MAC 178 Contemporary Cinema Steven Spielbergs Jurassic Park in the context of a Blockbuster event film

When glancing at the cinematic marketplace it is easy to see that over the last 30 years box offices receipts have risen at an alarming rate. One possible cause of this inflation is the increasing prominence of movies that can be considered to be Hollywood blockbusters. The aim of this essay is to identify the characteristics of the modern blockbuster and to use them to show how Steven Spielbergs Jurassic Park (1993) can be seen to epitomise that particular philosophy of filmmaking. A blockbuster at its most basic definition is a production of any medium that gains enormous popularity or success. However when applied to film other factors need to be taken into account. Blockbusters contain such elements as high concepts, big name stars and visual effects (Balio, 1998) and unlike classic Hollywood the emphasis is often on fast paced cinematography and editing rather than on character (Smith, 1998); by doing this it can be argued that blockbusters draw more from a different side of the studio era, the b-movie genre film (ibid). Notable examples of this are films like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Spielberg) and Star Wars (1977, Lucas) which are essentially b-movie films made with a-movie budgets. It is also interesting to note that both of those films spawned franchises and also masses of merchandise - another identifier of a successful blockbuster - and Smith argues that because of this Blockbuster films are now designed with the multimedia marketplace and franchise status in mind (1993: 12). In terms of what is seen as a blockbuster today most theorists seem to agree that it was in the early 1970s when the foundations were laid. In the beginning of the decade the massive success of films such as The Exorcist (1973, Friedkin) and The Godfather (1972, Coppola) were early examples of the blockbuster potential of genre films. However whilst both films were successful they were unable to translate that into mainstream success as both films depicted extremely adult content, thus limiting their overall potential audience. This early success culminated in the release of Jaws (1975, Spielberg) which became the first film to gross over $100 million in the United States alone (Neale, & Hall, 2010), which was at that time the highest grossing film ever - as Tomas Schatz states it recalibrated the profit potential of the Hollywood hit (Schatz, 2003: 24). It can be observed that from Jaws release in the summer of 1975 blockbuster films are increasingly Hollywoods standard or dominant practice (Buckland, 2006). It can be argued then that Jaws is the first modern movie blockbuster and to emphasise how Jurassic Park can be seen to epitomise the blockbuster genre then comparisons to Jaws can be used. Firstly we can look at each films production, particularly from a monetary perspective. According to reports, the initial budget of Jaws was $3.5 million which in 1975 was above average but would not have been considered as a big project at the time (Schatz, 2003). However due to well renowned complications during filming by the end of the shoot the studio had spent over $3 million on the special effects alone (ibid), taking the eventual budget

somewhere around the $7million mark. Likewise the initial budget for Jurassic Park is estimated to be around $63 million which was a significantly large budget and was in fact the second highest budget of that year, slightly behind Cliffhanger (1993, Harlin). As well as costing a lot of money to make both Jaws and, more importantly, Jurassic Park were enormous successes at the box office. Jurassic Park upon release grossed $50.1 million in its opening weekend and like its predecessor went on to become the highest grossing film of all time, knocking off another Spielberg directed smash E.T the Extra-Terrestrial (1980) with a massive $914 million worldwide (Morris, 2007) It is clear then that if blockbusters are defined as simplistically as films with high budgets and high profits then Jurassic Park fits that criteria. One of the major factors in the success of Jaws, and also in blockbusters today, is the amount of money spent on not only the production itself but also the marketing and promotion of its release. The reason for this at the time was put down to the fact that with the films narrative taking place in the summer producers wanted to maximise the impact with a summer release. In 1975 and previously the summer was considered neither a popular or profitable window in which to release a film; in response to this the budget for the films promotion reached a staggering $2.5 million and culminated in a total media blitz in the week before the opening of the film (Stringer, 2003). This advertising campaign running concurrently with the release of the film underscored the potential value of saturated booking and advertising, this heavy promotion followed by an opening on as many screens as possible increased the potential money to be made dramatically (ibid). Both films utilised this with Jaws opening on 464 screens, which was a lot at the time, and Jurassic Park opening on almost 3000 across America (Neale, 2007). This may be seen to be the cause of Hollywoods increased importance towards the success of a films opening weekend. Due to the way blockbusters bombard the potential audience with advertising, trailers and other material related to the film, this ultimately creates a significant element of buzz or curiosity towards the film before any of it is even seen, effectively creating an event film. This then ensures that the film is relying less on reviews and word of mouth which could potentially be seen as negative (Stringer, 2003). Julian Stringer describes how Jaws was successful in this with its use of a calculated poster campaign and the pre-release of the films soundtrack. He describes that the foreboding tone of the posters and especially the films main theme worked its way into the national consciousness, setting new standards for the way in which films are promoted (ibid: 26). Jurassic Park also marketed itself in a similar fashion with much of the merchandise and movie tie-ins, including the soundtrack being released before the movie itself. In fact John Williams, who created the famous Jaws theme, also scored Jurassic Park, providing yet another memorable theme. Alternatively Jurassic Park, from a promotional stand point, has much more in common with another 1970s blockbuster in Star Wars. Much like with Star Wars the source material for Jurassic Park lent itself perfectly to merchandising and according to a news article at the time Universal, owned by entertainment giant MCA, has contracted with more than 100 companies to sell more than 1,000 licensed products (Millman, 1993); this dwarfed the merchandising from previous Spielberg films E.T:

The Extra Terrestrial, which had 50 licensed products and Jaws which had none (Morris, 2007). Moreover Jurassic Park went on to spawn more than 5,000 items of licenced merchandise bringing in over $1 billion to Universal (ibid) and its no surprise that a film based on a theme park went on to have its own theme park attraction (ibid). Another factor in the marketing success of Jurassic Park is the now famous logo, which was an ideal way to sell the film without the actual screen dinosaurs being revealed to the public, increasing public interest in what Spielberg and his team had managed to create (Shone, 2005). One could argue that this feeling of being denied a view of the films monster star is reminiscent of Jaws in which a full view of the titular shark is delayed throughout the movie for maximum effect. It was similarly effective in Jurassic Park as the scene first showing the dinosaurs in all their glory to the characters is also the first time the audience got to see them too. This combined with the uplifting John Williams score arguably leaves the audience as awe-inspired as the actors on screen. It is worth noting also that even in the film there is a gift shop that contains all of the same merchandise that was being sold in actual shops everywhere - all sharing the distinctive T-Rex silhouette logo, further enhancing the Jurassic Park brand (Morris, 2007). Furthermore from a marketing and promotion perspective Jurassic Park towered head and shoulders above anything before it and became a social, industrial and economic phenomenon (Stringer, 2003). If Jaws confirmed the viability of a summer hit then Jurassic Park, which was released on June 9th, perfected it and solidified a method of release tactics which remains to this day. Having established that Jurassic Park does indeed epitomize the Hollywood blockbuster from a production standpoint we can now look directly at the narrative and techniques of the film itself. Firstly, as Tomas Schatz points out, the production of Jaws coincided with a new trend within Hollywood of creating films based upon a pre-sold best-selling novel (Schatz, 2003). This tactic proved to be mutually beneficial as the publicity gained by the purchase of the novel meant it went on to sell more than 7.6 million copies before the release of the film (ibid); also immediate public interest in the story of Jaws fuelled the publics imagination and in turn increased public interest for the film. Previous examples of this are again the successful duo of The Godfather and The Exorcist, but much more importantly Jurassic Park. Further to that, much like with The Godfather and Jaws, the movie rights for Jurassic Park were bought before the actual release of the novel itself giving both mediums an added level of exposure. This again highlights how blockbusters since have been influenced by Jaws and Jurassic Parks production, as adaptations from novels account for many of the biggest movies released each year; a notable example being Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011, Yates), the last in the Harry Potter series of adaptations which is officially the 4th highest grossing film of all time with box office gross of just over $1.3 billion (Box Office Mojo, 2014). True to their b-movie roots the narrative of a Hollywood blockbuster is usually a straightforward, good versus evil story with a politically conservative viewpoint and is usually suitable for a wide variety of age groups. It is of note then that the source

material of Jurassic Park could be considered to be too adult, leaning more towards science fiction horror. However Spielberg, as with Jaws, found a way to turn a violent and graphic novel into a narrative suited for a much wider audience with references to genre cinema classics. This re-imagining of classic Hollywood genres is again seen as something which epitomises modern blockbusters and whilst Jaws and Jurassic Park are essentially action-thriller films they cleverly meld with various classic Hollywood genres such as monster films, buddy movies and with elements of the supernatural and horror to help define the story. The most obvious of course is the monster movie, man versus beast, which has always been a source of fascination for audiences; right back to the likes of King Kong (1933, Cooper & Schoedsack) and Godzilla (1954, Honda), which are still referenced today and have both had modern remakes. In fact in Jurassic Park one character utters the phrase what have they got in there, King Kong? when he spies the giant gated entrance to the park. As mentioned in the introduction, special effects are often a big part of blockbuster films; from the animatronics used in Jaws to the computer graphics and revolutionary sound of Star Wars, Hollywood is always looking for the next technological advancement to wow the audience. Interestingly the monsters of Jurassic Park were created using a mixture of animatronic practical effects mixed with computer generated special effects and as such seemed very realistic and actually still hold up very well today. Due to this one possible reason for the portrayal of dinosaurs being so successful could be that, unlike many movie monsters before them, dinosaurs did actually exist and research into fossilized DNA is still being carried out. As journalist Nigel Hawkes says in Bucklands book on Steven Spielberg the power of Jurassic Park relies not on puff but on plausibility and hovers on the very edge of science fact, creating a nightmare out of the reality (Buckland, 2006: 175). This resulted in the film having a similar effect to that of Jaws in the 1970s when everyone was suddenly scared to enter the water; even the New York Times felt a duty to reassure its readers that scientists do not have the ability to resurrect dinosaurs (ibid). The narrative structure of Jurassic Park is also seemingly typical of the blockbuster film. Julian Stringer describes the narrative of Jaws as precise and effectively paced, with each stage building to a climactic peak, dissipating and then building to an explosive finale (Stringer, 2003), and the narrative of Jurassic Park can be viewed as following the same blueprint. The film has three noticeable climactic peaks, the first being in the beginning with the stunning reveal that there are dinosaurs on the island, which dissipates into exposition scenes on how they were created. This then builds into another peak in the middle of the film with the T-Rex attack, which again dissipates into scenes of the surviving characters scattered on various parts of the island trying to find their way back to each other, ultimately building to the Raptor attack at the films finale. It can be argued then that this structure, whilst simple in design, is ultimately very effective and if you analysed the structure of blockbuster films released each year since they may follow a similar pattern. One final point for debate is that the most important ingredient of Jurassic Parks success is that of Spielberg himself. The name Spielberg in inextricably tied to the notion of a blockbuster event film and is arguably the one director who is a

household name and whose name itself is exploited in the marketing of a film most often (Morris, 2007). In fact in 1998 he was the only director that everybody knew in a spot-poll conducted in a multiplex and because of this Steven Spielberg it can be argued offers a promise that is up there with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Disney (ibid). It is not by fluke or coincidence that three of his films have been the highest grossing films of all time and that six times in his career he has directed the highest grossing film of the year and, as Morris sums up perfectly, However profitability is defined, his international success is a major commercial and cultural phenomenon (ibid: 4). To conclude then, judging by all the criteria discussed throughout this essay it seems apparent that on every level Jurassic Park can be seen as the epitome of the Hollywood blockbuster. The film not only echoes blockbusters that came before it but has also influenced the ones that have followed and, despite some criticism for allegedly elevating effects over characterisation, it confirmed Spielbergs status as an undoubted auteur (Wollen, 1993). The fact that Jurassic Park has spawned two sequels and now has a third in production, becoming a huge franchise in its own right, signals its status as a blockbuster behemoth emphatically. Word Count: 2539 Bibliography Balio, T (1998) The Globalization of Hollywood in the 90s, Contemporary Hollywood Cinema, edited by S. Neale & M. Smith, Routledge, London, 58-73 Buckland, W (2006) Directed by Steven Spielberg: Poetics of the Contemporary Hollywood Blockbuster, Continuum, New York Cliffhanger (1993) Directed by Renny Harlin [Film] TriStar Pictures, Culver City, California Godzilla (1954) Directed by Ishiro Honda [Film] Toho, Tokyo, Japan Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) Directed by David Yates [Film] Warner Bros., Burbank, California Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Box Office Information (2014), Box Office Mojo, Accessed Online at: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=harrypotter72.htm Jaws (1975) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film] Universal Pictures, Universal City, California Jurassic Park (1993) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film] Universal Pictures, Universal City, California King Kong (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack [Film] RKO Radio Pictures, New York, New York Millman, N (1993) `Jurassic Park' Is Evidence Marketing Far From Extinct, Chicago Tribune, Friday June 11th, Acessed Online at:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-06-11/business/9306110346_1_jurassicpark-dinosaur-park-marketers Morris, N (2007) The Cinema of Steven Spielberg Empire of Light, Wallflower Press, London Neale, S & Hall, S (2010) Epics, Spectacles and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film] Paramount Pictures, Hollywood, California Schatz, T (2003) The New Hollywood, Movie Blockbusters, Edited by J Stringer, Routledge, London, 14-44 Shone, T (2005) Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer, Free Press, New York Smith, M (1998) Theses on the Philosophy of Hollywood History, Contemporary Hollywood Cinema, edited by S. Neale & M. Smith, Routledge, London, 1-20 Star Wars (1977) Directed by George Lucas [Film] 20th Century Fox, Los Angeles, California Stringer, J (2003) Movie Blockbusters, Routledge, London The Exorcist (1973) Directed by William Friedkin [Film] Warner Bros., Burbank, California The Godfather (1972) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola [Film] Paramount Pictures, Hollywood, California Wollen, P (1993) Theme Park and Variations, Sight and Sound, 7 th July, 7-9