Here's what makes the 'Jurassic World' Velociraptors so awesome

Jurassic Park not only gave us cool Jeff Goldblum and a neato John Williams score, but it also unleashed Velociraptors as memorable movie villains of the 1990s.

They're back in the new blockbuster Jurassic World but with a twist: Instead of being all computer-generated creations or animatronic, they're actually played by actors in motion-capture outfits.

Director Colin Trevorrow explains the movie magic:
"It allows them to have a more animalistic moment and avian twitchiness that we haven’t seen. They are very different than those raptors looked and felt (in Jurassic Park). It’s more behaviorally. You’ll see differences and you’ll also see things we did on purpose to make sure that they did call back to the raptors we love – we didn’t want to overhaul them completely so they would be unrecognizable."
The use of human performers also gives each of the raptors some individuality, according to the director:
"There is a leader and there are stories behind each one — one is a little more timid because she got out of line and the leader gave her a scar on her face. You can feel all these characteristics in their movement and behavior and interaction with each other. Upon a re-watch, people will really be able to see a lot of what we did, especially in early stages of the film creating for completely individual animals."

So was there a whole Velociraptor school? Kind of, Trevorrow admits:
"You’d be surprised. Anyone who was ever a child has already been to Velociraptor school so it wasn't that hard to find people who could do it. But we chose people who were really adept at modern dance, who had a lot of control over their bodies, people who are gymnasts and athletes in general."
Believe it or not, there were squads of mo-cap raptors:
"We had four guys who were on set in gray suits with these raptor helmets on who were there primarily for Chris Pratt to be able to emote and act opposite them. And to allow us to understand how much space the animals were going to take up so we were able to block for them. And in the motion-capture stage, we had four others who were playing each one of the animals."
Vincent D'Onofrio, whose character Hoskins interacts with the raptors, says as an actor he knew he had to step it up for his scenes with the reptiles:
"Knowing that (the CGI is going to be incredible) going into a scene with a dinosaur, you know you have to rise to the occasion. You know it's gonna look like you're with a real animal, so you get so enthusiastic about it."
Listen to The Mothership for more on Jurassic World:

https://soundcloud.com/the-mothership/jurassic-world-daredevil-marvel-comics-shakeup