Difference between revisions of "InGen Barge (Film Universe)"

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==History==
 
==History==
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{{main|Rescue of Eric Kirby (Film Universe)}}
  
 
==Design & Specifications==
 
==Design & Specifications==

Revision as of 16:32, 18 January 2025

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InGen Barge
InGen Barge - Ed Verreaux.jpg
Appearances
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Information
OwnerInGen Marine Facilities
StatusDestroyed (Isla Sorna, Rescue of Eric Kirby)

The InGen Barge was a small watercraft used by InGen Marine Facilities to transport animals at Site B. It was abandoned along with the rest of their facilities during Hurricane Clarissa.

History

Design & Specifications

Production Notes

Pre-production

The InGen Barge was brought to life by Set Designer Chad S. Frey.

I was awed when I walked through the art department on my first day of work. The walls were plastered with drawings and illustrations of amazing scenery. Large sketch models of sets lined tables and shelves around the room.

“Don’t pay any attention to those,” said Greg with a wave of his hand. “That is all from last week. Here is the latest outline of the story. Read the part where the dinosaur rips apart the riverboat. We need to build it (the boat) and Sketch Model of the Riverboat ship it to Hawaii in three weeks. Oh yeah, and it needs to float and maneuver under its own power. Have fun.”

Now I know what you are thinking. Three weeks is not much time to design and build a working boat. I’ll tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking I don’t know the first thing about designing boats! But I’m a quick study.

Within two days, after some quick research and several lengthy conversations with Steve Callas (Construction Coordinator) and Ransom Walrod (Marine Coordinator,) the first draft of the boat was drawn and laid out on stage for the approval of Ed and the director, Joe Johns(t)on. A number of changes were made to this layout and it was back to the drawing board. We created a second layout on stage. More changes. The morning of day three found me at the Special Effects studio of Stan Winston measuring the life size mechanical creature that would be attacking the boat. This dinosaur, called a Spinosaurus, measures 43’ from snout to tail and was one of the few predators capable of defeating a Tyrannosaurs in a fight. For design purposes, I needed to know both the size of the creature and the actual mechanics of how it would work when it attacks the boat. Armed with this new information, I headed back to the studio to modify, yet again, the size and shape of the boat.

Due to the time constraints of designing, building and shipping the boat, I was forced to release construction drawings for the deck and flotation system before we really knew what the boat was going to look like. By the end of the first week, I had completed a set of basic drawings to be sent off to Wisconsin where the pontoon floats for the boat were to be fabricated. A few days later, when I finally had the opportunity to build a model of the boat and look at it in relation to a scale machete of the dinosaur, it was decided that the vessel was too large. Joe and Ed wanted to create a very claustrophobic space which offered little chance of escape for the characters. Stop the shop in Wisconsin. Redesign number four.

After quickly building a second, smaller model of the boat, the size was agreed on and I began final drawings in earnest. Studio Sea (Ransom’s company) was now fabricating the deck and float system in LA, while the hull, wheelhouse, etc. were being fabricated by our construction department at Universal. Again in the interest of time, both groups started building immediately and it was all I could do to try and stay ahead of the crews. Thus ended week two.

Because the boat was to first work in Hawaii, it fell under the Art Directing eye of Doug Meerdink. (Note: Doug was overseeing all of the Hawaii sets and locations while Greg stayed stateside to keep the really big sets and locations going.) When, at the last minute, Doug and Ed had to disappear to Hawaii for a week of location scouts, I was left to oversee the final stages of construction. Upon their return, two days before the boat was scheduled to be shipped to Hawaii, they were pleased with what they found. Now all that was left was to put the thing in the water and see if it actually worked!

The morning of June 26, 8:00 a.m. we put the boat into the upper lake on the Universal back-lot and sailed it. Six hours later, we towed it to Long Beach and put it on a ship bound for the Hawaiian Islands. Not bad for three weeks work!


Chad S. Frey[1]