Dinosaurs:- Past

In the past Dinosaurs weren’t very well understood and were the topic of great discussion and a source of great mystery. The creatures were included in many stories and, as there was no evidence of how they looked fossils were improperly built, an example of this are the models in London’s Crystal Gardens.

Iguanadon Statue from Crystal Palace Gardens created in 1853

It was originally believed that Pterosaur’s couldn’t fly and that Tyrannosaurus’s were solitary creatures that hunted and lived alone. It was also believed that the majority of dinosaurs were quadrupeds and primarily carnivorous, this transferred into media to show that all dinosaurs were four legged carnivors.


Writer Sir Arther Conan Doyle wrote the novel the Lost World in 1912, this was a highley successful novel and grabbed peoples imagination and boosted  popularity of dinosaurs again, this book stood the test of time and once the technology became available it was translated into a movie.
In the year 1918 an American writer named Edgar Rice Burroughs published the book ‘The land that time forgot’ set in World War 1 aboard a German U Boat the U-33, in the novel the come ashore on an island inhabited by dinosaurs. In 1975 the book got a theatrical transference, bring to life the dinosaurs that had appeared so often in books.
I believe these films were well recived and in my opinion i feel that they are integral in any research into creating a dinosaur realated IP as it shows how well they could be put into films with the limited rescources and that they were still well recieved.


This is a still image from the film The land that time Forgot

In the early 1900's dinosaur fossils that were discovered were often said to be the fossils of mythological creatures a good example would be the Protoceratops. Protoceratop's discovered in the gobi deserts were often mistaken for the legendary griffins as they had many of the attributes that a griffen would have such as the large beak, four legs and large eye sockets.

This image shows how easy it would be to confuse the fossils for those of a griffon.

                                                                           

In the years following world war two monster fever gripped japan after the bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, A director, Ishiro Honda, at Toho studios created a monster that was the result of the bombs being dropped this monster was called Godzilla. In 1954 Godzilla made his theatrical debut and took the world by storm. In 1956 Godzilla was shown in America with and American actor and the title was changed to Godzilla King Of The Monsters and was a rousing success, this started the monster movie craze. The Godzilla ‘Showa’ Series went from 1954 – 1979 and included fifteen Godzilla movies, including Godzilla Vs King Kong which drew in the western market more.  



The Movie poster for the movie Godzilla Vs King Kong released in 1962

In 1992 HiT Entertainment produced the program Barney which was created Sheryl Leech for her son. The program featured a purple dinosaur named Barney and showed children how to behave learn and play with  each other the program was aired between 1992 through to the present.

Barney The Purple Dinosaur from PBS Kids

Barney managed to gain some movie fame in 1998 in his first film Barney's big adventure. Barney has been successful in media and consistently popular with young children, his marketing in media has been well done as he has been popular in toy form as well as televisual popular.

Barney Plush Toy created by Born To Play

Dino Crisis  is a game that was created in 1999 by the blockbuster team behind the Resident Evil Franchise. The game was a survival horror game set in the (at that point) future of 2009 and saw the player pitted against suspense filled environments and monstrous dinosaurs that will stop at nothing to feast on the player. The game was a huge success in both the east and west and made a change from its zombie boasting cousin.

Screenshot of the Capcom game Dino Crisis released in 1999

 Dino Crisis proved so successful that it gained a sequel  the game received as much praise as its predecessor the game was released a year in 2000. The game featured many of the same features as the first game however its main villain had been changed from the Tyranosaurus Rex  to an even bigger threat a Giganatosaurs became the new main villainous dinosaur to show this off Capcom showed to two behemoths fighting. After playing the game myself I believe that this game was much better that the second game was much better than the first and was also much more atmospheric and the gameplay was more involving than the last. I found that the game was much more popular than the first aswell out of the people I asked. 

This is a screenshot from Dino Crisis 2 released in 2000 by Capcom

Capcom released a third instalment of the series and it was released on the Xbox the game was set in the year 2548 the game was set in a research ship, that was conducting experiments on dinosaur DNA the game saw the player pitted against horrifying mutant dinosaurs. The game itself did poorly and was no where near as successful as the two previous games, however it was still kept in the forefront of gaming media as it was a sequel to a highly successful franchise

This is a screenshot from the game Dino Crisis 3 by Capcom released in  2003

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Japanese Poster Prints:- Past

In the 1850’s Japan began to open its boarders for trade for the first time since the 1600’s bringing with them many new and exotic items but also a new method of printing known as the Ukiyo –e which means ‘pictures of the floating word’. To most people it was called Japanese Poster Print.

The style of art that was exported from japan has inspired the art of many famous western artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. The Ukiyo-e print were achieved by carving out elegant designs  into blocks of wood then using bright colours and pushing them against a surface. These final designs were used in restaurants, theatres and to advertise local performances.

                                     This is an example of the wooden blocks used in printing

The above image is an example of the wooden blocks used for the print the designs very intricate and delicate and upon transfer show a unique and interesting image that grabs the eye.  Japanese Poster Prints influence shows in many artists work an example of this would be Vincent Van Gogh whose art is known throughout the world.

                                       ‘Wheat Field With Crows’ by Vincent Van Gogh 1890

His work shows that he has drawn influence from the printing style and that he has adapted it into his own unique painting style, The Printing method wasn’t just used for advertising it was also used for artists to create interesting pieces.

This image is called Hakone by Hiroshige Ando 1797

The piece above shows how the style uses bold colours and interesting shades this is a prime example of how the style is used for art and not just advertising however when used in advertising the images were just as extravogant for example this pice by Utagawa Kunisada this pice is an advert for a theatrical perfomance and is equally as detailed as the image above which shows how versitile the art style is.

This image was created by Utagawa Kunisada 1853

There is one iconic piece of Ukiyo-e art that is known and recognized world wide and that is 'The Great Wave' by  Fugaku Sanjuokkei which was created between 1830 and 1833, this piece has been one of the most successful of its type as it is included in media still to this date in a variety of different means.

This image is an iconic example of Japanese print called 'The Great Wave' by artist Fugaku Sanjuokkei between 1830 and 1833

As this style travelled to the west it brought about many changes in how the western market created prints. Another western artist that benefited from this new style was  Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, his artwork shows a strong link to Ukiyo-e. The image below is one of his pieces it is laid out almost exactly the same as a Ukiyo-e piece and uses the same colour palettes however it still has a western quirk in the way that it has been drawn.

This painting is called 'Yvett Guilbert'  by Henri Deo Tulouse-Lautrec  in 1894 

Towards the 1900's people were becoming less interested in the Ukiyo-e art style and more interested in the people who had drawn inspiration from it, artists such as  Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet these were the people whose art would be spoken about for generations to come. This kept the art style alive through their new art styles. This is unusual because the original form has become less popular that the people who had copied it become more of an original than the original.

This piece by Monet called 'Poppy Feild, Argentuil' and was created in 18 75

As time passed and newer methods of printing became available the Ukiyo-e method started to fade out however it didn't truly fade out. The style still lived on but in different ways the style was now being done in different media, when computers came around and programs such as Adobe Photoshop became available the style made a comeback.

Adobe CS4 box for the program Photoshop

Once Photoshop was around the traditional means for creating the Ukiyo-e prints was gone and replaced by technology. In my opinion this is a shame as the tradition method has that bit more care and attention to detail whereas now some could create one of this images in half the time with the advancements in technology.

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Japanese Poster Print - Present

Japanese poster art has become highly popular in society, the artwork can be seen in many different forms mainly it has been seen in fashion and alternative artwork for example the clothing company Terratag, they took The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai and altered it to fit into popular culture by adding Gundam’s into it. The company Terratag have created many t-shirts that link into Japanese culture with strong links to the different art styles such as the Gundams, Laughing Man from the Japanese Anime Ghost In The Shell and Afro Samurai.

This image was created by the company 'Terratag' in 2005 as a print  

 The art work has been taken other artists and the most popular redone version of the art would be the ‘Great Bunny Wave’ by artists ‘Kozyndan’. All of their work has been inspired by the original Japanese poster print style and they have put their own unique twist on the pieces. After looking into Kozyndan’s artwork I have seen that they have drawn a lot of inspiration from the Japanese Poster Print style but have put a modern style on it by digitalising the images in computer programs, they do still use traditional means but now they add the aid of digitalising. another example of this could be thier image called 'Whale Wars'.

This image was created by artists Kozyndan in 2003 for the cover of 'Giant Robot Magazine issue 28'.

Whale Wars

British based Artist/Musician Keaton Henson also draws inspiration for his work from Japanese prints, this is apparent more so in his work the ‘Gloaming - Book’ the work is featured on his website, he has worked with many successful bands and companies such as Topshop and Enter Shikari. Keeping alive the art style.

This image was created by artist 'Keaton Henson' in the year ... 

The artist mcbess can also be said to draw influence from Japanese Poster Print as his style, whilst being primarily in black and white still has some influence from the style as he uses simple shapes and a lot of obscure shading to give his images a lot more depth and make them stand out more. The image below is a good example of his work as it is a large piece and contains most of the aspectis I was just discussing. The artist has been featured in the men’s magazine Front many times which proves that the art style he uses is popular enough to include in a very popular magazine. In my opinion alternative magazines such as Front are a good place to find alternative art that is based upon older art styles thus keeping them alive in modern media and in the public eye. This artist links in well with Keaton Henson who I mentioned earlier as they have both worked on the magazine Front.

This image was created by 'matthieu bessudo' for his portfolio as mcbess in 2011 for his illustration folder.   

This is 'Keatons Hensons' image in Front issue 156 Pg 59

This is 'McBess's' cover fro Front Issue 163

Whilst in the student union I came across some posters that are in the style of Japanese poster prints, one of them was the iconic 'Great Wave' By Hokusai (1830-1833) image and another was an image cherry blossom, a very good piece of Japanes like piece draws inspiration from Japanese prints with its simple layout and extravagant use of colour, all of this shows that the art style is still popular in today's modern society.

The above photo's are part of the Atrium Poster Sales on November 8th 2011 the photos were taken by James Hyland.

 

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Dinosaurs Present

Dinosaurs are used a lot in common society, in films, television, books and advertisements the have been quite influential in popular culture with the help of books such as ‘The Lost World’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1912.  This book has influenced how dinosaurs are portrayed today and inspired director Steven Spielberg to create a film that was loosely based upon his book Jurassic park.

Dinosaurs have been included in many media forms such as television, comics, games and more modern films. The prime example of dinosaur game would be Turok, which as a franchise has included dinosaurs since 1997 and is based upon the comics written by Matthew H. Murphy, Gaylord Du Bois and Paul S. Newman. The game spawned many sequels on the Nintendo 64 the games were created by Acclaim studios. There were many games released under the Turok name before the company went under in 2004. Before Acclaim went bankrupt they released a very early test for a second Turok game for the Xbox.

 This video was uploaded on 31st January 2008 by 'Borman 18' and is the 'Acclaim' 2004 'Turok' tech demo

Propaganda Studios took over the Turok franchise and in 2008 released their version of the game, it was well received and once again started making dinosaurs scary, the creatures now look soulless and evil and are a lot faster than the player making the game a challenge but also making players think about themselves in the characters place surrounded by these dinosaurs.

After Playing the Turok game myself i can say that the team nailed the idea of being hunted as there were many points where I felt like i was being hunted by the creatures however i felt that the Dinosaurs in the game were too similar with minor modifications and they all behaved the same so even the herbivors were ferocious.

This is a screenshot from the game 'Turok' by Propaganda Studios (2008) and was taken from IGN.com

The toy franchise Lego is going to be releasing a new range of sets that are focused around dinosaurs this is showing that they recognise that dinosaurs are popular in media and have acted upon it this has been done a few times in Lego’s history they have released many different dinosaur sets over the last 15 years and this is the most recent. The below set combine both a large dinosaur and huge vehicle two things that are extremely popular among children.

This toy set 'T-Rex Hunter' is made by Lego and has been put on the market in 2011 in the United States the image was taken from toywiz.com 

Even in the toy market dinosaurs influnance was obvious, a good example of this would be the Tomy 1980’s product called Zoids these were mechanical life forms that required pilots to work to their full potential. These products also resemble the Monster Godzilla. Zoids also made a TV appearance in 2002 and was shown on the Sky network the program lasted two seasons before being taken off the air in 2004, the program was not as popular in the West as it was in Japan. Similarly this transferred into the toy sales 'The line was cancelled in mid-2004, due to poor sales. This was largely due to very poor marketing, very high prices for Zoids and the Zoids anime never showing on terrestrial UK television.' Taken from Wikipedia.

This toy 'Gojulas' was released in June 2006by the toy company 'Tomy' This image was take from static.hjl.com

Dinosaurs still play a large part in education, alot of this is done at a young age with books to help children learn with the aid of cartoon pictures with bright colours to grab their attention.

How Do Dinosaurs say goodnight by Jane Yolen Published 2000 by Blue Sky Press

Through looking at a variety of children's books I have seen that dinosaurs are still a popular to this date as a recurring feature of novels.

As stated earlier The Jurassic Park films have always proved popular in the media this quote taken from a review on the website IGN.com backs up this point; '*At face value, there's something timelessly appealing about seeing more pissed-off, socially maladjusted, skyscraping carnivores running down & gobbling-up none-too-bright people burgers by the mouthful.'

Jurassic park Spinosaurs Vs T-Rex taken from the Jurassic Park Wikia

 The BBC created a tour for the program 'Walking With Dinosaurs' Which spanned a world tour lasting from 2007 - 2010 the live show used anamatronic dinosaurs and huge stages to create accurately scaled robot dinosaurs to both educate and end entertain audiences.

Walking With Dinosaurs Live In North America image by BFO. 

The Tour has been successful world wide and has captured the imaginations of hundreds of young children and adults with the spectacular robots, puppets and the illusion of the prehistoric behemoths.

               This is a montage of some of the dinosaurs from a live show in Texas filmed by Gametavern




To link into my previous discussion about Jurassic Park the games developer Telltale Games have recently released a game adaptation set straight after the first movie. The fact that the game was developed shows that people still have a strong interest in dinosaurs, however reviews of the game have not been good as the game is like a playable film which is not what gamers want. On the website IGN the game received a rating of 5.5 "mediocre" *'Like I said, I wanted Jurassic Park to be good, but just like John Hammond's dream of a dinosaur amusement park, it doesn't pan out. I wouldn't call Jurassic Park a bad game as it works and does take us back to a time when dinosaurs (stiffly) roamed the Earth, but the story, animations and general gameplay keep it from being able to contend with most titles on the market -- and that includes other Telltale titles.'

Screenshot from Jurassic Park the game taken in 2011 by Telltale Games.

Dinosaurs are also present in 'B movies' a good example of this would be the Megashark films. The second film, Megashark verses Crocosaurus, features a giant shark fighting a recently awoken prehistoric crocodile who fight it out over a variety of different arenas. The film was released in 2010 and gained a poor review as it was badly acted and  the monsters were poorly built however this still gained it media presence as people were still talking about it online this shows that it was still in the media.

Poster for Megashark Verses Crocosaurus by Christopher Ray released in 2010

*Glen Oliver. (2001). Jurassic Park III review. Available: http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/301/301482p1.html. La

st accessed 9th Dec 2011.

*Greg Miller. (2011). Jurassic Park Review. Available: http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1212843p1.html. Last accessed 11th Dec 2011.

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