 Before Crichton 's novel was published , four studios put in bids for the film rights . With the backing of Universal Studios , Spielberg acquired the rights for $ 1 @.@ 5 million before publication in 1990 ; Crichton was hired for an additional $ 500 @,@ 000 to adapt the novel for the screen . Koepp wrote the final draft , which left out much of the novel 's exposition and violence and made numerous changes to the characters . Filming took place in California and Hawaii between August and November 1992 , and post @-@ production rolled until May 1993 , supervised by Spielberg in Poland as he filmed Schindler 's List . The dinosaurs were created with groundbreaking computer @-@ generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic and with life @-@ sized animatronic dinosaurs built by Stan Winston 's team . To showcase the film 's sound design , which included a mixture of various animal noises for the dinosaur roars , Spielberg invested in the creation of DTS , a company specializing in digital surround sound formats . 
