Director Colin Trevorrow released his secret short film on FX Sunday evening and it hit online soon after. The short runs eight-and-a-half minutes and details America in a post-Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Spoiler alert: It's not a safe area for anyone.
Trevorrow wrote the short film with Jurassic World 3 screenwriter Emily Carmichael. André Holland and Natalie Martinez star as a couple enjoying a peaceful camping trip out in the wilderness with their children when things go wrong.
Check out the Jurassic World Short Film entitled Battle at Big Rock and let's talk more after the break!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ended with dinosaurs being freed and entering the wild. We saw them conquering land, sea, and air in an attempt to survive life out in the open amongst humans.
Now, in Battle at Big Rock, we see a family vacation gone awry thanks to some pesky dinosaurs.
Trevorrow told Entertainment Weekly that the third installment of the movie:
“...will be focused storytelling with dinosaurs all over the world. We really wanted this technology, this genetic power, to go open-source at the end of the film. What we’re suggesting is not just that these specific animals that we care about that were in captivity were freed, but also that the ability to create these animals has gone a little bit wider than our friend Dr. Wu. The open-sourcing of any technology, like nuclear power, that’s the scary side for me.”
Genius Marketing Attempt
With the next Jurassic movie not slated to debut until the summer of 2021, you could imagine audiences forgetting there's impending dinosaur doom on the way. In an effort to remind the public, generate marketing buzz, and stir up conversation, Universal slated this short film.
And I think it is a genius move.
Trailers have gotten kind of stale now. We watch them and they're disposable. Especially trailers for franchise movies.
What I love about this short film release is that it helps build on the expanded universe the movie franchise is trying to sell, it gives us a taste of the world we are excited to explore, and it's endlessly sharable as a piece of fiction, which might help draw in new viewers.
The logic of this movie only works as a stand-alone short if you've seen the other Jurassic movies but the tenements of the best short films inhabit every inch of screentime. We get a story that doesn't feel like narrative cram, it has interesting characters, and they go through very specific arcs.
I truly hope short fils that build on the world becomes a bigger part of the marketing world.
What's next? Outline your short film!
Chances are you’re reading No Film School because you’re not only obsessed with Hollywood, but you want to be a part of it. But breaking in is never easy. That’s why I think writing short films and even making them yourself, has become a viable option for breaking into the business.
Of course, writing a short film is no simple task, but today I’ll take you through a few great strategies to get your short film ideas on the page, and then hopefully on the screen.
Let’s get going!
