Sound in Jurassic Park
by Vivian and Nadia
Throughout the movie Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, the score is one of the most prominent elements and drives the plot emotionally. A musical score is a series of pieces written to accompany a specific movie, songs retaining to each scene. Movie directors often use music to express to the audience either how a certain character is feeling, to mirror the subject matter sonically, or to accompany in rhythm the actions within a scene. Without music, movie scenes would be less powerful or possibly misinterpreted from the director’s intentions. Containing the power to evoke emotions from the audience––whether it be scared, happy, sad, or otherwise––music is a powerful tool for moviemakers. In Jurassic Park, Paleontologists Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler visit John Hammond at his newly completed “Jurassic Park”. In the park, the paleontologists learn about dinosaurs that have been genetically revived from extinction by Mr. Hammond’s scientists. His grandchildren, Lex and Tim, accompany the adults on an interrupted and frightening tour of the park, in which carnivorous dinosaurs escape and attack the group. The score of Jurassic Park sets the respective mood of each type of contrasting scene found in Jurassic Park, from suspenseful, tense action sequences, to moments of heart-warming connection, to triumphant successes.
Suspense and tension are two of the key elements evoked through Jurassic Park’s musical score. They are felt before and during the action sequences as well as moments of uncomfortable stillness. The feelings of suspense and tension are what keep audiences on the edge of their seats, but without the musical score they might not be felt by audiences at all. When Ellie is told by one of the park-workers to run while he hunts the preying dinosaurs, she struggles to jump over fallen trees and roots, just barely making it to safety and avoiding a potential dinosaur attack. The music is intense, causing the audience to fear for Ellie’s life. The high chromatically descending flutes in the score, a sound similar to crying or yelling, are a surefire sign that she is in danger, and add to the suspense of the moment. The flutes in this scene create ostinatos (persistently repeated musical motifs), building the tension and anticipation for the consonant dissonant pattern to break. The score in this scene almost serves as a mirror to Ellie’s actions and emotions. The ostinatos represent her fear; the speed of the notes represent the speed at which she needs to run, and rests in the music are the moments in which she attempts to jump over a log. Eventually, Ellie reaches the building and the music decrescendos.
Another great example of the use of suspense in the film’s score is the drawn-out scene in which Ellie is turning the systems back on in the park. The moment’s suspense is truly built through the movie’s use of music, or rather its sudden lack thereof, in a triumphant moment right after the lights are switched on. In this scene, the music starts off with quiet brass and strings. As the scene intensifies, so does the music. When Ellie finds the “push to close” button and is preparing to click it, there is a hesitation and the instruments alternate between two notes, only a half step apart, not quite dissonant but also not resolved. The repetitive and uncomfortable musical pattern makes the audience feel the stress of the moment’s subject matter, as this button determines the fate of Tim, who is hanging from a currently shut off electric fence controlled by that button. Once Ellie has pushed the button, the music is less suspenseful and becomes purely intense. The low winds and brass take over for the most part with occasional accents from higher instruments, one moment being when the button is pushed. In the parallel scene to the buttons, the music pauses as Tim slips on the electric fence. The high descending scales add intensity to the moment, evoking fear from the audience as they expect him to fall on these unexpected outbursts. As Ellie begins to switch on the buttons controlling each section of the park, the higher instruments play fluterry and fast notes while the lower instruments sustain sustain notes and crescendo for an anticipative effect. As the scene progresses and she approaches the final button, the instruments accelerate and crescendo, both common tactics in classical music used to evoke feelings of stress and danger. As Tim is thrown from the fence by electrical shock, a high note is sustained by the orchestra before abruptly cutting off when he hits the ground. For Ellie, this moment is exciting, as the lights have just switched back on, and she’s returned power to the entire park. The music becomes triumphant, and right when we expect the joyful phrase to resolve, it lingers on the final, unresolved note for too long; the audience is subconsciously alerted that something is not right, and only a second later, Ellie is attacked by a dinosaur from behind. The audience was aware that something bad would happen based solely on those suspense cues in the score, but don’t know exactly what.
In another scene, near the end of the movie, the adults are trying to keep a dinosaur from entering the computer control room. Unfortunately, the system had earlier been disarmed, thus none of the doors are locked. As Lex takes over the system while the dinosaurs attempt to pry open the door, the music intensifies and tension builds. When she first sits down after realizing that she can help because she knows how to code, the music becomes triumphant. This quickly changes to tension and suspense as the time pressure increases, her brother reminds her of the stakes, and the inserts of the dinosaur attempting to open the door appear. When this happens, the music dramatifies, and the wind and brass instruments cut through the scene with terror, as if determining the fast tempo at which Lex’s heart should be beating during the scene. These musical allusions to our instinctive human reactions help intensify feelings of fear within the audience. This scene is crucial to the lives of many major characters in the movie, and the musical score acts as a reminder of the stakes for the audience.
The heartwarming scenes in Jurassic Park are a relief from the frequent intense action sequences. Carried by the gentle score, these scenes briefly allow for relaxation, beauty, reflection and appreciation. These scenes not only serve the purpose of breathing time amidst all the action, but they all revolve around the common theme of parenthood. From the first scene of the movie, the audience learns that Ellie would like to have children and that Dr. Grant is dead-set against it. Throughout the rest of the movie, one of the subtle subplots is the question of whether or not Dr. Grant will decide he would be open to having children with Ellie in the future. Scenes in which the subject matter and score are heartwarming create a motif, in which the audience is reminded of this parental question. One of the first heartwarming scenes is when the characters get to meet a sick dinosaur up-close. As the group begins to reach out to pet the dinosaur, gentle soaring music begins to play. The music score reassures the audience that the characters are in a safe situation, and that they can enjoy the moment as much as the characters are. This moment is very important to Ellie, who seems to immediately form a deep bond with the sick dinosaur and wants to care for her. The music in this scene reflects Ellie’s maternal inclinations. The audience is gently reminded of how good a mother she would be, as she bends down to gently pet the dinosaur’s head, and actually exclaims “baby” to the dinosaur out of pure joy, a clear allusion to the potential baby she wishes to have. The music in this scene mostly middle strings and wind instruments and consists of a simple melody. The instruments play in unison, similar to the weakened dinosaur in relation to the humans. The instruments have a symbiotic relationship to one another, as do the humans and the dinosaur in this scene.
The next scene in which the score is similarly heartwarming is just after Dr. Grant saves Tim from the car, and both children are sitting in a tree with him. In one of the first scenes in the movie, we learn that Dr. Grant dislikes children, as he threatens a child with a dinosaur claw. The scene in the tree is the first time we see his deep care for the children as they lie on him, trusting that he would protect them. In this moment, the gentle music swells and the audience is given a new appreciation for Dr. Grant. When Dr. Grant drops the dinosaur claw, freeing himself from the negative attitude towards children he so desperately clung to and relaxes into comfort. The musical motif of maternal and paternal love returns, although this time as a variation of the movie’s theme. Through the sparsely recurring musical tone associated with maternal and paternal love, the audience feels safe and reassured that there will be no threats from which they cannot be saved.
Finally, during the movie’s resolution, the group has reconvened in the helicopter to escape. Once again, Lex and Tim find solace in Dr. Grant, resting their heads on his chest as they take a nap. Ellie smiles at them. In this peaceful moment, a gentle, lullaby-like version of the movie’s theme begins to play and the audience knows that the end is soon and the conflict has been resolved. There are no undertones of danger or worry in the music; just closure. Once again, this heartwarming and soaring music has been used in the context of Dr. Grant’s increasingly positive attitude towards children, which has been completely changed since the start of the movie. He is not only comfortable to take a nap with the children, but does this in front of Ellie, revealing to her his newfound care for kids. Had the music not defined these scenes as the director intended, these gentle and heartwarming moments could be interpreted as calm-before-the-storm suspense scenes, in which the characters are oblivious to what is to come. Instead, they are clearly harmless and beautiful, adding a layer of humanity and emotion to the otherwise action-packed film.
One of the most iconic and triumphant moments is the last scene of Jurassic Park, when the group gets cornered by two raptors in the main hall of the visitors center. The velociraptor crouched its back, stretched its jaw and claws, ready to attack. The moment it pounced toward them, the T-Rex suddenly entered the screen from above, bit the raptor by its spine and swung it in the air. The instant we see the raptor being snapped, we simultaneously hear the triumphant orchestral soundtrack began playing in the background. By killing the velociraptor and distracting The Big One, the T-Rex created time and space for the group to successfully escape from the intense and dangerous situation, safely exit out of the building. The dynamic melody of the trumpet gives off a strong sense of victory and hope, accompanying the group as they leave the chaotic scene. Another triumphant scenes in the film takes place when Dr. Alan Grant and Ellie are pressing against the door, struggling to keep the raptor outside while they wait for Lex to reboot the system. As she moves the mouse toward the “Visitors Center” on the screen, the suspenseful music gets replaced by s a quite and melodious tone of the triumphant score of the Jurassic Park’s theme. After she had finally double clicked the targeted icon, “Rebooting System...” appears on the right side of the monitor as an animated map shows the unlocked doors are now secured. In the meantime, the timpani and symbol comes in, set off the rhythm of the trumpet to a higher level of triumphant and majesty.
Music has such a profound effect on our emotions, it sets up the atmosphere for different scenes and serves as a powerful guide to what is happening on the screen. Composed by John Williams in just over a month, Jurassic Park’s soundtrack became one of the most iconic and recognizable film scores in cinematic history. He described his creation as “a rugged, noisy effort - a massive job of symphonic cartooning”, which was intended to “match the rhythmic gyrations of the dinosaurs.” From “Journey to the Island” to “Welcome to Jurassic Park,” then to “T-Rex Rescue & Finale,” this ultimately unforgettable score has one of William’s finest themes for one of Spielberg’s best films.
Suspense and tension are two of the key elements evoked through Jurassic Park’s musical score. They are felt before and during the action sequences as well as moments of uncomfortable stillness. The feelings of suspense and tension are what keep audiences on the edge of their seats, but without the musical score they might not be felt by audiences at all. When Ellie is told by one of the park-workers to run while he hunts the preying dinosaurs, she struggles to jump over fallen trees and roots, just barely making it to safety and avoiding a potential dinosaur attack. The music is intense, causing the audience to fear for Ellie’s life. The high chromatically descending flutes in the score, a sound similar to crying or yelling, are a surefire sign that she is in danger, and add to the suspense of the moment. The flutes in this scene create ostinatos (persistently repeated musical motifs), building the tension and anticipation for the consonant dissonant pattern to break. The score in this scene almost serves as a mirror to Ellie’s actions and emotions. The ostinatos represent her fear; the speed of the notes represent the speed at which she needs to run, and rests in the music are the moments in which she attempts to jump over a log. Eventually, Ellie reaches the building and the music decrescendos.
Another great example of the use of suspense in the film’s score is the drawn-out scene in which Ellie is turning the systems back on in the park. The moment’s suspense is truly built through the movie’s use of music, or rather its sudden lack thereof, in a triumphant moment right after the lights are switched on. In this scene, the music starts off with quiet brass and strings. As the scene intensifies, so does the music. When Ellie finds the “push to close” button and is preparing to click it, there is a hesitation and the instruments alternate between two notes, only a half step apart, not quite dissonant but also not resolved. The repetitive and uncomfortable musical pattern makes the audience feel the stress of the moment’s subject matter, as this button determines the fate of Tim, who is hanging from a currently shut off electric fence controlled by that button. Once Ellie has pushed the button, the music is less suspenseful and becomes purely intense. The low winds and brass take over for the most part with occasional accents from higher instruments, one moment being when the button is pushed. In the parallel scene to the buttons, the music pauses as Tim slips on the electric fence. The high descending scales add intensity to the moment, evoking fear from the audience as they expect him to fall on these unexpected outbursts. As Ellie begins to switch on the buttons controlling each section of the park, the higher instruments play fluterry and fast notes while the lower instruments sustain sustain notes and crescendo for an anticipative effect. As the scene progresses and she approaches the final button, the instruments accelerate and crescendo, both common tactics in classical music used to evoke feelings of stress and danger. As Tim is thrown from the fence by electrical shock, a high note is sustained by the orchestra before abruptly cutting off when he hits the ground. For Ellie, this moment is exciting, as the lights have just switched back on, and she’s returned power to the entire park. The music becomes triumphant, and right when we expect the joyful phrase to resolve, it lingers on the final, unresolved note for too long; the audience is subconsciously alerted that something is not right, and only a second later, Ellie is attacked by a dinosaur from behind. The audience was aware that something bad would happen based solely on those suspense cues in the score, but don’t know exactly what.
In another scene, near the end of the movie, the adults are trying to keep a dinosaur from entering the computer control room. Unfortunately, the system had earlier been disarmed, thus none of the doors are locked. As Lex takes over the system while the dinosaurs attempt to pry open the door, the music intensifies and tension builds. When she first sits down after realizing that she can help because she knows how to code, the music becomes triumphant. This quickly changes to tension and suspense as the time pressure increases, her brother reminds her of the stakes, and the inserts of the dinosaur attempting to open the door appear. When this happens, the music dramatifies, and the wind and brass instruments cut through the scene with terror, as if determining the fast tempo at which Lex’s heart should be beating during the scene. These musical allusions to our instinctive human reactions help intensify feelings of fear within the audience. This scene is crucial to the lives of many major characters in the movie, and the musical score acts as a reminder of the stakes for the audience.
The heartwarming scenes in Jurassic Park are a relief from the frequent intense action sequences. Carried by the gentle score, these scenes briefly allow for relaxation, beauty, reflection and appreciation. These scenes not only serve the purpose of breathing time amidst all the action, but they all revolve around the common theme of parenthood. From the first scene of the movie, the audience learns that Ellie would like to have children and that Dr. Grant is dead-set against it. Throughout the rest of the movie, one of the subtle subplots is the question of whether or not Dr. Grant will decide he would be open to having children with Ellie in the future. Scenes in which the subject matter and score are heartwarming create a motif, in which the audience is reminded of this parental question. One of the first heartwarming scenes is when the characters get to meet a sick dinosaur up-close. As the group begins to reach out to pet the dinosaur, gentle soaring music begins to play. The music score reassures the audience that the characters are in a safe situation, and that they can enjoy the moment as much as the characters are. This moment is very important to Ellie, who seems to immediately form a deep bond with the sick dinosaur and wants to care for her. The music in this scene reflects Ellie’s maternal inclinations. The audience is gently reminded of how good a mother she would be, as she bends down to gently pet the dinosaur’s head, and actually exclaims “baby” to the dinosaur out of pure joy, a clear allusion to the potential baby she wishes to have. The music in this scene mostly middle strings and wind instruments and consists of a simple melody. The instruments play in unison, similar to the weakened dinosaur in relation to the humans. The instruments have a symbiotic relationship to one another, as do the humans and the dinosaur in this scene.
The next scene in which the score is similarly heartwarming is just after Dr. Grant saves Tim from the car, and both children are sitting in a tree with him. In one of the first scenes in the movie, we learn that Dr. Grant dislikes children, as he threatens a child with a dinosaur claw. The scene in the tree is the first time we see his deep care for the children as they lie on him, trusting that he would protect them. In this moment, the gentle music swells and the audience is given a new appreciation for Dr. Grant. When Dr. Grant drops the dinosaur claw, freeing himself from the negative attitude towards children he so desperately clung to and relaxes into comfort. The musical motif of maternal and paternal love returns, although this time as a variation of the movie’s theme. Through the sparsely recurring musical tone associated with maternal and paternal love, the audience feels safe and reassured that there will be no threats from which they cannot be saved.
Finally, during the movie’s resolution, the group has reconvened in the helicopter to escape. Once again, Lex and Tim find solace in Dr. Grant, resting their heads on his chest as they take a nap. Ellie smiles at them. In this peaceful moment, a gentle, lullaby-like version of the movie’s theme begins to play and the audience knows that the end is soon and the conflict has been resolved. There are no undertones of danger or worry in the music; just closure. Once again, this heartwarming and soaring music has been used in the context of Dr. Grant’s increasingly positive attitude towards children, which has been completely changed since the start of the movie. He is not only comfortable to take a nap with the children, but does this in front of Ellie, revealing to her his newfound care for kids. Had the music not defined these scenes as the director intended, these gentle and heartwarming moments could be interpreted as calm-before-the-storm suspense scenes, in which the characters are oblivious to what is to come. Instead, they are clearly harmless and beautiful, adding a layer of humanity and emotion to the otherwise action-packed film.
One of the most iconic and triumphant moments is the last scene of Jurassic Park, when the group gets cornered by two raptors in the main hall of the visitors center. The velociraptor crouched its back, stretched its jaw and claws, ready to attack. The moment it pounced toward them, the T-Rex suddenly entered the screen from above, bit the raptor by its spine and swung it in the air. The instant we see the raptor being snapped, we simultaneously hear the triumphant orchestral soundtrack began playing in the background. By killing the velociraptor and distracting The Big One, the T-Rex created time and space for the group to successfully escape from the intense and dangerous situation, safely exit out of the building. The dynamic melody of the trumpet gives off a strong sense of victory and hope, accompanying the group as they leave the chaotic scene. Another triumphant scenes in the film takes place when Dr. Alan Grant and Ellie are pressing against the door, struggling to keep the raptor outside while they wait for Lex to reboot the system. As she moves the mouse toward the “Visitors Center” on the screen, the suspenseful music gets replaced by s a quite and melodious tone of the triumphant score of the Jurassic Park’s theme. After she had finally double clicked the targeted icon, “Rebooting System...” appears on the right side of the monitor as an animated map shows the unlocked doors are now secured. In the meantime, the timpani and symbol comes in, set off the rhythm of the trumpet to a higher level of triumphant and majesty.
Music has such a profound effect on our emotions, it sets up the atmosphere for different scenes and serves as a powerful guide to what is happening on the screen. Composed by John Williams in just over a month, Jurassic Park’s soundtrack became one of the most iconic and recognizable film scores in cinematic history. He described his creation as “a rugged, noisy effort - a massive job of symphonic cartooning”, which was intended to “match the rhythmic gyrations of the dinosaurs.” From “Journey to the Island” to “Welcome to Jurassic Park,” then to “T-Rex Rescue & Finale,” this ultimately unforgettable score has one of William’s finest themes for one of Spielberg’s best films.
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