#wwd20

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WWD20: The ballad of Big Al

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Al. How could I? Arguably, the best episode in the series, as it follows the life and times of Big Al the Allosaurus, through the good, and the bad. In the late Jurassic world of giant dinosaurs.

The scene here depicts one of my favourite scenes in the special, the Diplodocus hunt on the salt plain. It was an excellent scene, with awesome music, and I wanted to capture the scene here as best as I could.

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WWD20; Episode 2: Time of titans

This episode was, for me, the defining episode of the series. It showed the absolute awe of giant sauropods, and with an interesting story of the young sauropodlet to adulthood. The sauropods are in the episode like a force of nature, larger than life and the defining animals of the landscape. It is truly a magnificent spectacle, with the allosaurus, anurognathids and stegosaurus being equally awesome side characters. Also, the soundtrack, for this episode in particular, is just... mwah! I love it!

This particular scene never happens in the episode, but I think it would have been a great concept for a young sauropodlet to stand at the edge of a forest and take a glimpse at the enormous adults, unaware that one day, it may one day grow just as big. The adults and the baby all have some spikes, and adults are surrounded by symbiont pterosaurs, and covered in their faeces (inspred by the book).

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WWD20; episode 6: Death of a dynasty

The final episode was a bit of a mixed bag for many. The atmosphere is a bit... off, even sick, making the dinosaurs seem like being on their last legs. The Tyrannosaurus model especially has received plenty of criticism. But, the nearly apocalyptic atmosphere, magnificent scenery and epic story are what bring the episode home for me. And of course, the series ended with a bang. Seriously, as a kid, the extinction scene scared the crap out of me as a child.

For this one, the iconic confrontation the Tyrannosaurs parent and an intruding ankylosaurus, resulting in the parent’s fatal injury. The babies are cowering behind a tree, hoping for the best.

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WWD20; Episode 5: Spirits of the ice forest

Once again, one of my favourite episodes in the series. It puts together many very interesting insights: Dinosaurs in cold, snowy, polar environments, insights into seasonal changes, and most importantly, focus is on the Leaellynasaura, which are depicted as surprisingly resilient animals, despite their usual role as a background animal. These combined make for a nice episode, along with other australian paleofauna, and great visuals of the antarctic winter during the time of the dinosaurs.

For this one, the big edit is, of course, adding feathering to the Leaellynasaura. For a relatively small animal living in sub-polar areas, heavy fuzz makes sense. The scene here is the one where the hatchlings glimpse at the light for the first time, and of course, mama cares for them. They are also adorable.

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WWD20; episode 4: Giant of the skies

One of my personal favourite episodes, this one follows the final journey of an elderly Ornithocheirus as it crosses the the Atlantic to the breeding grounds. It also showed things like Iguanodon, early birds, and Utahraptors(on the wrong continent), for example. And once again, the soundtrack for this episode in particular was excellent.

For this one, I of course wanted the magnificent pterosaur, but also the traveling Iguanodon, as the shots featuring them are among my favourites in the series. Seeing the iguanodon walk along a beach next to a lush forest is quite the sight, after all.

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WWD20; Episode 1: New Blood

The first episode of the series was a great kick-off! It featured a harsh, dry landscape, where only few animals were able to make a living. And the animals that could, early dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and stem-mammals, were shown to be opportunistic animals that, while struggling, could very well be successful in the future. Even the animals that didn’t exactly fare well, like Postosuchus and Placerias, were treated as majestic creatures.

The scene that I did is the one where a Coelophysis siezes a baby cynodont, and the angry parent gives chase. There were plenty of scenes that I could have done, but I like this one, mainly because I like the composition. Obviously, the biggest edit is the addition of feathers to the dinosaur, but I also gave the cynodont a more mammalian colour scheme.

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WWD20; Episode 3: Cruel sea

Hoooooo, boy! For most people watching, this was the best episode! And for good reason, as it had beautiful scenery, excellent storytelling, and told of a relatively unknown environment. Oh, and the Liopleurodon, almost forgot. Interestingly, the liopleurodon is a very interesting case, as it made the animal very popular, and was an absolutely awe inspiring and terrifying animal. On the other hand, it has become too popular for it’s own good and was ridiculously oversized. In the episode it was the size of a large baleen whale, where as it was actually similar in size to a great white shark. Besides, the ichthyosaurs were the stars of this episode, in my opinion anyway.

This is a recreation of that very tragic scene of an Ophthalmosaurus female giving birth stalked by a very hungry Liopleurodon. The pliosaur is just about to attack, ending the mothers life, but fortunately, the babies will survive. Hopefully.