JURASSIC WORLD: A REVIEW

This blog has been asleep for awhile, hasn't it?

Normally, I try to post something at least once a month, but the last days of school and general chaos of my schedule has prevented me from going on any serious projects. Unfortunately, ARARANKHA won't be appearing on the blog for some time. The manuscript and artwork is finished, sure, but there is no editor, and attempted projects are dropping like flies. Still, summer has just begun, you may see it again in the future. I'm not happy with what I've written, I feel the characters can be better, but criticism only improves. I'm currently writing a new novel, which I will discuss on a later date.

So, let's discuss the Brontosaurus in the room: JURASSIC WORLD! (Brontosaurus is a valid genus now.) If you haven't noticed, I'm a dinosaur nut. Most of my projects feature dinosaurs in one form or another. If not, they feature a creature that resembles a dinosaur. I'm a fan of everything from Walking With Dinosaurs to Ray Harryhausen to King Kong. For the first five years of my life, I pestered my Grandmother to play Jurassic Park 3 every time I came to her house, even though it scared her half to death (she didn't own the first film. It was either that, or Phantom Menace...I didn't have a very good taste in films back then.)

Needless to say, the Jurassic Park films were some of my favorite films growing up. (my absolute favorite was Beast from 20,000 fathoms. Because Harryhausen is awesome.) With great special effects, a sense of awe and terror, and a great set of obscure dinosaur names to make my parents feel decades behind me, the film's dinosaurs will always hold a place in my heart (yes, even Spinosaurus). So, naturally, when I gained access to the internet and found rumors for a fourth movie, I went ballistic. For ten years, I combed the internet for any new scrap of news, read page after page of fan speculation. Years ago, I even attempted to make Jurassic Park 4, with my friends as various people from the movies (I was Malcolm, who for some reason I thought I resembled and could impersonate) and the dinosaurs were my set of plastic Jurassic Park toys I stashed under my drawer. I actually filmed quite a bit of the movie, which is sadly lost now, but I will always remember my brother, dressed as Grant in a plaid button-up and fedora, using a water pistol to gun down a plush carnotaur. He played the hell out of that role.

Finally, after years of rumors, silence, and bad fan fiction, Jurassic Park returned to cinemas. A script finally settled upon, production began in Kuai, and by November 2014 we had the first trailer. My heart pounded in my chest as the Mosasaur chomped the dead shark. It was unlike anything fans had ever predicted: a fresh start on the franchise, with sea creatures, hybrids, and trained raptors. So, I sat back in my chair, appreciating the ballsy move Trevorrow had taken the franchise, and waited till June. I watched the trailers, observed every new bit of news, and eagerly watched the calendar as time slowly winded down.

Last night, I finally got to theatre, among a horde of giddy fellow nerds wearing Jurassic Park T-shirts. I sat down, waited through the annoying commercials, and watched the finished film. A film I had waited ten years to see.

It was awesome!

Sure, it had it's flaws, most films in development hell do, but I was blown away by how undeniably epic the movie was! Intense, funny, and sometimes terrifying, Trevorrow's enthusiasm for the franchise could be seen in every single aspect of the movie. It actually made me wish I hadn't seen all the trailers and bits of news, just to see the whole damn thing unfold without any preconceived of what it would be like!

Jurassic World is the first film in over a decade to capture the feel of original. John Hammond's dream finally realized to a full extend, the film might not be as good as the first, but it's damn close. And no, I'm not going to say it's "bigger, louder, and has more teeth", because every other review has said that already. Though it does indeed, have all those features.

WHAT I LIKED

The ending, obviously. In the vein of GODZILLA (2014), it was filled with so much nostalgia and love for it's principal characters I was shocked they had the guts to try and pull it off. Basically a long tacking shot of pure chaos, it was a great climax to the movie. I won't spoil it for you, but ironically, my own version of Jurassic Park 4 had a very similar ending (only the dinosaurs in question were the T-rex, Spinosaurus, and a mutant carnivorous sauropod thingy).

Though people have been split on what to think of the Hybrid (some think she should have looked weirder, others didn't think she should've appeared at all.) I was mostly fine with the creature, and the special effects used to create it's main attack(anyone who read LOST WORLD will understand, wink wink) are incredibly impressive.

For a Jurassic Park movie, I was very impressed by many of the characters. Far from annoying, most of the main cast were believable and even very funny. My personal favorites were Zach and Gray, the best kid characters in the franchise since the first film, and the new computer technician, a super-meta nerd who gives some pretty funny comments about the idiocy of creating a mutant killer hybrid dinosaur just to appease the board. Chris Pratt, of Guardians of the galaxy fame, is excellent and likable as the raptor trainer. I also liked Claire, a park manager who teams up with Pratt's character to save her nephews.

The action is quite spectacular, wether just strolling throughout the park in all its glory, or in the inevitable chaos that unfolds from the dinosaurs escaping. There are some great set pieces and dinosaur fights throughout the film, and it is really fun to see.

I'd say more, but the movie has just released, and I don't want to spoil anything.

WHAT I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH

Regardless of the childlike joy I expressed watching the movie, I felt the movie had some overall flaws. None of this should deter you from seeing the film, but I feel, for all his gutsy decisions, Trevorrow worked a little too hard to try and appease the franchise's huge fanbase.

First off, the movie has gotten a lot of flack from angry scientists and paleontologists, for the inaccurate portrayals of dinosaurs. Despite many of the animal's looking nothing like their real-life counterparts, the film only barely mentions this and doesn't go too terribly in-depth. Paleontology is an ever-changing field, and while the dinosaurs of the first two films were mostly spot-on to 90s biology, Jurassic World has taken a step back in an attempt to retain consistency to its dinosaur's appearance. For example, while the Velociraptors in the film are 6-foot tall, scaly creatures with pronated wrists, real Velociraptors were the size of German Shepherds, had supplanted bird-wrists, and were covered in feathers. They were more akin to large terrestrial eagles with snouts full of teeth and tails, rather than the creatures you see in the film. I don't know why; most of the carnivores in the film, the creatures you see the most, are entirely new clones and certainly could be modified to be accurate. However, the most likely reason is the fact that it is difficult to make a feathered or furry dinosaur that is as frightening or imposing as a scaly one. I'm not saying it's impossible, for anyone who is skeptical that a feathered raptor or T-rex could be scary, simply observe an eagle or vulture, animals that be both noble or terrifying based on their moods. I always make my dinosaurs to be as accurate as humanly possible, and even though I still love the creatures, I wish they at least tried to add new discourse to their designs.

Also, though everything else is fine, the pterosaurs are really frickin ugly. Seriously, who designed them? Say what you want about Jurassic Park 3, but the Pterosaurs in that film at least looked and felt like real animals, with good musculature and realistically struggling under the weight of the kid they were trying to abduct (impossible in real life, Pterosaurs were basically living hang-gliders. they could neither grab things with their feet nor be able to support the weight of the person they were abducting. The larger Azdarchids, however, abducted prey with with their long beaks, and possibly were strong enough to snatch away small dinosaurs.) These pterosaurs nearly made off with a BABY TRICERATOPS, an animal the size and weight of a small pony! Also, while lacking teeth, they still lacked fur, which pterosaurs sported to insulate themselves. The Dimorphodons did have fur, but those creatures looked even worse than the Pteranodons. Cartoony and zombified, despite being one of the few Pterosaurs that actually walked on two legs, the critter's head was so big I doubt it would be able to even lift it in reality.

Also, I really wish they had used more animatronics in the film. Sure, the CGI was mostly good, the raptors looking the best with good close-ups. But the only animatronic I spotted in the film was an apatosaurus head, and nothing else. Either no animators were used at all, or some executive idiot glazed it all over with CGI. Stan Winston's animatronics were really important to the films, not just because of their realism, but to give the actors something real to react to OTHER THAN A GREEN BALL AND STICK.

Finally, the character I was least sold on was Vincent D'Onofrio's character. He is an excellent actor, giving a frightening portrayal of Kingpin on Netflix's Daredevil show, which I liked. But his character in Jurassic World just doesn't work. From the beginning, you can tell he is an utter slime ball with no compassion for the creatures he works with or his job, and would be first in line for "characters to betray the company once the park goes to hell.". Sure, Nedry was also a slime ball and obvious traitor, but if you were in the movie with him, he would just seem like an incompetent idiot and no real threat. Why they would hire this guy at all is a mystery to me, especially since his main goal is to weaponize the raptors, something the CEO (Irrfan Kahn) is completely against.

Hey, speaking of Nedry, Dilophosaurus was once again denied a role in the movie. Sure, he has a fun cameo on the hologram system, but for a creature so famous to the franchise, you'd think he'd have a bigger role. He's just as inaccurate as the rest of them, real Dilophosaurs had no frill and couldn't spit poison. Why not?

CONCLUSION

The film had problems, sure. But should you skip it? No! The film is a great flashback to 90s nostalgia, a meta comment on consumerism's demand for more teeth, and a great action movie. So, if you've been a fan of Jurassic Park your whole life, or dinosaurs in general, and want to recapture the wonder of seeing dinosaurs on screen, go see it!

You'll probably love it, I (somewhat) guarantee it!

Thanks for commenting.

Kelston Hubler

ARARANKHA-PROLOGUE AND CHAPTER 1

Hello, everyone!

Now that Atomic is done, which you can see on my earlier post, I will show you my other recently finished work: ARARANKHA.

Of course, a novel is much bigger than a movie. I originally wanted it to be a downloadable PDF file, but my Mom suggested I should just post chapters. So, here's the prologue and first chapter for my techno-thriller, Ararankha. More will come soon. Tell me what you think!

"Quite possible," I dryly remarked. "But, Uncle, if these antediluvian animals formerly lived in these subterranean regions, what more likely than that one of these monsters may at this moment be concealed behind one of yonder mighty rocks."

-JULES VERNE, A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

ARARANKHA

A SCIENE FICTION NOVEL

KELSTON HUBLER

PROLOGUE: THE FALL OF THE INCAS

CITY, ARARANKHA VALLEY, ANDES, PERU

1475

The jungle was silent that day. Long, fathomless hallways of dense forest path, trodden down by the footfall of gigantic animals, wove a labyrinth across the land only they knew by heart. Dense cycads, reeds, ferns, and toadstools the size of your fist made a thick wall on all sides, and the sky was cloaked in a thick canopy of vegetation. 

“No light entered fractured. No life exited in one piece.”

Those wise words from his Grandfather reverberated through his mind on loop, as he noisily crashed through the jungle. He stopped, panting in breath. Birds scattered from the trees, and a millipede the size of a dog scuttled out of his way and into the dense bush. 

The world was dead silent. He hadn't thought about it. His Grandfather was killed just two minutes ago, fell to the stocky jaws of a bull Majong. He held his Grandfather’s token of good luck to his heart, an engraved symbol of a winged serpent, little wings stretching out of it’s coiled body, and wept. The tears fell, silent as they hit the ground.

It was gone. The people knew. They had fought for this land for decades, but they knew their time there would end soon. The corn fields dissipated, the livestock killed, the transportation devoured. All they could do was hole up in their small stone city, the inevitable slowly dawning on them when a Majong pack tore down the wooden fence and started to kill:

This land would never be tamed.

His mother knew this. She had planted a series of stones into the pathway, leading a trail to the river. She vanished that night, but hopefully her attempt wouldn't be in vain. 

He ran down the pathway. Suddenly, to his relief, the jungle opened up at a corner, and a lazy river was in sight! He turned back, listening one last time to the faint chaos in the village, and made a mad dash for the river. He jumped.

The cold, clear water felt good on his skin, as he sunk down. He staggered upward, pulling himself in a foamy splash, upward to the air. He seized a passing log, and held on.

As he rushed down river, he saw a serpent perched in tree, eyeing him. Like all serpents here, with the exception of the real snakes, he was covered in downy plumage, and bight green wings.

“Get out of here, you filthy monster!” The boy shouted in spite. The serpent spread its wings and flew, disappearing from view as it soared over the canopy. He didn’t hate the serpents. But they had failed to save his people, and that was bad enough for him.

Soon, the boy heard it. He had never been this far from the town, only heard stories, but he knew now how to exit this accursed valley. He looked up. The canopy was gone, only the high walls of the mountains. 

He was speeding now. Speeding towards the rushing, foaming maw that would show him sky, then plunge him down into the black, and decided wether he would die or live. The trees parted back, showing him the gateway. He saw the sky. He held the stone of the winged serpent tight in his hands.

I will be free soon, Grandfather, he thought. I will not let you die in vain. I will escape, and tell of the bravery of you, and your father, and your grandfather, and his-

He felt the drop, and plunged into darkness.

1

EL RECTO CAMINO AL INFIERNO, ANDES MOUNTAINS, PERU

PRESENT DAY

She was looking at the floor of the bus. Striped rubber, vertical grooves from top to bottom, covered in leaves. She would focus on that. Not anything else. She cursed herself for taking the right side of the bus. Silently, Marika looked over, and peered out the foggy, glass window.

“CRAP!” She startled everyone on the bus, and jerked back, once again looking to the floor. 

Marika loved to feel secure. Not just in safety, but about herself. She wanted to feel like the tough, brave, hip gal most people would picture her as. Unfortunately, she kind of wasn't.

The glass window fogged it a bit, but she could still see the monstrous death drop to the jungle chasm below. She was unfortunate enough to be on el Recto camino al Infierno, Rather humorously translated to the road straight to hell. A little know but nonetheless dangerous road, carved by dynamite as a traveller’s pass in the 1870s, it was clearly only barely big enough to hold a small buggy. It clearly wasn't designed to hold a traveller’s bus, the right tires barely on the dirt road as the right side jutted out, right into thin air. It wasn't nearly as big as Yungas Road in Bolivia, which had higher death count, but only because more people travelled on it. The massive overhang of rock almost the entire way didn't help either.  She clung to her sleeping bag roll like a teddy bear, holding tight and never letting go. 

Marika shuffled uncomfortably on the leather bench. With short, reddish hair, thick jeans, a beanie, and wool scarf from the Andes, any passing person not ogling her could guess with ease that she was traveller. She loved traveling, which was odd, considering her high list of phobias: arachnophobia, acrophobia, ophidophobia, etc.... most things that just creeped people out TERRIFIED her. She couldn't leave her last hotel room, considering a cockroach the size of her fist clung to the doorknob, and could only leave when a bellhop came in to evacuate her. It was a childhood fear, that had followed her long into adulthood.

“It’s never fun, this road.” She looked up. Most seats were occupied by various types of people: goat herders, mountaineers, botanists, and filmmakers. The man two seats ahead of her was an old African American man in his 50s, with greying hair and glasses. A camera crew sat across him, holding large black nylon bags full of equipment.

“Recto camino al Infierno has been a common road for me, every time I go to Peru. Executives say viewers cant get enough of a “death road”. It’s not bad, once you get used to it. No one travels on these roads.”

She paused. “Wait,” she said. “You're....”

“Amani Abasi, at your service. Good to meet you, m’am.”

For a brief second, she hardly believed what she was seeing. Abasi was a famous traveller, host of the traveling show Wild Earth. A botanist from Kenya, he spent his entire life filming the most beautiful locations in the world, from the peaks of the Himalayas to strange fish on the darkest depths of the ocean floor. A big name in traveling, considering he pretty much visited every place on earth.

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir! Why are you, why are you here?”

“Well, not for the best reasons. I’ve been hired for this show on Discovery called First Contact.”

She chuckled. “Seriously? You’re on a show about Aliens?”

“Worse. They’ve got permission by the Peruvian Government to be the first people to visit an uncontacted tribe. Im basically here to film the culture shock, of natives discovering technology and stuff.”

“That’s actually pretty cool.”

“You’d think. But I don't think it’s right. Uncontacted tribes are usually antisocial, some are even violent. I’ve met a couple during my trips to the Amazon. They don't like outsiders. Even worse, contact is extremely dangerous for them, too. It’s like War of the Worlds.”

“What?”

“It’s an old science fiction book. In the book, the Martian creatures try to attack earth, but die from the flu, which they have no immunity to. It’s like that, going to tribes. You gotta be careful.”

“Well, wouldn't giving them new technology be a good thing?”

“Sometimes. But this isn't as much an operation as is it a gimmick. Science television has gone downhill in recent years. They pull crap like this all the time, doing dangerous stunts and crap documentaries, all for the sake of ratings. Ever seen Mermaids?”

“Heard about it.”

“It was a documentary on Animal Planet, aired a couple years back. It claimed they found real Mermaids, even had talking heads and scientists! Turns out, those scientists were ACTORS, and only an itty-bitty, blink and you’ll miss it disclaimer at the very end! It’s atrocious! It was a lie, on a SCIENCE CHANNEL, to get ratings! Now they’re all doing it! Giant sharks, alien abductions, Bigfoot! You can find at least one pseudo science show for every science channel! I got into the job to teach people, now they send me into this filth!”

He sighed, coughing a bit into his shirt. He obviously had vented a lot of frustration. 

“Sorry you had to hear that, just needed to vent that out.”

“No, no, it’s all right. Always like the opinion of a professional.”

“So, what are you here for?”

“I just got back from a nature hike to Machu Picchu. Going south to Argentina. Doing a long trip ‘round South America.”

“Why?”

“I just love traveling. Go places whenever I can.”

Abasi smiled. “That’s a good reason.”

 “I’m a folklorist, work at Mojave Community college in Arizona. I research mythology whenever I can, so I can answer my student’s questions.” She chuckled. “I also got a cat at home. A big, grey Tabby called Mr. Glumblington. One time, I forgot to leave the door to the cat litter open while I was in Canada, so laid a turd in the fireplace. I didn’t notice until I lit the next fire. I fled the house. It smelled so bad, I thought it was some sort of gas warfare!”

She laughed. Abasi looked at her curiously.

“Why do you find that funny?”

“It’s just....never mind. Toilet humor. Love that cat.”

‘You seem afraid of the drop.’

“Yeah, I guess I am. It doesn't look very safe.”

“It isn't. I have deep respect for Bud’s driving ability, but I’ve seen far too many crashes on this road. But this will probably be our last time going down this road, anyway. I’ve learned a healthy antidote to the fear.”

“What?’

“Just look down the aisle, straight ahead to the road. Glass window is fairly big.”

“Thanks, Mr. Abasi.”

“Don't mention it.”

He turned back in his chair. Marika peered down the Aisle. It was a fairly normal sized travel bus, and she could see the large, tinted glass pane easily. The road ahead was tan dirt and crumbling gravel. It seemed as if the ground moved forward, and the bus stood still. Abasi was right. It was comforting, if only a little bit.

The dark overhang overhead rose up and disappeared. They were now on the edge of a cliff. The bus stopped.

An intercom hissed to life, silencing the passengers. “Okay, everyone, the overhang clears up into a cliff-face. Now, this area us a common rockslide hazard, and I need everyone on their best behavior so I can concentrate. Otherwise, it’s a fifty foot drop to the forest below. Got it?”

Everyone was silent.

“Good. Now, relax. This is only a two mile stretch, then we can get to Argentina! I got some rather appropriate music to calm your nerves.”

The Intercom clicked, and music began to play. Marika recognized it: it was a song from Evita, a play about Argentina’s revolutionary war. A couple elder gentlemen chuckled, getting the reference. The bus turned on, the engines humming, and slowly drove across the road. Replacing the overhang, on the left side of the bus was a massive, steep slope, ranging from gravel to boulders the size of a small houses. Light rain splattered against the window, rattling overhead. A couple signs passed by, ROCKSLIDE emblazoned on bright yellow panels. She kept her eyes focused on the road. Thunderclouds rolled in, darkening the skies. The rattling increased enormously, and many people pulled out their iPhones to tune it out. Lightning flashed overhead, blinding the road for a split second. 

She looked up towards the rockslide. It rose up in a steep slope for 70 feet, disappearing over the horizon. For a split second, something dashed between the boulders. Startled, she rubbed the fog away, staring. It was gone.

Two hours passed. The roads now flooded, and the windshield wipers strained to control the flood. Muddy pools poured off the edge like miniature waterfalls. Thunder rumbled.

CRACK!

The driver cursed. Half the passengers jerked up, just barely catching the monstrous streak of lightning crash over the bus, scarring a massive boulder with an ashen black mark.

They mumbled, concerned. The driver was probably concerned, too, considering he picked up the speed a bit.

BOOM!

A flash of lightning hit the ground twenty yards away. The driver cursed, picking up the pace. The crowd panicked, some screaming. The bus shot forward, the tires tearing up dirt and mud as it shot down the trail.

“STOP! The lightning can’t hurt us inside a car!” Abasi shouted, but the driver didn't listen. He shot down the road, mad with fear.

BOOM! 

Ten feet away another flash of lightning clashed against a boulder, blowing chunks everywhere. A large animal, moving too quick to be seen, dashed from it’s hiding place onto the road. The green blur’s glowing eyes locked with driver.

“HOLY SH-”

It all happened so fast. The animal jumped, crashing into the windshield, the tinted blue disintegrating into a white spiderweb. A massive, leathery creature crashed into the bus, hurtling down the aisles.

There was a swerve, a sound of screeching tires, and a jolt. The road ahead careened off and plunged into a swirling vortex of alternating colors:

Blue, brown, and green. Blue, brown, and green.

Sky, cliff, forest floor. Sky, cliff, forest floor. 

Everything floated for a split second. People who didn't wear seat-belts flew up and crashed against the walls like a pinball machine. 

Marika’s heart pumped. Everything slowed down. She could hardly believe what was going to happen.

Oh my god, she thought. Im going to die.

She was jerked upwards by a large crash.

A SAMPLE OF ARARANKHA'S BESTIARY

Finally, my early draft is complete. From what my family has read of it, it has received rave reviews. I have developed some quite good digital art work for the story, and I hope one of my family members will read it soon enough.

The novel is basically a lost world story; explorers go to an uncharted area of the map to find animals long extinct. And, like all good paleofiction, the animsalds try their hardest to kill and eat the explorers.

While it is a fairly used concept, Ararankha is a fun exercise in world building. I love world building, it my opinion, it only builds to the credibility of the story to add a ton of detail and research to your creatures. I also love field guides, full of gorgeous artwork on strange creatures. One of my books in my collection is World of Kong, a WETA art book on the concept art of creatures in the 2005 movie, presented as a field guide. With absolutely beautiful artwork and some excellent world building, it is one of my personal favorite books.

So, my own book comes with an illustrated field guide to the lifeforms present in Ararankha, not all of them in the story. I have decided to show a couple creatures to you, some creatures present in the field guide.

Ararankha comes out basically whenever Im satisfied with it. Please comment.

Thanks for reading!

Kelston Hubler

ARARANKHA'S FIRST DRAFT IS FINISHED

Boy, that was fast.

Indeed, the first draft of my story, Ararankha, is complete. I'm going to have peer reviews and refine it further, but I really enjoyed writing it. It's roughly 136 pages long, so not really a novel, but it's written on a big page size, so it would likely be longer in a different format.

The story is about Marika Jackson, a traveller in South America who, after a really bad accident, finds herself in a Peruvian village, and joins an expedition into the Andes in search of a prehistoric animal. While they do, indeed, find prehistoric animals, I wouldn't exactly say they have a good time finding them, considering most of them want to stuff the explorers in their mouthes.

Ararankha is my tribute to dinosaur literature new and old, a combination of the old adventure stories of lost world and new ideas on dinosaur evolution and speculative boiology. It will indeed be a very fun read. I've even included a bestiary at the end, complete with illustrations, hopefully.

What I set out to do in Ararankha is not only create good monsters but good characters. I personally believe a good character in a monster story is one that can keep you entertained through the bits the creature isn't there, so I try my hardest to do that.

Ararankha is founded on a mountain of lost world stories, from Journey to the center of the earth to Jurassic Park. It my tribute to techno thrillers and dinosaur fiction.

So, if you like interesting characters, conspiracies, and flying velociraptors, Ararankha is definitely a story you'll enjoy (once it's done, of course, editing takes forever.)

Thankfully, now I'll finally have time to get back to work on Atomic.

Happy New Year, and enjoy the Super Bowl tomorrow!

Kekston Hubler

UNKOWN SPECIES: THE HONEY ISLAND SWAMP MONSTER

Hello, once again!

Even though the scripts aren't finished and in development, I might as well make the puppets for future episodes. So, I created a cryptid near and dear to me: the Honey Island Swamp Monster.

The Honey Island Swamp monster is a beast from a swamp in Louisiana, an ape-like beast with mysterious origins. However, unlike any other bigfoot, it has webbed feet and four fingers. I'm going for something a little more original than a bigfoot, but I'll leave that to the future.

UNKNOWN SPECIES evolved from an earlier Cryptid Project, involving O'bie as the Burrunjor and Harold as the Honey Island Swamp Monster. He was widely considered my best puppet at the time, and wanted to honor him by really upping my game for this puppet.

I sculpted the monster's face in the same cast as the Tatzelwurm, and attached it to his face. I then sculpted the webbed claws, adding holes for the baked claws to fit in. After casting, I fit the casted latex around his hands and feet.

I carved the arms to look like a realistic animal, with strong anatomy. Then, i painted his face, hands, and feet, his only latex parts.

The paint job is awesome. I love his hands, which remind me of the reptile god Mbwun from the sci-fi thriller Relic. His feet, the most realistic part of a creature I've ever built, remind me of a penguin. At last I covered the whole thing in fake fur and added tons a moss and fake vegetation to the back sand seams, to show his swamp origins.

He looks AWESOME. You won't see much of him until the first episode is finished and I can finally get to the next episode, but I will give you hint about his role:

He'll square off with oatmeal, the Burrunjor from episode 1. It will be awesome.

Thank you for reading. Please Comment.

Kelston Hubler

UKNOWN SPECIES: BURRUNJORS AND LIVING DINOSAURS

Hello, once again!

Forgive me if my posts are far and few between, I don't often get chances to blog. Anyway, I have some updates on Kyoryu, as well as a new project, Unknown species.

Needless to say, casting was revolutionary for my work. It gave much more detail to my monsters and effects. However, my plaster was soon used up, so I took fellow animator Richard Svensson's advice and buy a more effective plaster: a dental plaster called cast&paint perfect. After several misshaps, a truly horrifying plaster spill (what is it with the Duah and plaster spills, anyway?), and using up almost all my plaster, I built my first two plaster molds, which were extreme successes.

I sculpted the chest piece for the Duah, which casted beautifully, and wrapped it across his chest. With a proper paint-job, it should look truly frightening.

However, Kyoryu is in development hell, considering it's lagging production and problematic work, and on hold for another project on my plate: UNKNOWN SPECIES.

I love cryptids. The idea of mysterious animals which may or may not exist hiding in secluded areas across the planet has always intrigued me, ever since I first read about them in Roland Smith's awesome Cryptid Hunters series, a big inspiration for UNKNOWN SPECIES. I also love technothrillers, with plowing through JURASSIC PARK and FRAGMENT to see the hard biology used to create some really scary monsters. So why not combine the two?

The series focuses on adventurer Julie Challenger's experiences in UNKNOWN, a sprawling, bizarre corporation devoted to the capture of cryptids, capturing their numbers in secret to allow them to live on long after they fade out in the wild. However, Cryptids are a varied bunch, and not all of them are safe to study. I've already got the script for the pilot written down, which got great applause to those who read it. A si-fi technothriller/horror comedy, the show is heavy on hard biology, and I studied tons of theories on proposed identities to Cryptids to give biologically plausible identities to the show's creatures. For the pilot, since I love dinosaurs, I decided my first cryptid should be the Burrunjor, a predatory mystery reptile from Australia said to be a living dinosaur. Based off a scary short story I did years ago, the Burrunjors are truly menacing predator, and I wanted to reflect that in the design.

Being biologically plausible, I wanted it to seem like the Burrunjors evolved from a smaller, opportunistic predator that survived the meteorite crash and the rise of mammals. So, he has a craning neck, large arms with claws, and a primitive jaw, similar to the allosaurs and other early giant theropods. The armature was fairly simple, but my Burrunjor, Oatmeal, is the most complex puppet I have ever worked on.

My first cast of the Burrunjor was tattered and torn, due to improper plaster mixing and not enough latex. So, finally taking a moment to plan, I sculpted and casted a new head, to great success. He even has NOSTRILS!!!

To build a lip, I wrapped the excess latex around a wire, stuffed it with foam, then wrapped it around the head.

I wasn't happy with the crocodilian look, though, so I added some skin from the previous cast and gave him a nose job. I also added avian eyes, giving him a piercing stare.

It took me quite some time to get the head right. I wanted it to be a unique dinosaur species, but still be recognizable as a dinosaur.

At last, I made the skin. Using bumpy, scaly matts, I rubbed the tinfoil sheet over it to cast the skin texture. It didn't work as well as I hoped, but he still looks good.

I also added the feathers and teeth, art supplies I gained last Christmas. The teeth were a pain, considering positioning them right so the jaw could properly close. I then cut off the ends of toothpicks, and glued them to his back to create a spine. Adds a whole level of realism.

Finally, after much pain, I got to the paint job. Again, the project should be as realistic as possible, so I took pictures of monitor lizards off the internet and used them for his paint job. Finally, I cannibalised an old puppet's bolt holes to use on Oatmeal.

Oatmeal is my most realistic puppet to date, and only one of the cryptids I plan to show in unknown species.

Some Cryptid face sculpts.

Considering how hard long it takes to work on these projects, I'm sure I'll post some test animation for when animation starts.

Speaking of that, clips of Antediluvian will be shown on the blog soon, if I can work around the glitches. The film is finished, and it has some cool, B-movie style monster scenes I want to show.

Thanks for reading, please comment.

Kelston Hubler