August 2, 2015 Brendan Day

How They Created the Terrifying Dinosaur Sounds in ‘Jurassic World’

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Jurassic World Raptors
Ever wonder where those dinosaur sounds actually come from?

Obviously it’s impossible to record real dinos, so the sounds must be combined from all sorts of animals that currently exist in the real world. Since Jurassic World is a sequel (one with a particularly out of place death scene), many of the sounds are already well-established, but a few, like the brand new Indominus Rex hybrid, were completely reimagined. Recently SoundWorks Collection sat down with Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer Pete Horner and Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer Al Nelson from Skywalker Sound, to talk about the sound of Jurassic World:

Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it yet:

It’s always funny to see such large creature sneak up on their prey and then proceed to scream at them (something that doesn’t really happen in the real world) — but it works as a narrative device both on and off-screen. The sound design on these films is nothing short of fantastic, and it’s something big Hollywood films still do exceptionally well, regardless of what you think about the plot, script, acting, etc. If you’ve been a fan of the original films, or at least the first one, many of these sounds are going to be familiar, though certainly there is a much more varied soundscape this time around with an entire theme park making an appearance for the first time in the series.