In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her plucky band of activists known as the Dinosaur Protection Group (DPG) are on a mission to save the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar from extinction. They focus their outreach through protests, phone campaigns, and…music videos?
Well, not quite on that last one. However, the folks over at Hyper RPG have joined in on the fun of Fallen Kingdom’s viral marketing campaign with their own “We Are The World”-style music video parody. Mirroring the spirit of the fictional DPG’s online presence and enthusiasm, “Save the Dinosaurs” takes a silly but earnest look at how our world would approach activists’ efforts to rescue these animals from extinction.
Created by Chris Bramante–actor and a host for the Thank You For Questing podcast, “Save the Dinosaurs” stars Hyper RPG crew and friends including Matt Acevedo, Abby Trott, and Branson NeJame. Steven Ray Morris, the host of the See Jurassic Right podcast, also makes an appearance with a special “Save the Dino Monologue.”
It’s a fun piece of fan content with a lot of heart and laughs at its core. Anyone who’s a fan of the franchise will really appreciate this song (and be lucky if the chorus doesn’t get stuck in your head).
To celebrate the video and the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, we recently chatted with Chris about how “Save the Dinosaurs” came about and the appeal of the Jurassic franchise for today’s content creators.
Rogues Portal (RP): How did you come up with the idea for “Save the Dinosaurs”?
Chris Bramante (CB): As tidbits from Fallen Kingdom began to emerge, Steven Ray Morris was posting in the Facebook group for his podcast to update us all on any bit of information about the film. When the DPG videos started coming out, an idea popped into my head:
If DPG was on our real-life Earth, would musical artists come together to make a song about saving them? I SURE DO HOPE SO!
I immediately began listening to “We are the World” on loop, and I also studied Weird Al’s “Don’t Download This Song” as the song began to formulate in my head.
RP: So the viral marketing for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom served as inspiration?
CB: Most certainly. The DPG was the exact inspiration for it. I loved what they did with that campaign.
RP: How long did it take to put the whole thing together?
CB: It all came together rather quickly. While the idea came to me within the months leading up to the film’s release, the actual songwriting, recording, and filming came together in under a month.
Once I knew I wanted to take action on the music video, I hit up the musical genius that is musician Branson NeJame, with whom I’d wanted to collaborate on the music.
The chorus came to me while I was charging my phone at Universal Studios in the Jurassic Park ride section. I rode the ride and was waiting for my phone to not be dead. In the gift shop, they play the helicopter pad diddy from “Journey to the Island” on loop. As I sat there listening to that song on repeat for almost about 20 minutes, I started to hum: “Don’t fear that roar…we gotta save the dinosau-oh-oh-oh-oh-aurs!”
I sent a voice memo of that chorus idea to Branson, and he hit me back very soon after with a composition for the song.
Branson and I began to jam and work out our vision for the song. As it started to take shape, we brought in Matt Acevedo (comedian and host/producer for HyperRPG) and Abby Trott (musician and voiceover artist) to write the lyrics with us while Lucas Eubank–Hyper RPG’s executive producer and our director for the video–started plotting out his vision.
All along the way, of course, Steven was a consultant on the whole process.
RP: There’s a ton of Jurassic swag littered throughout the video–did someone bring it in for the shoot, or did you have to go out and buy it all?
CB: It was a combination of joined swag forces between Steven, myself, Lucas & the folks at Hyper RPG, Steven and of course there were also some contributions from Steven.
RP: The rap breakdown was great. Was it something Matt improvised, or was it written in?
CB: Written in! Absolutely adore writing with Matt. He’s one of the most energetic people I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
RP: How were the shots with the dinosaur silhouettes put together? They’re very well-done.
CB: That was all the magic of our director Lucas Eubank and some handy stock footage!
RP: What was your favorite part of making this video?
CB: Celebrating Jurassic and coming together with friends to do something ridiculous. When you take a moment to step back and be like…we are all holding hands and swaying while Steven Ray Morris is giving an impassioned monologue about saving dinosaurs from a volcano.
…It makes you remember how wild, odd and insane existence is.
RP: What’s your creative process when coming up with content like this? Where do you start?
CB: Usually I get an idea that I can’t stop thinking about. That idea will transform into an obsession, and then I get a sense of people’s interest in the idea. If the interest is there, I run with the idea and can’t stop running until it’s made.
There’s also a lot of time spent absorbing the film or show that inspire the idea. The songs always provide a nice opportunity to rewatch something I love.
RP: Jurassic Park has a unique history when it comes to fan-created music–parody and otherwise. Given you’ve done a Jurassic parody video before, what do you think it is about the franchise that inspires creators to make this type of content?
CB: This story connects to so many of us on such a deep level. I think a large part of that is that Jurassic Park is responsible for the popularization of dinosaurs and subsequently shaped the way our generation–and the world–views science and the history of life on this planet.
For more thorough views on this question though, check out Steven Ray Morris’ See Jurassic Right podcast!
RP: What’s the next project you’re working on (if you can tell us)?
CB: “Swag (In My Bag)” for Hyper RPG. It’s a song we are doing for Comic-Con! Keep your eyes peeled on their YouTube channel for it!
Also, I’m working on a new track for my YouTube channel, Amontiock, that I will be sharing sometime in the next handful of months!
RP: Can we anticipate more Jurassic Park-inspired content from you and Hyper RPG in the near future?
CB: When Jurassic World III comes out, I will for sure be making something, though I’m not sure what that will be just yet!
RP: Where the h*ck did you find that sweet “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” scarf you’re wearing in the video?
CB: Steven. Ray. Morris.
RP: Final question: would you have saved the dinosaurs from the volcano?
CB: As a wise, non-expense sparing man once said: “I guarantee it.”
