Film / News
There’s a stegosaurus on the loose in local woodland
“I’ve made several short films in the past, and as a long time Jurassic Park fan I really wanted to make what I would describe as an indie short film set in the world of Jurassic Park,” says local filmmaker Barry Wilkinson of his new short, Stegosaurus, which he wrote, storyboarded, produced, cast, directed and edited as well as doing the CGI and animation. Keeping it in the family, he also cast his daughter Olivia in the lead role.
“The concept behind the film is a simple one: the love and wonder children have of nature and the way technology – especially mobile phones – can get in the way, not only of family time but by being a barrier between an adult and the natural world,” he explains.
“It’s a really simple story, and we thought what better way to convey the wonder and love of nature than to use a dinosaur and set it in Jurassic Park? The temptation with making a Jurassic Park fan film is obviously to have these big scary scenes and dinosaur chases, but we’ve actually received a lot of praise from fans for showing restraint in just telling a nice story within that world, and having it as a backdrop.”
is needed now More than ever
Olivia Wilkinson in ‘Stegosaurus’
The crew volunteered their time and skills for what Barry describes as a full-on project that was made manageable because no deadline was imposed. Filming took place over the summer at locations across the region. “I’m based in Portishead and most of the crew are from Bristol, so we ended up shooting in several areas of woodland around the Portishead and Bristol area. Our key final scene actually took place in a field that the Children’s Hospice South West kindly gave us permission to use. The challenge was trying to find areas of UK woodland that could double for a tropical Costa Rican jungle – ferns were a must.”
Olivia Wilkinson and Gemma Reynolds in ‘Stegosaurus’
Stegosaurus has already won a few awards and has just been nominated as ‘Best Fan Film’ at a festival in the US. Barry’s daughter Olivia received a Best Actress nomination at the same festival. “My daughter did a great job,” he says proudly. “With an eight-year-old, you never really know how they’ll be on the day, but after some initial nerves she settled into the role really well and the film works so well because of her performance.”
All images supplied by Barry Wilkinson
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