for a "Movieguide Award". JP3 stood alongside the "Mature" nominees; "An American Rhapsody", "A Beautiful Mind", LOTR, "I am Sam", "Kandahar", "On the Line", and "Pearl Harbor" (LOTR was the overall winner, taking home a crystal teddy bear). The show will air on the PAX station "at a date still to be determined." (Thanks 'Razz')

Paul Giacoppo Talks ILM Realism
"Digital Effects Seek to Keep it Real" is a nice article from "e)mag" about the recent advances in special effects, with the author arguing much effects work these days is less on impressive work like explosions, and instead on trying to make something look "real". Paul Giacoppo, an animator at ILM, talks about the new work his company did for JP3:

Giacoppo's work was seen most recently in Jurassic Park 3, in which dinosaurs once again walked among us - only this time they were subtly more convincing than before. Giacoppo says the greater realism of the dinosaurs in the third film derives from their being more complete: "We modeled internal mechanisms, internal structures¤we simulated bones, muscles on bones, skin stretched over muscles."

In the previous films, ILM "cheated," modeling hollow creatures and texturing the skin around them. The skin was assigned weight, so that it dragged more in some parts than others, but the newer creatures look much more natural and realistic.

The downside of this better quality at a better price is time. Each frame with one of the complex models in it took 15 minutes to render - longer if there was more than one creature in the frame.

April 1, 2002

March 31, 2002

I been meaning to write for some time now. I couldn't while we were in production on JP3 because there is always the possibility of unintentionally passing along information that could hurt or undermine our clients interests. I wanted to let you know that the JP3 crew really enjoyed Dan's JP3 page. We would call it up frequently and laugh at the misinformation but more often be amazed at the correct information. We were constantly baffled at how you found out so much about JP3 and we were definitely grateful for the interest and enthusiasm your site reflected for JP3. The truth is that most of us that worked on JP3 are big fans of this stuff or we wouldn't be working in the business.

A couple of stories that I think will be of interest;

Adrienne Anderson (one of our kick ass production coordinators) telephoned Theresa Corrao (affectionately known as "T"), our FX producer. T was on first unit duty, with Jimmy Mitchell, in Hawaii. The phone conversation was part of a daily ritual to get any updates that might effect our work at ILM. During the conversation Adrienne asked " so what gear did you lose when the equipment barge flipped over". T responded; " what are you talking about, the barge didn't flip, we didn't lose any gear ". Adrienne replied; "According to Dan's JP3 page you did." T said; " Do they just make this stuff up?" They finished their conversation and hung up. Ten minute later the phone rang. It was T; " I just found out the barge flipped."

Another fun story... One day, Charlie Bailey (model supervisor) came into the production office and asked if we had a picture of the airplane in the film. He wanted to start some initial planning for the crash sequence. We didn't have a picture at ILM so Adrienne called the first unit production in Hawaii. They were out in the jungle and out of contact for a few hours. Brice Parker (another kick ass production coordinator) jumped online. Went to Dan's JP3 page, found a picture of the plane, printed it out and handed it to Charlie.

So I think you can take some pride in the fact that you did participate in the JP3 production. JP3 was a great project to work on but was also a very demanding effort. We had a outstanding director, great producers and amazing production, animation and effects crews. Dan's JP3 page was a lot of fun for us at ILM. When you're involved in a effects and animation challenge, like JP3, laughter and fun help to reduced the stress factor. I know, in the future, when JP3 alumni run into one another and reminisce about the production there will be mention of Dan's JP3 page. Thanks Dan's JP3 page.

Dan Taylor JP3 animation director

PS: We're all looking forward to Dan's JP4 page.

JP3 Disposable Phone Controversy?
Remember the hub-bub over the "world's first disposable cell phone", created by a company called "Hop-On" and as a preview of the technology, supposedly distributed in random copies of the JP3 DVD? Well a radio program is now asserting that no one actually received the phone, and is accusing the company and Universal Studios of defrauding the public. According to the Clark Howard Radio Show (A consumer advocacy type program), Hop-On took money from venture capitalists but never delivered the product. And while Entertainment Weekly did print a review of the JP3 disposable phone in a recent issue, no one I knew actually found one in their JP3 DVD case. Did any of you? (Thanks Randy)

Dino News
How about some dinosaur-related stories? 'JP Animal Control' sends along a link to this NationalGeographic.com article, detailing the discovery of a new dino that was apparently a cousin to our old friend the Triceratops. "Dinosaurs Discover a Dinosaur Clad in Flightless Feathers" is another discovery of a wee flightless bird/dinosaur from 125-million years ago, which they say puts to rest the argument that feathers did not originate before birds of flight. And finally, this article from The Independent (UK) talks about an Australian discovery that could turn out to be the world's oldest life form. (Also thanks 'Morddruadh')

March 22, 2002

Universal Stuff
'Banning' noticed (and I saw it as well), that Universal has started to run a new promo for their theme parks in theaters which features JP3 music and clips. In the spot, a family is shown in a theater lobby, when someone says, "I want to see something exciting!", followed by various short segments from JP3. And speaking of Universal Studios, "Special Effects Stages" is a new attraction that opened at the Hollywood park on March 16th, which lets visitors "uncover the secrets behind movies' most amazing illusions". According to a promo email received by 'TheNForcer', the attraction features several Universal properties, including "The Mummy", "Shrek", and, of course, JP.

Free ASP Scripts
The most common question I've gotten since I started running this site (besides, of course, "Can I be in JP3?") was "How could I put a message board like yours on my website?". Well since everyone's asked so nicely, I've gathered all my scripts together and posted them on my newly redesigned home page (click "Dan's ASP Scripts"), free for the taking. You can choose from the message board, voting booth, search engine, comment script, and login/logoff script. Before emailing me saying they don't work, please read the instructions!

March 16, 2002

SFX Series Features JP
In preperation for the Oscars, the American Movie Classics TV channel is readying a series of new specials on Acamdey Award-award winning films, and everyone's favorite dino-flick is among them: "Cinema Secrets: Oscar Winning FX" is a new episode of the popular series on movie SFX, which will go behind-the-scenes of JP in addition to looking at the Nutty Professor and Men in Black. It'll air next Friday, March 22nd at 10pm ET. And speaking the Oscars, make sure you tune in to the big show itself on the 24th -- JP/TLW Composer John Williams will be conducting the Oscar orchestra at the brand-spakin'-new Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

A Look at the UK DVD
Since most of us will never get a chance to see this thing, Karel kindly sent along scans of the JP3 DVD limited edition box set, released only in England from some select retailers. As you can tell from the back of the case, the set includes the JP3 DVD, "exlusive JP3 lobby stills", a "JP3 film cell", and a certificate of authenticity.

[JP3 News from February 18th through March 10th]