Episode 131: Jurassic Park

Notes:

“After graduating from Harvard Medical School, Michael Crichton embarked on a career as a writer and filmmaker, whose credits include 'The Andromeda Strain', 'Westworld', 'Jurassic Park', 'Rising Sun', 'Prey' and 'State of Fear' and the TV series 'ER'. He has sold over 150 million books which have been translated into thirty-six languages; twelve have been made into films. He is the only person to have had, at the same time, the number one book, movie and TV show in the United States.” – Amazon.com

If you would like to learn more about his work, his official website is: https://www.michaelcrichton.com/

 The Verbivore mentioned that this was not Michael Crichton’s debut novel. That book was The Andromeda Strain (1969).

Here are some articles and videos that we found helpful in preparation for this conversation:

The Invisible Ink Blog Article - “Superior Position” by Brian McDonald

YouTube Video “An Analysis of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - Novel Review” by Klayton Fioriti

YouTube Video “How Michael Crichton Created Jurassic Park” by Klayton Fioriti

Fable references a quote from an interview with director Alfred Hitchcock, where he compares surprise and suspense. Here is that full quote:

There is a distinct difference between ‘suspense’ and ‘surprise,’ and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I’ll explain what I mean.
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We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, ‘Boom!’ There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: ‘You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!’
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In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story."

Fable references a line about thinking about whether or not you should do something. Here is that quote:

“Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something.”

Books & Movies Mentioned:

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Jurassic Park – Directed by Steven Spielberg

Dune by Frank Herbert

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
’Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)