Learn to Plot Fiction Writing Series: Story Analysis of the movie “Jurassic World”
The best way to learn story structure is to analyze good stories. Can you readily identify each plot point in every movie you see or book you read? Or do terms like ‘inciting incident,’ ‘midpoint reversal,’ and ‘black moment’ leave you confused?
In our Learn to Plot Fiction Writing Series: Story Analysis of the movie “Jurassic World” we show you how to recognize each element and provide a Free Plot Template so you can draft satisfying, high-quality stories of your own.
The movie, “Jurassic World,” was released in June 2015, and stars: Christ Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Based on characters created by Michael Crichton.
Story premise:
The Jurassic World theme park lets guests experience the thrill of witnessing actual dinosaurs, but something ferocious lurks behind the park’s attractions—a genetically modified dinosaur with savage capabilities. When the massive creature escapes, chaos erupts across the island. Now it’s up to Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) to save the park’s tourists from an all-out prehistoric assault.
One of the best ways to learn story structure is to analyze as many movies and books as you can. We suggest you watch movies because you can see the whole story played out before you visually in approximately two hours, which may be quicker than reading an entire book.
We also suggest that you watch the movie with our Free Downloadable Solid Story Structure Plot Template beside you so that you can write down each plot point as soon as you see it appear on the screen. Do this twenty or so more times and you will soon be on your way to becoming a story structure expert!
Click to download our free Solid Story Structure Plot Sketch Template to help you analyze books or movies, and plot stories of your very own.
Warning! This post contains story spoilers. If you have not already seen the movie and do not want any story spoilers the first time around, you might want to watch the movie for enjoyment then watch it a second time using this post to help you identify each story element.
ACT I
Opening Scenes:
What do the opening scenes of “Jurassic World” accomplish? How do they serve to set up the story?
- Setting.
First, you need to establish the ‘ordinary world. In the movie, “Jurassic World,” we are introduced to two young boys who are getting in the car ready to go on a trip to spend the weekend with their aunt (Claire) whom they haven’t seen in seven years.
The eldest is a bored teen, the youngest excited. Their relationship is introduced—the eldest brother does not seem sympathetic or interested in his younger sibling, even when the younger becomes upset that their parents may divorce. Their purpose in the story is to attract a younger audience and provide motivation for Claire to act later in the story when situations become desperate, and she must save her nephews.
In the next scene the main story setting of the Jurassic World theme park is introduced. The boys’ aunt (Claire) is a head manager and is showing off the facility to investors. We see children riding tiny triceratops-like dinosaurs, dinosaur balloons, dinosaur holograms, many things people would expect to see at a regular theme park, except this one is focused on dinosaurs, making it a unique blend of the ordinary yet extraordinary.
The park has also created a new dinosaur, a genetically modified hybrid named the ‘Indominus Rex,’ whom the military is interested in. A representative is arriving soon which will add to the craziness of Claire’s day.
When the boys show up, Claire has her assistant take them around the park instead of spending time with them herself because she is too busy. This disappoints the boys and their mother (Claire’s sister) setting Claire up to be an uptight, high-heels type of gal, who has no time for relationships. (Her weakness/flaw she needs to overcome.)
Claire’s staff, including one particular guy and girl in the park’s control room monitoring the different quadrants of the park are also introduced, each with unique personalities. Everyone has a part to play in the story, a specific role. Everyone is there for a reason.
The boys watch an aquatic outdoor show where a huge creature jumps up out of the water to bite a great white shark hanging on a rope dangling from a crane. This is introduced at the beginning to show what the creature can do later in the story.
- The first scene opens with an interesting situation (initial problem).
Now we have a few introductory scenes with the hero, Owen, at his ordinary workplace facility where he trains four velociraptors using voice command and hand signals. Blue, Delta, Echo, and Charlie make up the Raptor squad, known as Blue’s Pack.
Owen has set himself up as their alpha, the leader they listen to, which has caught the attention of the military representative who comes to evaluate their progress. Although Owen warns the representative that the dinosaurs are wild animals, the military believes they could replace soldiers on the ground in a war scenario.
The conflict is heightened when a man falls into the raptor cage and Owen has to risk his life to run in and save him. Even without a protective barrier, the raptors listen to Owen, but he orders the gate closed and rolls under it just in time to escape their snapping jaws. This proves how dangerous they are.
- Introduction of the main characters, their personalities, and the character’s relationships with one another. Also hint at the internal (relationship) conflict and escalating external conflict.
Now that most of the characters and the setting have been introduced, the story focuses on the relationship of the two main characters, Owen and Claire.
It is revealed that the couple had exactly one date, after which they were both led to believe that they were completely incompatible with one another. Now Claire must convince Owen to come look at the new Indominus Rex and evaluate the genetically modified dinosaur for vulnerabilities, although she cannot reveal the source of its DNA. The setting reveals he owns a motorcycle showing he rides (important to the story later.)
Owen is casual, Claire is uptight. Their interaction hints that the internal issue between them is incompatibility and lack of trust. The external conflict is Claire’s support of creating genetically modified dinosaurs and Owen’s opposition to it. The hinted theme of the story comes from the external conflict: is it right to mess with nature?
Will Owen and Claire be able to work out their differences? That is the implied story question and the reader/viewer keeps watching or reading to find out. The answer to these questions must be resolved for the reader by the end of the story.
Note: All of these ‘details’ are set up pieces that will show up again later and impact the story. Everything your character needs at the end should be set up in the beginning, so it is believable for the reader/viewer.
Ask—who are these characters and what will they need? How can you show both their strengths and their weaknesses in these opening scenes?
Inciting Incident:
After the opening scenes have introduced the characters and set up the genre, time period, location, hinted theme, and general pacing of the story, the protagonist is hit with the inciting incident, which rocks his (or her) ‘ordinary world’ and turns his life upside down. This serious problem cannot be ignored.
The protagonist must now decide how to deal with this serious problem, which becomes his new focus for the remainder of the story. The action plan to overcome this serious problem becomes the protagonist’s story-worthy goal.
In the movie, Jurassic World, the Inciting Incident occurs when Claire takes Owen to see the new genetically engineered dinosaur and it tricks them into thinking that it escaped the high-walled confinement chamber. This shows how smart and dangerous this dinosaur is.
Owen and two others go into the chamber and the control center radios in that the dinosaur is still in the cage with them. They need to run, open the door to the cage and escape, but the dinosaur bursts through the door after them and eats the two other men with Owen. The park’s security grab their guns and go after the escaped dinosaur only to find it ripped out the tracking device embedded in its flesh.
Now they have a killer on the loose which can endanger everyone at the theme park.
Note: The inciting incident is also referred to as the first major turning point to turn the story in a different direction or Disaster #1. What happens at the inciting incident is a game-changer.
If you are not familiar with the elements of solid story structure for popular fiction, you may want to see our post, How to Plot Your Fictional Novel, to help you further understand the specifics of what should be included in each section.
Plot Point I:
Plot Point I is the agreement between characters or decision the main character makes to accomplish a new story-worthy goal triggered by or in response to the inciting incident. This decision ends Act I. The main characters will unite to overcome the Inciting Incident problem.
In the movie, Jurassic World, despite their differences, Claire and Owen must team up to find the dangerous Indominus Rex dinosaur before anyone else gets hurt.
This also sets up a ticking clock, a race against time to accomplish the new goal. It is this new goal that will drive the story forward. Will they find and contain the dinosaur in time or not?
The decision to go on the story journey often sends the characters through a doorway, or to a new location via a method of travel, or embark on an adventure, a different way of life. They need to set aside old ways and embrace new. The start of the new adventure separates Act I and Act II.
Their lives will never be the same.
ACT II (Part I)
Now we journey into the main body of the story where the characters are learning to navigate their new ‘world / situation.’ The characters are learning, growing, being tested in their skills and in their relationships with one another. They are acquiring the know-how to face and deal with what is to come during the later segments of the story.
If the characters did not already transport to another location at the Inciting Incident, they may do so after the Plot Pt. I decision to go on the story journey. If the character does not actually travel, he may start a new job, or join a new group, or start to do something new, something that takes the character out of their comfort zone.
In Jurassic World, the first action-step Owen and Claire take is to start to close the first phase (region) of the park and evacuate the people to a safer location.
Escalating events:
Although the rides close, Claire’s nephews decide to stay out in their gyrosphere (glass hamster ball transport) that they drive between all the live dinosaurs in the valley. Then, because they are Claire’s nephew’s, the eldest says they have special privileges, and drives into the restricted area. Except this is a place where the large carnivores reside and the escaped Indominus Rex tries to smash their gyrosphere and eat them.
The owner of the park tells the head scientist they are to shut down the lab but the scientist argues against it. We learn that none of the dinosaurs they hatch has DNA that is pure, but it is mixed with other creatures DNA to fill in ‘missing gaps.’
Pinch Point #1:
This emotional moment usually occurs about midway through the first half of Act II.
In Jurassic World, Claire suddenly remembers that she is responsible for the welfare of her nephews and is terrified when her assistant says she lost them. Claire fears for their lives and fears how her sister will react when it is discovered that Claire’s inability to watch over them put the boys in harm’s way. When Claire learns the boys are in the danger zone with the escaped Indominus Rex, the situation turns personal, and she NEEDS Owen’s help to find the boys and bring them back safe.
- The first pinch point serves to remind the main protagonist of all he (or she) could lose if he doesn’t attain the goal. Pinch Point #1 also motivates the protagonist to continue forward with renewed resolve. Your protagonist will not give up!
More escalating events:
The boys drop out of the gyrosphere just in time to avoid the dinosaurs jaws and crawl away, but when they are chased, they must jump over a large waterfall to get to safety. As a result of everything they’d just gone through together, the two brothers bond and the eldest becomes a lot more sympathetic toward his younger sibling, whom he respects for making the jump.
Owen and Claire discover the Indominus Rex killed a slew of long-necked Brontosaurus in the valley but didn’t eat them. The dinosaur is killing for sport.
Owen gets a message that while he’s been distracted helping Claire find the boys, the military representative and his team took the velociraptors away.
Claire and Owen find the smashed gyrosphere and fear the worst but then follow the boys’ tracks to the waterfall and realize they got away. They also find the bunker where the boys got an old jeep to work and drove away.
Indominus Rex is now headed straight for the main section of the theme park.
The owner of the park flies a helicopter without his instructor and Claire and Owen see him try to shoot the escaped dinosaur, who is headed toward the old ‘Bird Cage’ except this opens a hole in the glass dome and all the flying reptiles are also now on the loose. The winged raptors hit the helicopter, which crashes and catches fire.
The boys race the jeep toward the gate of the main section of the park with the flying raptors chasing after them. Owen finds a motorcycle (remember how this was set up in beginning?) and rides (with Claire sitting behind him, clinging to him) toward the main park as well.
Tension rises as the flying raptors attack the people at the theme park. Everyone is running and screaming. They sound the alarms. Claire’s assistant is taken up in the air and eaten by the raptors. Then the large water reptile leaps up and eats the raptor that ate her.
The flying raptors attack Owen and Claire grabs his gun that had skidded away and shoots the raptor to save him. (Heroine rescues the hero!) He is so grateful that he unexpectedly kisses her!
Temporary Triumph:
In most stories the characters experience an unexpected win in the external plot thread that triggers a celebratory win or triumph between the characters in the internal plot thread. In a romance, this is where the characters may share some backstory and kiss. It looks like the characters may be able to achieve their goal and will get their happily-ever-after. This is a moment of hope, that yes, the character can win.
The flying raptors attack Owen and Claire grabs his gun that had skidded away and shoots the raptor to save him. (Heroine rescues the hero!) This is a fun moment where we see Claire drop her former persona (which had started to unravel as they searched for her nephews). Back at the waterfall she had changed her clothes in a fit that confused Owen but showed she was ready to tackle hard tasks.
Now at this moment, Owen is so grateful for her help and filled with admiration that he unexpectedly kisses her! The boys see and raise their eyebrows, but at least now – hurray! – they are all together.
ACT II (Part 2)
Midpoint Reversal
Bam! Just when everything seems fine and the goal within reach, an event happens at Midpoint, the second major plot point, to turn the story (and all the plot threads) in a different direction again. Disaster #2 changes everything and reverses the short-lived temporary triumph. In a relationship story, it changes the relationship.
In the fictional story, Jurassic World, the military rep takes over and relieves the command center workers of their duty. To reduce loss of life, he plans to use the velociraptors to hunt down the Indominus Rex and Owen is angry and punches the rep, but agrees to help because...
Oh, and by the way, a cruise ship full of new visitors to the island are scheduled to arrive in the morning! What a way to ramp up the tension and raise the stakes!
While many of the lessons learned in the first half of Act I may have been more exploratory or reactive, the second half is stepping out to use and test those lessons proactively. The characters have now been enlightened as to what is really going on and they are going after what they want!
Escalating events:
Claire’s nephews see Owen’s skill with a weapon and want to stay with him, thinking he is a good protector. Claire had thought they meant they wanted to stay with her and when she learns they meant Owen, she promises she will never leave them again.
Pinch Point #2:
About halfway through the second half of Act II, we have Pinch Point #2. Another moment to pull on the heartstrings. While Pinch Point #1 may have led the main character to see all they had to lose if they did not press forward with their goal, Pinch Point #2 leads them to see all they might gain. At the very least, both pinch points create a pause in the story which reminds the characters of the stakes and why their goal is important.
Using motorcycles, Owen leads the mission to direct the velociraptors toward the Indominus Rex. Except, when the four smaller dinosaurs meet the large one, they start communicating. Owen realizes which DNA the scientists used to create the Indominus Rex —it’s part raptor! They try to shoot the Indominus Rex and it runs. The four velociraptors run with it signaling to Owen that they have a new ‘alpha’ to follow. He is no longer their leader. Betrayal!
The dinosaurs take out the military team. Owen sees Blue but he can’t bring himself to shoot his favorite raptor. Then there is an explosion, and he thinks Blue got hit.
This sequence of events all serve to remind the characters that the dinosaurs are indeed wild and cannot be controlled. If Owen and the others cannot find a way to stop these creatures, more lives will be placed in danger.
The Calm Before the Storm:
This is a moment when the story takes a slight pause so the audience can catch their breath. This can be another moment of hope that all will be well, similar to the temporary triumph. The character may see or experience something to give them hope for the future or a reason to press on.
Claire puts her nephews in the back of a big box truck for safety. The boys say they’ll always be brothers no matter what (even if their parents do divorce) and that they will always be there for one another. They are now closer than they have ever been.
More escalating events:
The raptors are attacking the truck the boys are in and Claire drives off, but the back doors to the truck open and a raptor tries to jump in. The boys work together to grab a stun stick weapon and they get the dinosaur off. Now they just want to go home!
The head military rep calls the lead scientist and tells him to get the test tubes of dinosaur DNA and get ready to get off the island. The scientist then gets in a helicopter with his case of dinosaur samples.
Owen, Claire, and the boys run into the science lab for safety and discover everyone gone and the military taking the freezer of eggs to use for military weapons. They realize the whole world will be in danger if these men are successful in stealing these dinosaur samples. (Raising the stakes of the story once again.)
One of the velociraptors corners and bites the military rep while Owen guards Claire and the boys and gets them out.
The Black Moment:
The black moment is the dark night of the soul, the bleakest moment, which is also the third major turning point, Game Changer, or Disaster #3. It appears that all hope is lost.
Owen, Claire, and the boys run but find themselves surrounded by velociraptors. Owen carefully takes the tracker collar off of Blue, freeing him, but despite Owen’s desperate attempt to remind the dinosaurs of their training, they are all turning against him. Then, even worse, Indominus Rex comes and it doesn’t look like there is any way out.
Plot Point II:
Plot Point II follows quickly on the heels of the Black Moment. This is when the characters separate or are driven apart due to the events of the Black Moment. The protagonist finds himself alone, struggling with what to do next.
After Owen removes the steel collar from Blue’s neck, he unexpectedly turns and attacks the Indominus Rex. The larger dinosaur hurts Blue and the other raptors, loyal to Blue, now also turn on the Indominus Rex. This allows Owen, Claire, and the boys to run off in different directions. (Somewhat separated.)
At Plot Pt. II the characters are driven apart. (This is a reversal of Plot Pt. I where the characters came together.)
ACT III
Revelation:
Then, suddenly the protagonist gets a new piece of information that changes the situation, and the characters can see how they might succeed in their battle against the external antagonist which they must face.
When the youngest boy says they need more teeth on their side in order for them to escape all the Indominus Rex once and for all, Claire gets an idea!
Decision:
The revelation (new information revealed) helps the protagonist to make a decision.
Claire makes a decision to go ‘get more teeth!’ She leaves Owen (characters separate) and runs down the road to unlock the T-Rex confinement. Leading the way with a flare, she runs back toward the Indominus Rex and T-Rex chases after her.
Re-gathering of the Team or Resources:
Whatever people, tools, items are going to be needed for the climax are gathered together. If the protagonist’s team was separated at Plot Pt. II, this is when they come back together, realizing they need one another.
Claire is just in time to save Owen and the boys from being eaten by Indominus Rex and reconnects with them as the two large dinosaurs fight one another.
Climax:
This is the most exciting scene sequence in the entire book or movie. This is a face-to-face confrontation between the protagonist (and his team) and the opposition. Either the protagonist succeeds once and for all or he fails. Everything is put on the line. It will not be easy.
The Indominus Rex and the T-Rex fight one another in an epic battle causing a horrific amount of damage to park buildings. We wonder who will win? The Indominus Rex is about to finish off T-Rex when little Blue comes running and jumps on Indominus Rex’s back. Now all three dinosaurs are fighting as Owen, Claire, and the boys run back and forth trying to stay safe.
Then in a grand finale (foreshadowed twice earlier) the beast from the water jumps up and grabs Indominus Rex and kills him. The T-Rex leaves, and Blue turns and looks at Owen a final moment before he too, turns and runs off.
Owen, Claire, and the boys are safe!
Resolution:
This is where the main storyline and all sub-plots are wrapped up with their reaction to what transpired at the Climax. The story journey has changed the protagonist. He/she can do things that they couldn’t do in the beginning. But the protagonist must do something to prove he’s changed. Show it.
The conflicts in both the external plot layer and the internal relationship plot layers have been faced and defeated. They have ‘won!’
All the people are evacuated off the island and are now at a large hangar facility. The boy’s parents come and find them, happy they are alive. The family hugs one another and then Claire and her sister hug.
Claire goes over to Owen and asks, “What do we do now?”
He says, “Probably stick together for survival.”
This is practical advice after all they’ve been through together, but he is also flirting, and we know they have now worked out their relationship issues. They trust one another and respect each other. The protagonist who did not have time for relationships is now deeply connected to others. This is Claire’s character arc. The story journey has changed her and made her a better version of herself.
Final Image:
This is the very last image or scene of the entire story, a ‘capping off’ scene.
At the end of the movie, the very last image shows T-Rex standing on the top of a building and he opens his big mouth full of sharp teeth and roars. He is still king of Jurassic World!
Theme:
The ending of Jurassic World reinforces the dangers of trying to manipulate science, and the illusion of control. The main theme is man vs. nature, technology, and power.
Does the ending of your story lead the audience to ponder a life question? Or does it reinforce a value deemed as important to society? What is the unspoken message your story has to say?
Additional Thoughts:
How does this story structure line up with your own writing? Have you included all the steps or are you missing some?
Bottom of FormWe hope you have enjoyed our Learn to Plot Fiction Writing Series: Story Analysis of the movie “Jurassic World” and have downloaded the Free Solid Story Structure Plot Template to analyze more books and movies, or perhaps to outline a story of your own.
Click to download our free Solid Story Structure Plot Sketch Template to help you analyze books or movies, and plot stories of your very own.
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