JURASSIC EXPLORER - A Retrospective (Part III)

Music of Mainstreet & Beyond!

With Jurassic Explorer Season 2 expanded the game with not just new areas, but new ways to experience all areas! The introduction of the Shop System allowed the player to explore Mainstreet in the "golden hour" of the afternoon, in the star filled evening, during a turbulent storm, or even during the holidays! Each of these experiences required new music to help bridge the moments and bring them to life. As mentioned, the shop system allowed for diegetic music to play from many of the stores on Main Street but it also allowed for the experience inside the 'Dave & Busters' location of playing a mini 8bit game as well! Originally intended to have a follow up of a racing game, this 8bit Mr DNA adventure was a major draw and experience! The level, like Season 2, would include references to each film from the saga to that point with musical stylings composed in 8bit style! Many of the tracks reference their non-8bit counterparts from the game, allowing for some familiarity to be created between the two sections as well.

PTEROSAURIA theatre entrance as seen in Jurassic World.

One of my favourite moments from Main Street was the IMax Experience 'Pterosauria!' The more I imagined what options of ways to bring it to life. I recalled as well that according to the original Jurassic World website, the sounds from the theatre were so loud that it bothered the rex! With this idea that the sound from the movie COULD be so loud to be heard outside the entrance, I began writing.

Being an IMAX show about an animal, the more the educational shows like 'Walking With Dinosaurs' came to mind and I was immediately inspired by that more european orchestral sound. This mysterious, tense, string opening leading to a build up. After I'd written up to this massive build and drum hit, I began to write a narration. After some tinkering, the two became one idea: the opening narration and introduction to the IMAX film 'PTEROSAURIA!' Eventually making a test recording of my voice in my car, I put together a proof of Concept for Michael. I sent him the temp file out of the blue with no context. Michael's response was immediate:

"I WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE NOW!"

It was this sort of creative dynamic that makes my work with Michael so special. The trust and almost expectation that we each try and push things further and see what else we can do. In the worlds Michael creates I am not just the bandaid added to fix or the salve added to smooth, but rather a piece of the puzzle that embellishes and grows and develops and resides within the final work.

Final Thoughts

JURASSIC EXPLORER holds a truly special place in my path. It came at a time when I yearned to do more music, especially theme park music, and when I was hurting to find a collaborator that I could work WITH and elevate each-other. JURASSIC PARK played such a special role in my life and my early inspirations that being gifted the opportunity to write music for a theme park, music for a Jurassic Park theme park, music for a game based around a Jurassic Park theme park, music that was diegetic and made the place alive and varied and allowed people to enjoy and explore and live in a world we all wish we could experience is a hard thing to quantify. And yet, I got to do just that.